Boston will soon join the ranks of dynamic cities across the globe hosting large-scale public art exhibitions in an effort to connect local communities, stimulate discourse and celebrate the transformative power of art. From May 22 - October 31, 2025, Boston will host its inaugural Public Art Triennial, the brainchild of Executive Director Kate Gilbert and her team at the Boston-based public art nonprofit Now + There. 

On Tuesday night Gilbert, her board, investors and team hosted supporters to announce the rebranding of Now + There to the Boston Public Art Triennial with a new website, logo and focus on mounting a citywide public show every three years. From the stage at the Seaport hotspot Grace by Nia, Gilbert joked that the nonprofit she has run since 2014 was in the process of “transforming from an organization with a confusing name no one can remember, doing temporary projects here and there, to a full-blown triennial engaging the city every three years.”

This will be welcome news to anyone who’s experienced La Biennale Arte in Venice, Italy; Counterpublic in St. Louis, Prospect in New Orleans, Desert X in Coachella Valley, the Whitney Biennial in New York, or any of the hundreds of biennials and triennials taking place across the globe every year. A public art triennial can catalyze a city, welcoming visitors from near and far and giving the sense that the whole world has been brought to one place. Unlike art fairs which are designed to stimulate interest in galleries and the art market, biennials and triennials welcome everyone, interrogate social issues, engage the zeitgeist, foster cross-pollination between industries, academies, businesses and value systems and invigorate tourism.

Just ask Boston’s Mayor, Michelle Wu. “Boston is a city full of dynamic creative talent. We’re proud to join the ranks of cities hosting global celebrations of contemporary art and its ability to help us see the world in new ways," she said in a statement. “The Boston Public Art Triennial will expand our city’s offering of arts experiences that are free and accessible to all, while inviting local and international artists to create in a hub of culture and innovation.”

The powerful significance of that hub was the creative inspiration for the 2025 Triennial theme and title: The Exchange.

Triennial Artistic Director Pedro Alonzo describes Boston as “a city of experts,” citing the enormous global impact Boston has on the worlds of research, academia, humanitarian efforts, arts and science. “The Exchange will bring artists into dialogue with communities of experts across the city who have come together to take productive action. Working together to develop compelling narratives that reveal new perspectives by humanizing issues, visualizing desired outcomes and reminding us of the consequences of inaction.” 

The experienced team behind the Triennial stresses the role of public art in making Boston a more open city. In many ways, Boston’s expert communities are siloed and that means ideas are not always shared in timely, productive or lasting ways. Art has the unique capacity to personalize, humanize and breathe life into research outcomes, knowledge sets and academic or institution-speak which otherwise fail to connect with the public.

Alonzo and Triennial Curator Tess Lukey developed the concept of the Exchange to bridge those siloes both ways: artist to expert and expert to artist. Curator Tess Lukey is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and Associate Curator of Native American Art at The Trustees of Reservations. On Tuesday night she spoke of the power of public art to foster a sense of belonging and pride among area residents and her hopes that the artists included can strengthen ties with indigenous people.

In addition to being an exchange between experts and artists of course, the Triennial will be an exchange between history and contemporary life. Boston’s history provides rich, fertile ground for creative excavation, as well as opportunities for addressing omissions and offering new or alternative perspectives. Expect the artists participating in the first Boston Public Art Triennial to open hearts and minds to new narratives on the way history has been told and all that has been left out.

Over many months and with the help of well cast Curatorial and Triennial Advisory groups, Alonzo and Luckey have enlisted a cohort of impressively accomplished artists who will exhibit in 2025. The fifteen commissioned projects Alonzo and Luckey will curate “reflect Boston’s leadership in defined sub-themes of equity, climate and biodiversity, indigeneity, shared humanity and wellness.” 

Here is the list of artists who will present in 2025: Beatriz Cortez (b. 1970, based in Los Angeles), Julian Charriére (b. 1987, based in Berlin), Adela Goldbard (b. 1979, based in Rhode Island and Mexico City), Stephen Hamilton (b. 1987, based in Boston), Cannupa Hanska Luger (b. 1979, based in New Mexico), Laura Lima (b. 1971, based in Rio de Janeiro), Ekene Ijeoma (b. 1985, based in Boston), Nicholas Galanin (b. 1979, based in Alaska) co-curated with MassArt Art Museum, Patrick Martinez (b. 1980, based in Los Angeles), Delcy Morelos (b. 1967, based in Bogotá), New Red Order (Adam Khalil, b. 1988; Zack Khalil, b. 1991; Jackson Polys, b. 1976; all based in New York; Kahilils from Watertown, MA), Gabriel Sosa (b. 1985, based in Boston), Lan Tuazon (b. 1976, based in Chicago), Swoon (b. 1977, based in New York).

Marguerite Wynter, the Triennial’s Director of Partnerships & Engagement (or, the DoPE) stresses the importance of Community Captains, paid advisors who involve neighborhoods at the grassroots level and make sure the Triennial takes community feedback to heart when situating artworks and planning programming. Community Captains include: from Allston Audrey Seraphin; from Dorchester Anny Thach and Tanya Nixon-Silberg; from East Boston Farah Lachmi; from Jamaica Plain Sean Webster; from Roxbury Olawumi Akinwumi and Sean Webster; from Mattapan Johane Alexis-Phanor and Edosa Osemwegie from Roslindale and Jamaica Plain Long Tong; from Roslindale and East Boston Magdiela Matta; and from the South End Alfredo Munoz.

The point of the Triennial, Gilbert emphasizes, is not to generate answers but to stimulate public dialogue around urgent social, cultural, political, historical and scientific questions, among them, “How can we work together?”

As Now + There undergoes its organizational transition to the Triennial, crucial programs will remain. Three additional local artists will be selected to participate in the Triennial via the Accelerator. Since 2018, Now + There’s Public Art Accelerator Program has been providing much needed funding to early-to-mid-career artists, allowing them to consider projects on a larger scale, push their craft to new heights and gain greater exposure to their work.

Lot Lab which invigorates unused parcels of land with site specific public art projects, will open Presence June 10, 2024 Charlestown Navy Yard. Presence is part of "Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston" a two year project by The Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture (MOAC), via the Boston Art Commission.

Cover Image: Laura Lima, “Communal Nest #1” 2021. Straw, wood and thread. 100 3/8 x 57 7/8 x 64 1/8 inches; 255 x 147 x 163cm. Photo credit: Laura Lima Studio. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.