Wikipedia:WikiProject Visual arts/Public art/SOS to Wikipedia process

WSPA participants raise awareness about public art in your community by locating art, researching it, and publishing your work on Wikipedia. In doing so, you are doing work similar to the Smithsonian's Save Outdoor Sculpture! program, but taking it to the next level by making your research available on Wikipedia, the most widely accessible encyclopedia around the world.

Step 1: Consult the Save Outdoor Sculpture! Database

• Go to the SOS Database to find what public artworks were documented in your community.
• Click on your state, then city. (Cities may have only one, or hundreds, or none, depending on the size.)
• Once a list of sculptures is up, go to Click here for more information for the detailed report on a specific sculpture and possibly more photos.

Step 2: Verify the Save Outdoor Sculpture! Data

• Visit the artworks, verifying their current locations, artist, title and date.
• Photograph and Geolocate each sculpture while you are on-site.
• Organize your information by creating an Excel Doc which lists the SOS! sculptures found in the database. Update it with the verified information found while at the sculptures.

Step 3: Find What’s Missing

• Identify public artworks that were not surveyed by SOS! or that are new to your community.
• Visit the artworks, documenting their locations, artist, title and date.
• Photograph and Geolocate each sculpture while you are on-site.
• Create an Excel Doc titled SOS-NOT IN of sculptures found in your community that were not in the SOS! database. Update it with the new information found while at the sculptures.

Step 4: Consult Wikipedia and Prioritize Articles

• Using your SOS-IN and SOS-NOT IN documents, search Wikipedia for each sculpture. Search a lot. Consider the various titles the sculpture might have.
  • Is there already a good article on the work?
  • Is there already a “stub” article that needs to be expanded?
  • Is there no article at all?
• Prioritize which articles you want to contribute to, or create.

Step 5: Research and Edit/Create an Article

• Consult available resources to research the history of the sculpture. Consider newspaper databases, your local library, historical society or tourism department. Also consider state-level institutions.
• Research the artist. If they are available to contact, they are often a great source of information.
• Keep in mind that all information on Wikipedia has to have a source. Original research cannot be included in the article.
• Create or Edit the Wikipedia article for your sculpture.
  • Use the WSPA Article Template to keep all articles similar in layout.
  • Use the WSPA Style Guide for all aspects of article editing.
  • Use the WSPA Image Upload Guide for help with photos.