slandie prinston is the Marketing + Communications Fellow at Now + There, as well as a writer and organizer in Boston.

We sat down with new staff members Leo Crowley, Jamison Cloud, and Hillary Lacombe to find out what brought them to Now + There, what projects stick out for them, and most importantly, what their favorite colors are. New-ish team member slandie prinston (who joined in December) facilitated this engaging roundtable and is sharing all the deets here.

We couldn't be more excited to welcome this dynamic foursome to the team!

A photo of the growing(!) team at N+T’s 7th Anniversary Party, held at the Beehive. Back Row L to R: Leah Triplett-Harrington, Erin Sunderland, Jasper Sanchez, Jamison Cloud, Kenny Mascary, and Kate Gilbert. Front Row L to R: Linette Charles, former team member Adria Katz, Hillary Lacombe, and Leo Crowley. (Not pictured: slandie prinston)

What brought you to Boston? What brings you to Now + There?

Hillary: This is actually my second time living in Boston. I first moved here in 2011, going to Berklee College of Music for three years. And then after that, I ended up moving back up to Maine crashing with my parents, trying to save up so I could move out to Los Angeles and do the starving artists thing. And then, after a few years of doing that, I ended up back in Boston again. Then, luckily I got a temp agency placement [with Now + There]. So, happy to join the team as special projects assistant!

slandie: So happy to have you here with us! My journey is somewhat similar as I came to Boston for my education. Moving here as an international student at 15, I finished high school and then went on to college, where the journey got chaotic because I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. Then, my parents went through a severe financial crisis. I paused school while I attempted to figure out how to pay for it. I enrolled in community college, got my associate's degree, re-enrolled into a four-year program, attempted to major in Human Services and International Relations, and dropped out again because I still had no idea where to focus and I couldn’t waste money.

I think I have some of it figured out. I’m writing, capturing my friends and family, and engaging in vulnerable conversations about intersectionality, equity, love, and community care. I wanted to find ways to explore public art and performance more intimately when I found Janet Zweig’s exhibition “What Do We Have In Common?” in partnership with Now + There and Friends of the Public Garden. It was an amazing opportunity to engage in deep memory work about a familiar place [Boston Common] and receive knowledge that made me feel more connected to the land while demystifying our global identities and unique experiences. When that project ended, I learned about the Marketing + Communications Fellowship, applied and now I’m here! It feels good to be in a space where I'm learning, working on projects that resonate, and meeting wonderful people like you [Hillary, Leo, and Jamison].

Leo: I was born and raised south of the city in a small town. I learned very early on how important travel and experience were. I don't know that I found a community in my town that was like-minded and that really pushed me to explore and seek out where in the world do I feel at home in a community? After I finished college, I moved to Boston.

I’ve done a lot of different things from working for an internet startup to working for a Toy Company in their interactive departments. I spent a lot of years traveling for music and when I stopped touring, I worked in the hospitality industry for a long time. I liked the camaraderie that came with that. The idea of working together as a team to put on the show for everybody was really exciting. And through that, I met a friend who worked for the American Repertory Theatre and she recruited me to go work for them.

There, I worked running their second stage known as Oberon for almost ten years, and overall there was a large focus put on evaluating who had access to the stage and whose voices were being shared. Especially thinking about who gets access to these resources and whose stories are being accentuated and why and whose stories are being ignored and who doesn't have that voice and who does.

The pandemic put a huge change on all of that because we were unable to meet in person and then we were questioning how to serve the communities that were so close to our mission and to our hearts. How do we serve the performers and communities that were the at-risk communities that we worked with and were without ways to make money without that social safety net network?

Leo: Once I decided to part ways with the American Repertory Theatre (ART), I had originally planned on traveling for a while until I came across the Now + There opportunity. Unbeknownst to me during the pandemic, I came across and photographed [N+T Signature Project] Growth Rings (2019) by Oscar Tuazon. I rode my bike a lot around the city during the early days when the city was completely empty. It was just so interesting to experience it that way. As I was photographing it, I was just thinking how unique it was to see it without nobody around it because that area is such an active spot, typically. I was imagining the crowds that would be there with the fairies and, and the aquarium and everything that happens down there. Instead, it was just me and a really unique project that connected with me and so I decided I needed to apply and here I am.

Jamison: Similar to slandie and Hillary, educational purposes brought me to Boston. It was a semi-familiar place. My mom was born in Lawrence and we had family ties up here, though I'd never actually been to the city until I went to college. . I went to school for photography and had a tumultuous experience of being an undergrad who maybe wasn't quite ready for a commitment to a four-year program but did it anyway. Boston holds a very special place in my heart. I found out about N+T and their mission on social media. I love public art. Following N+T’s projects and programming, I became a fan of the organization. I learned about my current role online as well - probably in the newsletter(!) and here I am.

What projects or artworks resonate with you in the public space around us? What’s your favorite N+T signature project to date?

Leo: I've lived in many different neighborhoods in the Boston area, but I've spent most of my time in the Cambridge/Somerville area. I played most of the music clubs over there, especially in Central Square. That was like a big meetup spot for a lot of Boston musicians for a long time. And there's that alleyway that's right there in Central Sq (Cambridge). It started off as a graffiti wall and then it became an important feature to the neighborhood when business owners worked with the engineering and structures of the walls [to support the graffiti movement that was happening there]. They invested their own money to reinforce it and then put out invitations to community artists to come and repaint. That [artwork] is unique in that nature: a freely open public art space that got the recognition that it deserves.

slandie: I’m definitely drawn to murals and graffiti. If I had to choose one N+T project, it would be Janet Zweig’s “What Do We Have In Common?” because it led me to the N+T fam and some of my favorite people I’ve met recently like Jasper, Curatorial Fellow, and Susan, WDWHIC Exhibition guide whose friendships have been refreshing and expansive. Right now, I’m paying attention to an upcoming project “Ponle Vuelo A Tus Sueños/Let Your Dreams Take Flight” by Yenny Hernandez, coming this June at the Pru.

Hillary: This is kind of a loaded question for me because the talk of graffiti reminds me of one of my favorite memories growing up, or core memory, of getting stopped at the railroad tracks and watching all the different graffiti artwork go by on the sides of the train. As a child, I thought that was the coolest thing. Of course, my mind is not seeing it as the destruction of property or any vandalism. [The graffiti] made the wait more appealing. For N+T projects, e “Augment” by Nick Cave and “Patterned Behavior” by Sylvia Chavez resonate with me the most. Like “Augment” reminds me of my childhood. It's bright, happy, larger than life, and chaotic in all the right ways. I'm a very nostalgic person and anything that connects me to my childlike nostalgia is going to bring up a happy feeling or positive reaction for me. And then you know, “Patterned Behavior” resonates for similar reasons.

Jamison: My favorite N+T project has to be ¡Provecho! by Justin Favela. When I think about what excites me about public art, two things come to mind: Grandiosity & Personal Narrative. This piece is an excellent example of that combination, truly overwhelming in the best way possible.

I’d love to keep having these conversations with you. Before we wrap up this roundtable, I have three more questions. Describe yourself in one word using the first letter of your last name.

Hillary: Lethargic in the winter months BUT lovely today!

Leo: Curious

Jamison: Cautiously-optimistic

slandie: Pretty humble. I wanted to say Pretty but something stopped me!

Any song you discovered recently and can’t stop playing?

Hillary: I went to Hawaii back in February. Everywhere we went, no matter which island we were on, a cover of “My Baby” by Mariah Carey kept playing. You can't touch a classic song like that!

Shot from slandie’s favorite project, *What Do We Have In Common* by Janet Zweig. L to R: Jasper Sanchez, slandie prinston, and Susan Collings as exhibition guides in 2021. Photo by passersby, courtesy of Susan Collings.

Hillary: I went to Hawaii back in February. Everywhere we went, no matter which island we were on, a cover of “My Baby” by Mariah Carey kept playing. You can't touch a classic song like that!

slandie: I like how music or objects in your environment can bring you to a safer or special place. I discovered “Confam” by Boj this morning before our roundtable and I’ve had it on replay. The genre is Nigerian Afrobeats, a genre with a focus on complex rhythm, percussion, and chanted vocals. The song sounds like a mix of Afrobeats, Konpa Ayisyen, and rara mizik. The latter is a melange of street percussion, bamboo trumpets, and metal trumpets fashioned from recycled metal. In Haitian culture, rara has roots in street performance that evolved on plantations and in maroon communities under colonialism. Rara tends to be filled with people dancing and walking in dramatic costumes that encourage sexual liberation and freedom of expression.

Jamison: I've been listening to this sappy country song called “Baby I Am” by Dalton Dover for the last couple days. It’s so cute!

Leo: STL GLD (Still gold) just released a new track and listening to that caught me listening to their work again. They also released a video during the pandemic called “Mask” which was interesting to listen to and watch.

Which color would you like to be?

Leo: Slate gray

Hillary: Bubble gum pink

Jamison: Green

slandie: Me too! I love Green.

Banner photo: Silvia López Chavez’s Patterned Behavior (2017).