Art put in the spotlight

Short description

The aim of the "Art put in the spotlight" project was to animate the city centre of Eferding. Regional artists played in empty shop windows in the city centre with their artworks. Thus, attention was drawn to the centre of Eferding, places of encounter and a platform for art and culture were created, an attractive mix of shop windows with art and the shop windows of the companies in the inner city made a stroll through the city a real experience. "Art put in the spotlight" sees itself as a pilot project and is intended to encourage the presence of other formats for art and culture in public spaces.

Point of departure

Partially empty shop windows in the city centre of Eferding gave the impression that the premises could not be rented out. There are different reasons for the vacancies. The purpose of the project was to revitalise and make the city centre more attractive by using these empty business premises or display areas. In addition, works by local artists were to make a contribution to the cultural and touristic development of the city. The city centre doesn´t only mean shopping, the city centre also means meeting point, encounter, social exchange - a lively city centre signals "feel-good character", an attractive togetherness.

The artistic presentation in the shop windows gave regional artists the opportunity to make themselves visible with their work in the capital of the district and thus to offer citizens a lively city image. Art was included as an identity-forming component and made Eferding visible to the outside world as a city of art and culture - Eferding as the so-called "business card" of the region.

Targets and target groups

Regional artists had the opportunity to present their works - and homeowners their business premises - to a large audience, which in turn promoted awareness. Empty shop windows and business premises were revived and made attractive. Eferding is to be or become an attractive cultural, leisure and recreational region for locals, day visitors, travel groups and individual guests.

 The connection of carriers of culture and traditions and the creation of communication platforms for art and culture and the creation of places for their presentation are explicitly listed as goals in the Local Development Strategy 2014 - 2020. The project was not a "one-off event". The aim is to initiate follow-up projects, to provoke a momentum of its own and to make art in public space in the Eferding region perceptible in the following years.

Until the state exhibition Eferding-Peuerbach in 2022, the theme should be permanently present in order to be able to present an "overall show" of the last few years as a highlight in 2022. Different types of presentation, different project managers and "caretakers", every possible and suitable type of art and culture should become perceptible in the coming years in order to position the city of Eferding and the region directly as an art and culture region.

Project implementation and measures

 - Assignment of an artistic project management
 - Selection of vacant and suitable shop windows and business premises
- Contact with homeowners - turn them into contributors
- Foster the willingness of regional artists to participate
- To form a network of artists and homeowners
- Organization of “getting to know” and “progress” meetings
- Involvement of regional partners (city of Eferding, Eferdinger Kaufmannschaft, tourism association Eferding, etc.)
- Selection of art pieces and preparation of exhibition areas
- Planning and implementation of marketing (invitation folder, press work, etc.)
- Design of the invitation folders
- sponsor search
- Organization of an opening event in coordination with regional partners (music, cuisine, etc.)
- Accompaniment and ongoing support of the artists and house owners until the end of the project
- Picking up and collecting ideas for the continuation of the project in the coming years
- Creation of networks for the implementation of ideas in the coming years

Results and effects

Next to the almost unanimous and appreciative feedback that this project was able to reap, and the great response among the population of Eferding, there were many other positive results to report: Just one week after the opening of the project, one of the previously vacant business premises was rented out and two more were rented as temporary sales space.

The interest of the local businessmen in art at their location was fostered or expanded, two additional artists expressed interest in participating in a future project of this kind. The city of Eferding is planning a further concept for the next three years, which may also include other artistic formats. Follow-up events by other organizers have already been held (exhibition "Weibsbilder" of the Eferding Artists' Guild, streetDANCEshow, etc.).