Better Angels
by Heather Kapplow
Better Angels is a traveling large-scale public art work by Boston-based conceptual artist Heather Kapplow, that popped up across Boston’s iconic parks and public spaces from June through August 2026. Better Angels is a playful invitation for viewers to envision their best selves with a fellow participant as witness, offering moments of grace when we fall short.
With large, campy inflatable clouds, golden gates to heaven, and a cast of “angels” performed by local artists, Better Angels humorously yet earnestly reminds visitors that democracy has always required us to navigate personal and collective aspirations, the challenges that keep us from them, and work together toward ideals beyond our lifetimes.
Watch a recording of Let's Talk: Building a Heaven for Everyone
Heather Kapplow
b. 1972, Based in Allston, MA
Heather/Hey There Kapplow is a self-trained conceptual artist based in the USA. Kapplow creates participatory experiences using installation, sound, objects, text, engagement and other strategies to convert audiences into collaborators and complex, hard-to-answer questions into tenderly co-held things, invested with transformative collective care.
Kapplow has been awarded numerous grants, residencies and fellowships, and has had work commissioned for galleries and festivals within the USA and internationally. Most notably, performing at Venice Biennale, Supermarket Art Fair, ARoS Kunstmuseum, ANTI-Festival, Guggenheim Museum, Museo Arte Moderno and the Queens Museum; within works by Guillermo Gómez-Peña and On Kawara, among others.
Our Supporters
Better Angels is free and open to all thanks to the generous contributions of people like you who give annually and the generosity of Eastern Bank Foundation.
Special thanks to BXP for hosting Better Angels’s first pop up and the opening celebration at Atlantic Wharf, June 26—28. We’re grateful to Rhode-Island based Pneuhaus for bringing Heather Kapplow’s vision of heaven to life and to BRM for their production assistance.
Please contact us if you’re interested in hosting or supporting a Better Angels activation!