Donated and commissioned works of public art are one sector of the City of Oulu collection managed by Oulu Art Museum. In recent years, murals have become increasingly popular as a form of public art in the urban landscape.
The art museum has played the role of visual culture expert in a number of professional mural projects; in this case, the works become part of the city’s collection on a temporary basis. The murals are documented digitally in a museum database system following a set of principles defined by the museum sector and become part of the city’s visual cultural heritage. The murals included in the collection have been supervised by a visual art working group consisting of experts from the city’s administrative departments at various stages of the projects.
Oulu Art Museum does not commission or grant permits for murals or other artworks in street areas or power substations. Depending on the site, mural permits are issued by the City of Oulu Environmental Services Building Control Unit, the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and power company Oulun Energia. Go to the City Environmental Services Building Control Unit’s website
Mural sketches, complete with site plans and façade drawings, must be approved in advance by the townscape workgroup of the building control unit before applying for the permits. The permit application must be accompanied by certain documents and reports related to the project, details of which can be obtained from the permit service. The materials used in the artwork must also take into account certain specifications that apply to them.
