In this episode I’m talking with Martyn Evans, Creative Director at Landsec with responsibility for developing and delivering the company’s public art and cultural engagement programmes.

From the annual commissions on fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square to the Angel of the North or a Banksy appearing in Cheltenham, public art projects are the most visible and accessible manifestations of contemporary art practice in our society. They are also uniquely divisive, sometimes becoming well loved icons of communities and places, they can also be reviled stoking anger, protest or disenfranchisement. The evolving use and role of public art is equally fluid, shifting between temporary and permanent, memorial, celebration, social critique, decoration and activism. Public art also plays an important role in articulating how we define public space in an increasingly privatised world and the debates we have about our history and culture.

I spoke to Martyn at Landsec’s head quarters in Central London, talking about the trajectory of his career and approach to developing cultural programmes – his priorities at Landsec and how he’s working to change the ways developers understand working with art.