Public Art in Pomona: Making Sure Artists Eat

Explore Pomona’s Art in Public Places history and its role as an equitable platform for engaging career-based artists!
About this Event

About the Discussion

Join us for a conversation exploring the history and impact of the City of Pomona’s Art in Public Places program. The discussion will examine how the program has evolved and identify opportunities to strengthen it as an equitable and accessible platform that supports career-based artists.

Participants will learn about Pomona’s public art funding model, the development of local murals and sculptures, and efforts to reduce barriers, provide fair artist contracts, and expand opportunities for creative professionals. The conversation will also consider how public art can contribute to community identity, cultural representation, economic development, and civic engagement.

About the Facilitator

Joshua Swodeck is a community leader, creative strategist, and advocate for inclusive innovation rooted in Pomona. He currently serves with the Cal Poly Pomona Community Innovation Hub, where he helps develop partnerships connecting education, workforce development, entrepreneurship, and community impact. With more than 20 years of experience supporting nonprofits, public agencies, creatives, and business leaders, he brings expertise in strategy, storytelling, marketing, and community-centered problem-solving.

Joshua is deeply committed to the arts, education, and civic service. He serves as President of the Board for the School of Arts + Enterprise and holds board positions with Fairplex, Urban Rising Los Angeles, the Latino and Latina Roundtable of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valley, and the Downtown Pomona District. He previously served for nine years on the City of Pomona Cultural Arts Commission and on the board of NAMI Pomona Valley.

For more than 15 years, Joshua has been actively involved in the Pomona Arts Colony. He and his wife owned a community art gallery on Second Street for seven years, and he supported the creation and implementation of the African American Advisory Alliance and its community cultural center. He has also curated more than 70 art exhibitions in Pomona and has supported Pomona Unified School District through years of PTA involvement and arts advocacy.

Much of Joshua’s work on the Cultural Arts Commission focused on expanding and strengthening Pomona’s Art in Public Places program. Pomona now has more than 120 registered public art murals and sculptures, and Joshua contributed to more than 75% of these projects. Through the City’s 1% development in-lieu fee, the program generated an average of approximately $1 million annually for public art without relying on taxpayer dollars.

Equity and fairness have remained central to Joshua’s work. He advocated for reducing administrative barriers, making the public art process more accessible, and ensuring artists received fair contracts that respected their time and talent. He also helped establish temporary public art pathways, expand funding for arts programming, and develop the City of Pomona’s first five-year Arts and Culture Action Plan.