Boston's Inaugural Public Art Triennial Opens in May

Boston’s first Public Art Triennial launches this month.

Worshippers Of The Water Spirit by Stephen Hamilton

The idea for Boston’s inaugural Public Art Triennial (thetriennial.org) started during COVID-19 when, as executive director Kate Gilbert says, “We needed something to pull us all together.” On May 22, the collaborative exhibition opens, and five years later, we need a collective effervescence more than ever.

Turning the idea into a reality took finding commonality among all the city’s arts players. It also took Pedro Alonzo, a lecturer in architecture at Harvard and former curator at the Dallas Contemporary Museum and Boston’s ICA. Under the theme of “The Exchange,” Alonzo, his co-curator Tess Lukey and a curatorial committee chose 19 artists, both locally and internationally, and paired them each with a local expert to facilitate a conversation within the storytelling. “Most of the major museums have a seat on the curatorial advisory group,” says Gilbert.

Communal Nest #1 by Laura Lima

Next, 11 community captains advised which artists and experts should be paired with sites in and across greater Boston. “With our commitment to equity and supporting communities that don’t usually get the benefits of contemporary art, we looked at census data and chose East Boston, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury,” says Gilbert. A map showing the exhibition locations will be on the public art triennial’s website and at the organization’s hub at Lyrik Back Bay, where Berlin-based artist Julian Charrière will showcase his piece, a live feed to the Brazilian rainforest.

Just some of the other exhibits to look forward to include local artist Stephen Hamilton’s project of a 15-foot giant loom at Roxbury Community College that celebrates West African crafts and traditions; Alaskan artist Nicholas Galanin’s bronze sculpture at Evans Way Park and his large-scale piece, suspended Tlingít box drum at the MassArt Museum; LA-based artist Patrick Martinez’s neon signs; and Brazilian artist Laura Lima sculptures for the city’s wildlife at the Boston Nature Center at Mass Audubon in Mattapan.

Never Forget by DX Nicholas Galanin.

All 19 artists will be on view until Oct. 31. There will also be over 100 events and activations throughout the triennial, including the ticketed launch party on May 20 and a large-scale performance in the fall on City Hall Plaza featuring Rhode Island-based Adela Goldbard and Mexican pyrotechnic artists. “I have to underscore that this is all in partnership with the city of Boston and wouldn’t happen without their support. The exhibition is an $8 million investment in culture for the city,” says Gilbert. It’s the right moment for this to happen, as if the artists are making gifts for us.”