Article: High costs often mean public art left to deteriorate

The dilemma of what to do with a $15 million Downtown subway mural raises questions about how to pay for upkeep and preservation of virtually millions of public art pieces scattered across Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

Some works, such as Port Authority of Allegheny County's Romare Bearden mural, were created by world-known artists and would sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars -- even millions -- at auctions.

"The mindset in general is, 'Let's commission the art and once it's up, it's done. Now we don't have to think about it anymore,'" said Jack Becker, a public art expert who publishes Public Art Review in St. Paul.

"They don't even think about maintaining it. A lot of cities ...

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