ACCELERATOR
crystal bi
perfect memory, 2026
perfect memory is a floating public art project by Boston-based artist crystal bi that explores water as a space for memory, imagination, and gratitude. Made from locally harvested bamboo, flowing fabric, and marine materials, the sculpture floats in the ocean at Fox Point Pavilion and Boat Dock from August 11 through September 11, inviting viewers to pause, reflect, and consider the question: Who has dreamed you here? Inspired by Toni Morrison’s writing on water and memory, the project reflects on our connection to ancestors and the lineage of imagination that shapes our lives and futures.
The project launches at Carson Beach on August 10 as part of the fourth annual Dream and Rest Activation, a gathering rooted in the beach’s history of activism and the right to rest and take up space. After its outdoor exhibition, perfect memory will become the centerpiece of crystal bi’s solo exhibition thousands of horizons, endlessly returning at University Hall Gallery at UMass Boston.
August 11–September 11, 2026 at Fox Point Pavilion and Boat Dock, UMass Boston.
ACCELERATOR
crystal bi
crystal bi (she/they, b. 1991) is an interdisciplinary artist working in the public realm. Her participatory art projects explore themes of imagination, creative archiving, and belonging. Her practice includes creating space for dreaming in public, weaving with natural materials, installing interactive sculptures, and sewing translucent fabrics to float on bodies of water.
As a public artist, professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Practicing Methodologies Lead with Design Studio for Social Intervention, and former art educator at Boston Public Schools, crystal works with others to imagine and design new rituals for remembering and envisioning in public space.
crystal has received grants for her public art projects through the Public Art for Spatial Justice and Creative City cohorts at New England Foundation for the Arts, Transformative Public Art Program through the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture, Live Arts Boston through The Boston Foundation, Parks Equity + Spatial Justice cohort through Olmsted Now and more.
She is currently fulfilling a dream to build a Department of Public Imagination, which creates infrastructure for horizontal dream work in Boston. Find out more at www.crystal-bi.com and www.departmentofpublicimagination.com
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