Mountain View has a policy to set aside 1% of the cost of construction of any major public buildings (that are 1 million dollars or more) for artwork that will be either part of the building or in a public area in front of the building.  

The Visual Arts Committee sends out "call for artists" and selects the art. They created a map of most of the major pieces of public art. Here's a link to it. I was on the committee for a few years and it was an honor to get to be part of the selection process and to know that people will be admiring the art that I helped pick. 

The Visual Arts Committee also selects the art that hangs inside the Center for the Performing Arts. People that attend events in the CPA spend time perusing art in the lobby an usually that art is for sale. Our city has done a fabulous job making sure that the arts are well represented. 

The main focus of the Visual Arts Committee has been selecting artists and pieces for the Rengstorff Community Center renovation project.  They just selected four artists and the works were approved by Council at the end of 2016.  Now they're working with the artists to refine the actual works.  There will be one exterior piece and three interior ones. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed renovation and art.

Just for fun, I've included one image of a piece of art that isn't within our city limits, but next door in Sunnyvale. I'll give the first person who correctly points out which piece of art it is, a  10.00 gift card to Eureka Restaurant downtown.