An open map of the UK's public art

Public art is everywhere and belongs to everyone, yet it is rarely catalogued in one place. Works are commissioned by hundreds of different bodies, scattered across thousands of locations, and the stories behind them are easily lost. PublicArtMap aims to gather them into a single, free, accessible map that anyone can explore and anyone can help build — a piece of open cultural infrastructure, not a commercial product.

The map began in Edinburgh and now covers cities across Scotland and England, from Aberdeen to London. Each work has a page with its story, its maker, its location and — increasingly — a photograph, and works can be strung together into self-guided curated walks.

A map in progress

We would rather show you honest, growing coverage than claim completeness we don't have. The site is in beta: new cities, works and photographs are added continually, records are still being checked, and some entries will be thin or imperfect until a knowledgeable pair of eyes reaches them. The counters on the home page show the live state of the catalogue at any moment.

Contributing is currently by invitation while we work with a small founding group of volunteers and partners. If you'd like to be part of it — as a contributor, or as an arts organisation interested in partnership — see how to get involved or email joshua@cultural-commons.org.

How the map is built

The catalogue starts from the UK's remarkable open-data commons: records are drawn together from OpenStreetMap, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched, checked against each other and placed on the map. That gives each city a strong first pass — but data alone doesn't know that a statue has moved, a mural has been painted over, or a maker's name is misspelled. So invited contributors review photographs, correct records and add the local knowledge no database holds, with an editor reviewing every change before it is published.

Data & sources

Our records draw on open data — including Wikidata, Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons — alongside original research and contributions from people who know their local art. Where a fact comes from an external source, we aim to link back to it.

Photographs are used under open licences (such as Creative Commons or public domain) with the photographer and licence credited on each image. The site's own text and data are released under CC BY-SA, so anyone can reuse them with attribution and under the same terms. Map tiles and geography come from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Spotted something wrong or missing? Corrections are welcome — see the contribute page.

Accessibility

We want PublicArtMap to be usable by everyone. We aim for clear, high-contrast typography, keyboard-navigable pages, descriptive text for images, and map information that is also available as plain lists. Many artwork records note practical access details such as whether a work is outdoors, step-free or free to visit. Our full accessibility statement sets out what's in place and what still needs work.

Accessibility is an ongoing effort rather than a finished state. If you hit a barrier using the site, please tell us at joshua@cultural-commons.org so we can fix it.

Who's behind it

PublicArtMap is a project of Cultural Commons, a Community Interest Company that builds open cultural infrastructure — tools and resources for the cultural sector that are owned in common rather than locked away. As a CIC, Cultural Commons exists for community benefit: it is limited by guarantee, its assets are locked to its social purpose, and it is registered in Scotland (SC837397), with its registered office at 1 Hope Park Crescent, Edinburgh EH8 9NA.

If you work for a gallery, council, university, civic trust or arts organisation and would like to explore a partnership — sharing records, commissioning coverage of your city, or putting your collection on the map — we'd be glad to talk: joshua@cultural-commons.org.