Temporary and Site-specific

For Boston, and all who are curious and engaged, Now + There is a public art curator that challenges our city’s cultural identity by taking artistic risks and consistently producing compelling projects. Our projects are temporary and site specific, hence our name.

Our Mission

Our mission is to foster artists and the public to create bold public art experiences that open minds, conversations, and spaces across Boston, resulting in a more open, equitable, and vibrant city.

Won't you join us?

Achieving our mission takes a community.  Join us on social media, sign up below for our monthly newsletter, and send us any questions or suggestions you have about public art in Boston.  

Our Values

Now and There strives to create engaging works of art and inspired spaces. Here are our core values:

1. We put our artists' visions first when selecting a project.

2. We are nimble of mind and action.

3. We are brave. (We know not everyone will like the work we present.)

At Now + There, we believe justice is core to our mission of fostering artists and the public to co-create bold public art experiences that open minds, conversations, and spaces across Boston, resulting in a more open, equitable, and vibrant city

Achieving our mission takes a community. Together, we are building a public art city where practicing radical collaboration and inclusion in the production of life-affirming art can flex the muscles needed to imagine new, equitable ways of living together. The more diverse and inclusive we are, the better our work will be. Creating a culture of equity is the right thing to do, and it will strengthen our work and our impact and help us achieve our vision: A public art city defined as open, vibrant, and equitable with bold, temporary art in all of Boston’s neighborhoods.

Our Roots

Now and There is the reinvigoration of UrbanArts Institute (UAI) a 501c(3) organization, which facilitated public art and design projects in Boston from 1980 to 2012. UrbanArts was founded in 1980 by Pamela Worden based on the belief that the cultural vitality of our communities depends on incorporating the arts in the public realm, and by engaging artists, and citizens. In 1983 UAI secured a contract to create the Orange Line Public Art Program. Dedicated in 1987, the artworks from this program recorded the lives of community members affected by the rapid transit line through an award-winning, community-based Urban Writers project and thus solidified the organization’s commitment to community-driven process.

In 1999 UrbanArts aligned with Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) under the then college President Kay Sloan and UAI director Ricardo Barreto to strengthen each institution’s commitment to the study and practice of public art and design. Barreto along with project manager Christina Lanzl provided expertise in the administration of public art projects; administered a public slide bank and engaged communities and youth in educational programs until 2012. UrbanArts' complete history and archives are currently be catalogued at the Boston Public Library. Click here for an abridged portfolio of UrbanArts Institute projects. 

In 2014 after disassociating from MassArt, UrbanArts elected Kate Gilbert their new director and embarked on a bold new road to curatorially-based work that is sensitive to community context and place.