JANET BEHRENS SEIBERT
Austin, Texas

AFFILIATION: Civic arts coordinator, City of Austin/Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division

AREA OF EXPERTISE: Art, culture, and the urban environment; cultural planning and policy; cultural vitality and sense of place development

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE:  Janet has a long history of working with the arts and the urban environment. As a public artist for many years she created installations for city and state agencies, corporations, universities, museums, and performance groups. A self-proclaimed “citizen artist,” she often focused on the concept of “place” and how to reveal and nurture it. She has over 14 years of active participation on four city of Austin boards and commissions: she was an original author of the Austin Art in Public Places Ordinance & Guidelines (1985), as a Design Commission member she helped write the Downtown Design Guidelines (1999), and she helped define and implement the Austin character for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in various capacities. Janet has been Civic Arts coordinator for the city of Austin for the past five years. In addition, she was the city’s point person in partnering with Texas Commission on the Arts in 2002 to facilitate a civic dialogue to identify ways art and artists could participate in developing the urban environment. As an outcome, she is currently developing a Downtown Arts Master Plan in collaboration with the Austin Art in Public Places Program. As one of the key City Staff on the 2003 Mayor’s Task Force on the Economy, she helped identify recommendations to further develop the city’s cultural vitality. Janet is currently overseeing the day-to-day activities and vision for the city’s two-year Cultural Assessment and Community Cultural Planning process.

RESEARCH INTEREST: Through her Knight Program research, Janet is continuing to explore the “art & culture/urban environment” dyad with particular focus on what she calls “cultural vitality centers.” Her goal is to define these centers in the context of the city, exploring the various typologies and their community value, the economic systems and strategies that can support them, and the methods to identify, nurture, and sustain them. Her work will become the foundation for Texas Commission on the Arts’ state-wide Cultural District Designation Initiative, a new charge with regulatory authority designated by the State of Texas Congress.