Since 2000, the Cultural Office of the City of Wiesbaden has regularly organized the so-called Wiesbaden Summer of Art every two years, mostly in public places in the city. Projects by contemporary artists are realized under various themes. Among them are artists from Wiesbaden and the region, but also national and international artists. The exhibitions are accompanied by a variety of supporting programs, ranging from artist talks to performances, musical events and readings. Special emphasis was placed on the "round birthdays" of Fluxus, an art form that began in 1962 with the legendary "International Festival of Contemporary Music" in Wiesbaden. Catalogs documenting the art summers were published.

The history of the Wiesbaden Summer of Art began in 1989 when, together with the Department of Culture, artists conceived and realized projects under the jointly developed motto "Urban Space - Urban Dream". The art summer took place in the city area - from the city center via Schierstein and Biebrich to the Neroberg. In 2000, the idea of showing art in urban spaces was taken up again and continued under the title "Kunstbaden". 23 selected projects were realized, concentrated in the city centre of Wiesbaden.

Entitled "40 years: Fluxus and the consequences", the 2002 art summer was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Fluxus art movement at several locations - including the Hertie department store on Schwalbacher Straße, which was already empty at the time. In 2004, the art summer consisted of a "triad": sculpture park in the Kurpark, summer academy and symposium. The symposium "Space for Sculpture - Time for Questions" was attended by participants from science and art with a focus on art in public spaces, natural art and marketing.

Kunstsommer 2006 posed the question, deliberately formulated as a stumbling block, "Where is the public sphere?" Various projects were created for the area from the main railway station to behind the slaughterhouse, which were used to discuss the forms and limits of the urban public sphere and personal privacy. In 2008, the motto of the art summer was "12 am Ring". The sculpture trail unfolded primarily on the central reservation of the First Ring from the Landeshaus to Sedanplatz.

The "Garden" theme dominated the 2010 Summer of Art in the Nero Valley Park with projects focusing on the themes of nature, experiencing nature, ecology, urbanity and the relationship between nature and art. This was accompanied by art/artist talks and lectures in the thalhaus and events of various genres in the park. In 2012, the anniversary year of Fluxus, the 50th birthday of the art movement in Wiesbaden was celebrated with retrospectives and contemporary works in almost all of the city's cultural institutions over 366 days. Exhibitions on the history of the Fluxus movement, the life's work of Ben Patterson and artists working at the same time, such as Peter Röhr and Charlotte Posenenske, as well as concerts, plays, performances and events for children and adults were all part of the celebrations.

The special feature of the 2014 art summer entitled "Building 9 Bridges" was the inclusion of nine of Wiesbaden's twin cities. The public space was the section of Schwalbacher Straße between Rheinstraße and Coulinstraße. The art summer was accompanied by an exhibition in the Kunsthaus and events organized by the partner cities.