Two years after the ACT Government abandoned its Percent For Art Scheme, Mr Stanhope said he had been encouraged by the recommendations of the recent Loxton art review and the lack of vitriol from the public and the media.

‘‘Things were quite bleak a couple of years ago but I do believe the community is now engaging in public art and people have a level of ownership in some works of art.’’

Mr Stanhope addressed a packed theatre of more than 200 people yesterday at the ANU School of Art on the topic, Arguing for Art: The Politics of the Government’s Percent For Art Scheme. He said the cancellation last year of the $1 million centenary artwork planned for the approach to City Hill was due to a myriad of factors.

But he had recently reflected it would be a pity Canberra would not have a significant work to mark 2013.

‘‘This was a decision that I ultimately took and the monies have been reinvested in the Percent For Art program.’’

The size of the investment in a single work had been an issue. Questions had also been raised regarding the site itself and the scale of works proposed on that site.

The public sentiment that was being expressed towards public art at the time was also a factor in the decision, he said.

‘‘The public mood in relation to new public art commissions is, I believe, shifting, and it would be a shame if the opportunity to commission a centenary artwork was passed over,’’ he said.

A strong and vocal advocate of the importance of public art in the ACT, Mr Stanhope said two years on from the ACT election ‘‘my instinct is that much of the heat has gone out of the public art debate’’.

For more on this story, including Mr Stanhope's criticisms of what he describes as a campaign against ongoing funding of public art by the Opposition and The Canberra Times, see the print edition of today's paper.