Pennsylvania Statutes Title 53 P.S. Municipal and Quasi-Municipal Corporations § 22742. “Work of art” defined; powers and duties of commission

The term “work of art,” as used in this act shall apply to and include all paintings, mural decorations, statutes, bas-reliefs, sculptures, monuments, fountains, arches, ornamental gateways, and other structures of a permanent character, intended for ornament or commemoration. Hereafter no work of are shall become the property of the city, by purchase, gift, or otherwise, unless such work of art, or the design of the same, together with a statement of the proposed location of the same, shall first have been submitted to and approved by said Art Commission, acting by a majority of all its appointed members; nor shall any work of art, until so approved, be erected or placed in, over or upon, or allowed to extend in, over or upon, any street, avenue, square, place, common, park, municipal building, or other public place, under the control of the city or any department or officer thereof. And the said commission shall act in a similar capacity, with similar powers, in respect to the design of any municipal building, bridge, approach, lamp, ornamental gate, or fence, or other structure erected or to be erected upon land belonging to the city, or other public place under its control: Provided, That this section shall not apply to bridges costing less than twenty-five thousand dollars, nor to buildings costing less than fifty thousand dollars. No existing work of art in the possession of the city shall be removed, relocated or altered, in any way, without the similar approval of said commission; and any such work of art shall be removed, relocated or altered, in any way that may be ordered, by a vote passed, and approved in writing, by two-thirds of all the members of said commission, unless such work of are is attached to a portion of a building or other structure in process of demolition. In case the immediate removal or relocation of any existing work of art shall be deemed necessary by the proper authorities, the commission shall, within forty-eight hours after notice from them, approve or disapprove of such removal or relocation, and, in case of their failure to act within such forty-eight hours, they shall be deemed to have approved the action proposed.

In all other cases, if the commission shall fail to decide upon any matter submitted to them, within sixty days after its submission, their decision shall be deemed unnecessary.