“Anyone who has followed the periodic “culture wars” that break out whenever some outraged congressman attacks a piece of government funded art he or she finds offensive and is counter-attacked by an equally outraged critic who defends artists’ freedom to do anything they want will find this book a welcome relief … Zuidervaart offers a philosophically sophisticated reflection that exposes the false assumptions shared by both “traditionalists” and “transgressivists” … the book is extremely well organized, the writing clear, and careful conceptual distinctions abound … One of the book’s great strengths is its comprehensiveness … for those who are looking for a more thoughtful and well grounded consideration of the issue of government funding and, above all, of the appropriate place of the arts in our social and political life, Zuidervaart has given us an indispensible book.”
Larry Shiner, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

“… I highly recommend Art in Public to anyone interested in public art in general, and for [anyone] involved in more specific discussions about government funding of the arts, it should be required reading.”
Jason Simus, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

“The central aim of Lambert Zuidervaart’s Art in Public can be stated in a phrase: to defend direct state subsidies for non-profit arts organizations … That art is currently in the stage of wholesale global institutionalization makes Zuidervaart’s account of its relation to justice and democracy invaluable.”
Philosophy in Review