Boston Public Art Triennial Concludes Inaugural Exhibition, Triennial 2025: The Exchange, Marking a New Era for Public Art in Boston
Drawing 2.7 M views during its triumphant six-month run, the Boston Public Art Triennial will continue to activate Boston’s public spaces in interim years
BOSTON, MA (December 3, 2025) — On October 31, 2025, the Boston Public Art Triennial (The Triennial) officially concluded its inaugural citywide exhibition, Triennial 2025: The Exchange. Presented in partnership with the City of Boston, Triennial 2025 marked a triumphant success in transforming Boston’s historic public spaces into vibrant venues of creativity, collaboration and civic dialogue.
Triennial 2025 achieved a first-of-its-kind exhibition between May 22 and October 31, bringing 24 large-scale artworks to outdoor and publicly accessible sites across eight Boston neighborhoods, including East Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Downtown, Back Bay and Fenway, as well as Cambridge. Focusing on neighborhoods and populations not typically included in conversations about contemporary art, The Triennial, the 501(c)(3) organization behind the exhibition, overcame narrative and logistical challenges by tapping into the City of Boston’s relationships with community liaisons and building over 75 unique partnerships with cultural and community organizations that would make their facilities, resources and representatives available for public programming.
Over six months, Triennial 2025 connected artists, communities, and partners across sectors, all with a shared mission to build a more vibrant, bold and equitable city through public art that opens minds, conversations, and spaces. Over six months, the $8 million initiative reached over 2.7 million views from people of all backgrounds and ages, ranging from local Bostonians to tourists visiting from far-flung locations. The effort also garnered local, national and international attention from leading cultural keepers, critics and media, reinforcing Boston’s growing reputation as a contemporary art city and expanding its status as a global leader in cultural innovation.
“With Triennial 2025, we set out to expand what public art can mean for Boston. With the City of Boston, phenomenal artists, dedicated community leaders and extraordinary partners, we did just that—we created something as dynamic as the city itself and truly reflective of Boston’s cultural legacy and its diverse voices,” said Kate Gilbert, Executive Director of the Boston Public Art Triennial. “Triennial 2025 showed that Boston is ready to embrace big ideas and lead nationally in public art. We’re proud to carry the momentum into the next phase of building a vibrant, open and equitable arts landscape.”
Co-curated by Artistic Director Pedro Alonzo and Curator Tess Lukey, The Exchange invited dialogue around pressing global and local issues through themes of Indigeneity, climate and biodiversity, health and recovery and shared humanity. The Exchange brought the work of 19 artists to Boston, spanning 16 new commissions and five temporary and permanent projects throughout Boston art museums and institutions, including the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, MassArt Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) and MIT List Visual Arts Center.
The Exchange, featured renowned global, national and local artists including Beatriz Cortez, Julian Charrière, Adela Goldbard, Nicholas Galanin, Stephen Hamilton, Ekene Ijeoma, Laura Lima, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Patrick Martinez, Alan Michelson, New Red Order, Chiharu Shiota, Gabriel Sosa, Swoon, Lan Tuazon and Yu-Wen Wu. Three additional local artist contributions were made possible by the Triennial’s Public Accelerator Program; cultivated by Assistant Curator Jasper Sanchez, they included Andy Li, Alison Croney Moses and Evelyn Rydz, whose works transformed a National Park site in Charlestown. Croney Moses was subsequently named an ICA 2025 Foster Prize winner, underscoring the Accelerator’s role in propelling Boston’s homegrown talent.
“The Boston Public Art Triennial has showcased the very best of what our city’s public spaces represent — joy, community, and dialogue,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “The citywide artscape was a vibrant and bold opportunity for our communities to gather in neighborhoods across the city to share in reflecting on these incredible pieces. From historic public buildings like the Boston Public Library and City Hall to our parks, and waterfront sites, Triennial 2025 turned Boston into a living gallery that reflects our city’s rich, layered history and cultural legacy.”
The closing week was marked by Making Public: Triennial 2025 Convening, a day-long gathering on October 24 at Roxbury Community College (RCC), supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts with support from the Barr Foundation, that brought together artists, curators, community leaders and cultural practitioners for a robust exploration of the role of public art in shaping a more open and equitable city. Over 200 attendees joined the ongoing conversation about how art shapes shared space and celebrated the long-term installation of Ekene Ijeoma’s project, Stone Circle Bench, which will remain on view at RCC through 2026.
At the convening, Gilbert announced the Triennial will continue its commitment to supporting contemporary artists and fostering community engagement in Boston’s throughout 2026 and 2027 as it begins preparations for its next citywide exhibition in 2028. The Triennial will commission new public art projects across neighborhoods; host interdisciplinary programs focused on art, civic engagement and more; and fund the annual Public Art Accelerator, a skill-building and grant-funding program supporting early-to-mid-career Boston-based artists in creating temporary public projects.
“The Boston Public Art Triennial has exemplified how collaboration and access can transform cultural participation,” said Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director of Mass Cultural Council. “By centering artists and community voices, the Triennial is not only redefining how Boston engages with contemporary art but also setting a powerful example of how investing in public art can shape more connected, creative and inclusive communities across the Commonwealth.”
Developed in partnership with more than 75 organizations, including the Boston Public Library, Samuels & Associates/Lyrik, and local colleges and universities including Boston University College of Fine Arts and Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Northeastern University Center for the Arts, Roxbury Community College, Tufts University Art Galleries and School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, and University of Massachusetts Boston Art on the Point, the exhibition demonstrated what becomes possible when collaboration drives creative practice.
"Boston has become a public arts city and the Triennial allowed us to showcase that across a citywide canvas. The artists engaged on this project, and the array of neighborhoods where the installations took place, are very representative of Boston as a whole and the creativity, vibrancy and diversity that define our destination. We are already excited for the next iteration in 2028," said Martha Sheridan, President and CEO of Meet Boston.
The Exchange’s artist-driven, expert-supported model prioritized community collaboration within each project’s neighborhood. Highlights included Gabriel Sosa’s work Ñ Press, an interactive local print studio that offered 58 printing workshops in partnership with Maverick Landing Community Services, and Laura Lima’s work Indistinct Form (Forma Indistinta) a collaboration with Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center, which featured a one-time special performance of Haydn’s “The Lark” with a string quartet from Boston Symphony Orchestra.
“When artists and communities work side by side, art becomes a catalyst for connection, reflection, and shared pride,” said Rita Lara, Executive Director of Maverick Landing Community Services. “The process of working with Gabriel and bringing the Triennial to MLCS has reaffirmed how important creative spaces are and how vital opportunities for shared experiences are to our neighborhood in East Boston.”
The exhibition projects were complemented by 115 free public programs, including panels, workshops, performances, and participatory experiences where residents and visitors engaged with public art.
Programmatic highlights throughout The Exchange included Adela Goldbard’s Invadieron por mar, respondemos con fuego. Un presagio., a fiery pyrotechnic performance that drew over 1,000 spectators to City Hall Plaza to witness the ceremonial burning of a 17th-century galleon replica crafted from invasive reeds, and The Urge 2 Merge with New Red Order, an innovative live event weaving together performance, public assembly, academia, music and film festival invited 750 guests into an immersive six-hour performance of “discursive delirium and historical hallucinations” on the unruly legacy of Thomas Morton, inspired by New Red Order’s project Material Monument to Thomas Morton (Playing Indian).
“From bringing stunning performances with Castle of Our Skin to working with youth in East Boston at Zumix, partnerships have been the living framework of this Triennial,” said Marguerite Wynter, Triennial Director of Partnerships and Engagement. “Working closely with our community collaborators has allowed us to listen deeply and act responsively. We’ve learned a great deal from these exchanges—lessons we hope to carry forward, evolving them into future collaborations that honor the city’s multiplicity and collective creativity.
The Boston Public Art Triennial 2025 is powered by $8M in contributions from supporters, including founding donors Alnoba / Lewis Family Foundation, additional funders Barbara and Amos Hostetter, Joyce Linde and the Linde Family Foundation, and major funders such as the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Barr Foundation and Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation. The event also received significant backing from organizations such as The Boston Globe, Samuels & Associates, The Boston Foundation, Wagner Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, VIA Art Fund, Meet Boston, New England Foundation for the Arts Public Art Program with funding from Barr Foundation, The ‘Quin Impact Fund, Girlfriend Fund, Massachusetts Cultural Council, and more.
Individuals and families such as Lisa Tung & Spencer Glendon, Meg & Tómas Bergstrand, Amy & David Abrams, Faith & Glenn Parker and Dwight & Kirsten Poler added to this collective generosity, ensuring the success of an inclusive and transformative public art experience throughout Boston.
“The Triennial has showcased how art and artists create community, access and engagement that can uplift the entire ecosystem and highlight our vibrant neighborhoods,” said Charlotte Wagner, Founder and President of the Wagner Foundation. “We’ve been proud to support the 2025 Triennial from its early conception 3 years ago to the impactful achievement we have all experienced these past six months and into the next Triennial in 2028.”
To learn more about Triennial’s continued work visit thetriennial.org
About Boston Public Art Triennial
Boston Public Art Triennial is the city’s first and only public art organization dedicated to supporting artists and communities in bold, contemporary, public art. The Triennial’s mission is to foster relationships between 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.
For a map of the Triennial sites, please click here.
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