As part of our commitment to fostering a more vibrant city through bold public art, we strive to build culturally responsive relationships through our partnerships and participatory programs. This year at Lot Lab is no different; we are connecting with the community of Charlestown and beyond through dynamic programming of performance, spoken word, theater, workshops, and much more.
Fresh off the incredible feat of bringing Simone Leigh’s spectacular artworks from Boston to Venice and then to Boston, Kate Herlihy brings to Now + There balanced respect for artists’ vision with planning rigor. blu prinston, N+T Communications Assistant, chatted with Kate about how early access to arts education, mentorship, and teamwork make her ready to “pay it forward” as N+T’s Managing Director.
As a veteran of two Chicago Architectural Biennales, Marguerite Wynter brings FOMO-inducing stories of events we all missed out on—did we hear joy riding through the South Side?—and a deep commitment to engaging community in the co-creation of public art. Learn more about Marguerite and drop her a line to welcome her to a new event, space, or idea!
Now that we’re getting ready to launch Lot Lab in the Charlestown Navy Yard on June 7, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my Now + There journey, which began with me becoming a Public Art Ambassador two summers ago. If you’re considering becoming a Public Art Ambassador for Lot Lab, I hope my reflections about my time as a PAA can help to guide you!
Talking to artists and community members--listening and learning from them--brings life to all our projects. This year of Mending looks at stories of innovation, global connection, individual perseverance, and tenacity, weaving together the impossible and offering opportunities to amplify what is most delicate (collective joy), transient (dreams), or everlasting (love) in our interconnected world.
Our 2020 Accelerator artists, Shaka Dendy, Ang Li, Karthik Pandian, Gabriel Sosa, and Yu-Wen Wu, successfully completed a six-month intensive designed to demystify the process of creating public art and will each receive a $25,000 stipend to realize their projects in over 7 Boston neighborhoods between now and September 2021.
Today as we excitedly announce Sari Carel’s new multi-media installation The Shape of Play, set to debut in Fall 2020 in the North End’s Waterfront Park, we’re offering up insight into the ideas, concepts, research, and artistic and practical influences that inform the curatorial and collaborative process that get us from early renderings all the way to fully realized artwork. Read on to hear from leaders on the JArts and Now + There project team, as well as the artist about some of the things that have shaped The Shape of Play.
We’re working from home too, which means curating from the kitchen table. Click to read about our second virtual studio visit with artist Joanna Tam whose interdisciplinary installations amplify the voices of others and reflect on the artist’s lived immigration experiences. Click to read more about Joanna and where she’s finding hope right now.
We’re working from home too, which means curating from the kitchen table. Click to read about our first virtual studio visit with interdisciplinary artist Zsuzsanna Varga-Szegedi whose work blending media to “analyze” absence, distortion, and distance is particularly poignant during this time. Click to read more about Zsuzi and her perspective on “possibility”
