As The Gallery Season 3 launched following the first two seasons, Dr Anna Marazuela Kim sat down to write an essay about its aims and objectives, setting it in the wider context of the potential of public art in troubled times.

In this essay, Kim reflects on the importance of fostering active critical engagement in the public sphere through provocative engaging art. She sees The Gallery as pioneering a new model of artwork and civic engagement, whilst reflecting on its aspirations and opportunities for further development through the framework of cultural democracy.

Kim interviews key actors including Helen Marriage, Artichoke CEO and Artistic Director, Martin Firrell, The Gallery’s Creative Director, representatives from the competing Out-of-Home advertisers who collectively have agreed to support the project, the Curator of Seasons 1 and 2, Bren O’Callaghan, as well as some of the artists whose work was selected for the first two exhibitions. She asks how The Gallery’s activist strategy of disruptive messaging sits alongside its sponsoring organisations intent on selling and finds surprising resonances between their aspirations.

Kim concludes that The Gallery presents a double opportunity: to make art and its institutional structures more democratic, and to make the role of the arts and culture in democracy more visible, championing them as key players in this regard.