Summary
Arts Towada, located in the centre of Towada City in Aomori Prefecture, is an “urban development through art” project made up of three elements: artworks placed throughout the city, the Towada Art Center as its core facility, and an ongoing art programme. The Towada Art Center opened in April 2008 as the first phase of the plan, followed in April 2010 by the Art Square, the second-phase area on the south side of the museum. Alongside permanent works by thirty artists from Japan and abroad, the site hosts exhibitions, workshops and art programmes run in partnership with local residents and the neighbouring shopping district. Widely covered by magazines and television, it has become a popular museum drawing some 180,000 visitors a year to a city of only about 60,000 people. Tetsuyuki Nagata, our representative director, served as supervisor of the master plan from 2002, developing the project from virtually nothing. He was involved in every stage – the selection of artists and works, the museum’s functions and floor area programme, the architectural design competition, and the formulation of operating policy – from planning through to publicity after opening, bringing the project to realisation and to success.
