• To improve the quality of teaching and to elevate public discussion on the built environment.

• To promote good design through the presentation and sharing of outstanding projects from around the world.

• To encourage the use of visual resources in public forums to effect the vitality, use and visual quality of public spaces.

ART on FILE was founded in 1982, by Rob Wilkinson and Colleen Chartier. Following a National Endowment for the Arts - Design Arts Grant in 1987, ART on FILE has continued to address a broad range of design challenges which effect the quality of public spaces. Through the documentation of outstanding projects around the world, ART on FILE images and research provide students, faculty and design professionals with the tools to encourage, educate and persuade.