LONDON, Oct. 27, 2005—Inspired by such striking images of public art as Anthony Gormley's Angel of the North or Rachel Whiteread's Viennese Holocaust Memorial, British Channel 4 is offering communities across the UK "the chance to cherish their own piece of public art in a multi-million pound initiative," Louise Jury of the Independent reports.

By logging on to www.channel4.com/bigart today, anyone can participate in the project and recommend a choice for the location of a new artwork. In January, a panel of experts will shortlist six sites, "and the series will follow the progress of the communities working with artists to commission and create the pieces," writes Charlotte Higgins of the Guardian.

Supported in part by Channel 4, communities will have to pay for their own commissions through fundraising and applying to public funding sources, Higgins continues. They will be involved in working with experienced curators who will be able to help them "draw up a brief for the chosen artist."

Although the work could be a large permanent sculpture, Channel 4's commissioning editor for arts, Jan Younghusband, said it could be as ephemeral as a performance or a project like the artist Jeremy Deller's filmed recreation of the miners' strike, The Battle of Orgreave, according to the Independent.

Higgins calls the series "part of a vein of Channel 4 reality arts programming such as previous shows Operatunity and Musicality." The series will be released in 2007, documenting the entire process and coinciding with the unveiling of each artwork.

"We want to empower people to create and want art in their own towns," Younghusband said to the Guardian. "I feel it's an important subject to address; we don't necessarily appreciate the value of public art and why it costs what it does. We want to encourage art as part of people's everyday environment."

FOR MORE, CLICK:

Guardian: "TV competition seeks site for a masterpiece"

Independent: "Channel 4 offers the chance to have a piece of art on your street corner"