The Inaugural Boston Public Art Triennial “Triennial 2025: The Exchange” Opens to the Public
City-Wide Celebration of Public Art Features Bold New Commissions Exploring Themes of Indigeneity, Climate, Health, and Shared Humanity
May 22 – October 31, 2025
Ribbon cutting ceremony takes place at MassArt Art Museum on Thursday, May 22nd at 11:30 AM with The Triennial and remarks by Mayor Michelle Wu, and performance by Geraldine Barney.
The Boston Public Art Triennial, the city’s first and only organization dedicated to supporting innovative public art, opens its inaugural exhibition, Triennial 2025: The Exchange, on May 22 in partnership with the City of Boston. The Triennial takes place throughout 21 outdoor spaces and publicly accessible sites across Boston, including one location in Cambridge; and remains on view through October 31, 2025. For a map of the Triennial sites, please click here.
Curated by Artistic Director Pedro Alonzo and Curator Tess Lukey, Triennial 2025: The Exchange, encourages collaboration between artists and local experts to spark dialogue around issues shaping Boston and the world. The curatorial premise emerged from the belief that in moments of global uncertainty, including political division, ecological crisis, and widespread misinformation, true transformation begins with listening and collaboration.
“Rather than presenting fixed answers, the Triennial invites audiences to explore alternatives through projects that draw on emotional, social, and spiritual ways of knowing. Each work is an entry point for deeper understanding, not a conclusion. My co-curator, Tess Lukey, and I hope these artworks encourage meaningful discussions.”
This landmark city-wide exhibition showcases new, bold commissions spanning sculpture, installation, and performance by international, national, and local artists. The theme, The Exchange, is rooted in the belief that powerful art emerges from meaningful dialogue and strategically pairs artists with local experts, from climate scientists to historians, public health workers to civic organizers, to explore complex societal challenges through shared creative inquiry. It encourages an exchange between audiences and art and a conversation across nine diverse neighborhoods.
Spanning neighborhoods across the city—including East Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Downtown, Back Bay, Fenway, and Cambridge—Triennial 2025 offers free, open-to-all programming throughout its six-month run. Triennial 2025: The Exchange marks a pivotal moment in Boston’s evolution toward becoming a public art city, driven by collaborations among museums, institutions, and more than 75 partners—from arts and culture organizations to civic groups. The Triennial opens public spaces for dialogue through the lens of public art. With hundreds of events—from interdisciplinary conversations to multi-generational programs—there are opportunities for audiences of all ages to experience and engage with these transformative public art commissions, all free of charge. For a full list of Triennial 2025 partners, visit thetriennial.org/partners.
Kate Gilbert, Executive Director of Boston Public Art Triennial, comments: “I’m incredibly proud of this collaborative effort to create a recurring arts event that the region can come to anticipate — a free exhibition that celebrates contemporary art as a driver of social, cultural, and economic change. Today, we celebrate the beginning of a movement that sparks curiosity and exchange across neighborhoods and disciplines, and engenders new ideas for a more just world. Over the next six months and future iterations of the Boston Public Art Triennial, Boston takes a bold step toward a more equitable, vibrant, and open city.”
Participating Artists by Neighborhood
For full details on all Triennial commissions, Boston museums and institutions visit thetriennial.org.
Back Bay
Julian Charrière (b. 1987, based in Berlin); Triennial Hub at Lyrik Back Bay
Swoon (b. 1977, based in New York); Boston Public Library, Central Library
Charlestown Navy Yard
Alison Croney Moses (b. 1983, based in Boston)
Beatriz Cortez (b. 1970, based in Los Angeles)
Andy Li (b. 1988, based in Boston)
Evelyn Rydz (b. 1979, based in Boston)
Dorchester
Cannupa Hanska Luger (b. 1979, based in New Mexico); University of Massachusetts Boston, Arts on the Point
Ekene Ijeoma (b. 1985, based in Boston); Dr. Loesch Family Park
Downtown
Adela Goldbard (b. 1979, based in Rhode Island and Mexico City); City Hall Plaza
Patrick Martinez (b. 1980, based in Los Angeles); Downtown Crossing
New Red Order (Formation c. 2016–ongoing, founded 2019; based in New York); Marketplace Center with Gazit Horizons
East Boston
Chiharu Shiota (b. 1972, based in Berlin); ICA Watershed, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston’s seasonal project space
Gabriel Sosa (b. 1985, based in Boston); Maverick Landing Community Service
Fenway
Nicholas Galanin (b. 1979, based in Alaska); Evans Way Park and MassArt Art Museum (MAAM)
Alan Michelson (b. 1953, based in New York); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Gabriel Sosa (b. 1985, based in Boston); Tufts University Galleries / Boston (SMFA at Tufts)
Yu-Wen Wu (b. 1958, based in Boston); Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Mattapan
Laura Lima (b. 1971, based in Rio de Janeiro); Mass Audubon Boston Nature Center
Lan Tuazon (b. 1976, based in Chicago); Hunt-Almont Park
Roxbury
Stephen Hamilton (b. 1987, based in Boston); Roxbury Community College
Cambridge
MIT Public Art Collection; MIT List Visual Arts Center
In addition to the 16 new Triennial commissions, Boston museums and institutions—including the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, MassArt Art Museum (which is presenting an additional exhibition by Nicholas Galanin), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), and MIT List Visual Arts Center—will present temporary and permanent projects throughout outdoor spaces and publicly accessible sites, for a total of 20 new commissions and 21 sites for public art experiences between May 22 and October 31.
Designed to foster community engagement and spark meaningful conversations, each Triennial project reflects Boston’s leadership in addressing four key themes: indigeneity, climate and biodiversity, health and recovery, and shared humanity. These thematic touchpoints emerged organically through the process of collaborative exchange. By breaking down silos between disciplines, Triennial 2025 offers artists access to Boston’s immense reservoir of expertise and encourages projects that challenge assumptions, spark curiosity, and prioritize complexity oversimplification.
Triennial 2025 - previously known as NOW + THERE - is the culmination of the organization’s 10-year history of temporary public art works to open minds, conversations, and spaces, and features a special exhibit by artists of its unique Public Art Accelerator program. With the Bloomberg Connects mobile app and printed maps available at the Triennial Hub at Lyrik Back Bay, 400 Newbury Street, visitors can explore Boston’s distinctive neighborhoods through artworks and local businesses identified through community listening sessions.
Boston Public Art Triennial 2025’s compelling public art experiences are made possible with the generosity of supporters who have contributed a combined $8M, including founding donors Alnoba / Lewis Family Foundation and additional funders Barbara and Amos Hostetter, and Joyce Linde and Linde Family Foundation. Leading support comes from the City of Boston, Barr Foundation, Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation, and Presenting Sponsor South Station Tower. Significant support also comes from Amy and David Abrams, Meg and Tomas Bergstrand, Lisa Tung and Spencer Glendon, Wagner Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Samuels & Associates and Lyrik, The Boston Globe, Massachusetts Cultural Council, UnMonument, and many more.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who will participate in the ribbon cutting on May 22, emphasized the city’s commitment to free and accessible cultural experiences: “This exhibition symbolizes Boston’s continued celebration of creativity, and highlights the importance of public art and the connections it builds in our communities,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I’m proud to support the opening of this free exhibition and invite all our community members to experience the inspiration, connections and conversations it may bring.”
Public program highlights include the Boston Public Art Triennial’s “Let’s Talk” series, performances in partnership with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Castle of Our Skins, public art film series hosted by Goethe Institut Boston, youth and family activities, and more.
The Triennial’s Let’s Talk Series brings together interdisciplinary voices to respond to and expand upon the curatorial theme. The conversations mirror the collaborative process behind The Exchange, offering the public an extended opportunity to hear from the experts and artists who shaped the projects. Confirmed conversations include an opening talk with Triennial curators and artists Laura Lima and Stephen Hamilton; a collaboration with The Huntington featuring Alison Croney Moses, Mfoniso Udofia, Tanya Nixon Silberg, and Ng’endo Mukii; MassArt Art Museum (MAAM) will host a conversation between Tess Lukey and Nicholas Galanin. Triennial 2025 programming will conclude on October 24th with a day-long closing symposium, supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts and presented in partnership with Roxbury Community College. More programs and site activations to be announced at a later date.
Note to the Editors
The Triennial 2025 commissions are supported by the City of Boston and a coalition of cultural institutions and community organizations.
Boston Public Art Triennial is for Boston and fueled by Bostonians. Creating compelling public art experiences that are 100% free and open up our city is only possible with the generosity of our supporters. Please see our website www.thetriennial.org/give for the full list of supporters.
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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