Brilliant artists, partners, and collaborators have generously been in conversations with us, over the past two years of Covid and racial reconciliation, on how and where to create the open, equitable future(s) we deserve via programs like N+T Asks.
But what goes into creating equitable futures for all? What role can art play? From protests to more open dialogue to direct action, people want the future, now. The artists commissioned for 2022 are using words like “imagination,” “dreams,” “world-building,” and “new futures.” We noticed something as the Accelerator artists developed their project ideas last fall: each was deeply invested in shaping a portal or image of a new world. Each imagined an entryway into something more joyful, safer, collaborative, and inclusive than our present time can behold. Each is creating “New Worlds for Now.”
Following the lead of the Public Art Accelerator Program and Signature Project artists, we are proud to designate this year’s curatorial theme as “New Worlds for Now.” Starting this spring, these projects will offer tangible proposals that conjure richer worlds into being. Inherent in these propositions is a questioning of our past and present. Expect these projects to ask you:
Who is missing?
Who belongs?
What guides your dreams?
What occupies your imagination? What feeds your imagination?
What can we learn from nature?
How can we build a safer world for the generations to come?
How can we subvert the dominant narrative?
What can we do now?
Not in an effort to interrogate the past, present, or future, but collectively consider our shared future.
Artists commissioned this year aren’t afraid to ask bold and sometimes unanswerable questions. First up is Yenny Hernandez’s homage to the pursuit of dreams and the Latinx journey to attain them with Ponle Vuelo A Tus Sueños/Let Your Dreams Take Flight. Second, we’ll welcome a local favorite, Juan Obando, who will encourage us to think about who is represented in public space through a consideration of how each of us individually fits into the Boston cityscape with Summer Sets. And third, coming in September, we will reinterpret nature and answer the call to collectively take better care of the environment (echoing Oscar Tuazon’s Growth Rings). Each will offer more opportunities for deep conversations and layered encounters, over a sequence of sites and by amplifying a multitude of voices. Along with Accelerator Artists Eli Brown, Rixy, Mima McMillan, and Rhea Vedro, all will nurture a network of new ideas and visions for a more equitable future starting NOW.
We can’t wait to craft this future with you. Follow us on social media for updates on our Signature Projects and watch out for the Accelerator artists popping off early summer! We invite you to share your own visions with us with comments below and by checking out our call for Ambassadors.
Image: Growth Rings, 2019 by artist Oscar Tuazon, photo by Ryan McMahon (c)
(revised June, 1 2022 to reflect project changes)