This expertly researched book makes a radical case for accessible public art that fosters a powerful civic experience of connection to place. The author advocates narrative, site-specific public art that engages the popular imagination through common references to history, folklore, culture and geography, and demonstrates how the integration of approachable art with local landscape, architecture and urban design can facilitate identification with locale. Dozens of case studies of spectacular and innovative works throughout the United States are accompanied by practical information, cost and policy analysis, artist interviews, examples of failures and major controversies, and strategies for the future, making this book an essential reference for anyone involved with transforming and improving our public spaces. "The Art of Placemaking" features public art projects since the 1990s, including the integration of public art in urban design, historic interpretation, street furniture, transit-station and roadway-corridor design, mural towns and more, making this title an invaluable resource for artists, architects, urban planners and teachers, as well as non-professionals seeking to bring art into their communities.