Panel: The Triennial is Coming! Public Art in Boston and Beyond

As Boston prepares for its first-ever, city-wide Public Art Triennial in May 2025, join us for an in-depth discussion about the joys, pitfalls, and the political possibilities of creating art in and for a city. How can art in the public sphere amplify and support communities? What are the challenges in merging creative and civic spaces during times of political strife? And, honestly, how does it all happen? 

 To help us unpack these questions are SMFA-alumna Kate Gilbert (founder and director of the Boston Public Art Triennial); Robert Kwak (Benchmark Arts); Matt Okazaki (Tufts History of Art and Architecture) Sean Glover (SMFA Sculpture); and Mags Harries (SMFA Sculpture)–moderated by TUAG director Dina Deitsch, chair and founder of Tufts Public Art Committee.

Kate Gilbert (she/her) founded Now + There in 2015, which became Boston Public Art Triennial in 2024, after completing an MFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University, and decades of programming, partnerships, curation, and creative placemaking with Boston cultural institutions. Gilbert is the 2020 recipient of NEFA’s Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art. Her call to civic leaders to advance art in public spaces was included in Idea City: How to Make Boston More Livable, Equitable, and Resilient (2023).

Sean Glover is an artist and educator who uses a wide range of materials and processes (both new and old) to investigate the histories of violence, labor, and technology. Currently, he is a Professor of the Practice at the School in the field of Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston at Tufts University. Sean’s work has been exhibited as the ICA Boston, SFMOMA, Wellesley College, and Space Gallery in Portland, ME. He lives and works in Boston, MA.

Mags Harries is a distinguished sculptor and public artist renowned for her public work with her husband and architect Lajos Heder. They established Harries Heder Collaborative in 1990 focusing on creating 30 site specific public art installations across the United States and internationally. Her work continues to influence public art practices, emphasizing the integration of art into public spaces to enhance community engagement and environmental awareness.

Robert  Kwak is the Chief Operating Officer of Benchmark Arts, an art production firm serving artists, galleries, cultural institutions, and themed entertainment companies. The firm’s clients include the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), the Rose Kennedy Greenway (Boston) and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Matthew Akira Okazaki is a Professor of the Practice in Architecture at Tufts University, founder of the interdisciplinary art and design practice Field Office LLC, and a Principal at Architecture for Public Benefit, a benefit corporation serving public, non-profit, and mission-driven organizations. Recent projects have been featured at the Boston Public Art Triennial’s Lot Lab 2024 – part of Boston’s three-year “Un-Monument | Re-Monument | De-Monument” Program, the City of Cambridge’s “Shade is Social Justice Initiative”, The Chicago Architecture Biennial, and in the upcoming US Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale.

Image: Sam Fields, Stay, 2023. Image courtesy of Annielly Camargo.