Harvest season is upon us. As stands our annual tradition, we use this time to reflect and express gratitude for the incredible year Now + There has had.

Guided by great hope and even greater effort, we activated New Futures For Now, co-creating shared experiences of joy and connection.

We take this time and space to celebrate the artists, partners, community members, generous supporters, and especially the participants in our public art experiences, who are at the center of all we do. Your engagement drives us towards a more robust and vibrant #PublicArtCity.

This lengthy Gratitude List demonstrates what it takes to build a public art city. Fervent hope, effort, precision, vision, and, of course, snacks!

Grab something from your table this season, and come on a journey with us through 2022.

We kicked off public art season in Boston with Yenny Hernandez’s transformative 2,500-square-foot vinyl mural, Ponle Vuelo A Tus Sueños/Let Your Dreams Take Flight, accompanied by messages of encouragement illuminating the atrium’s staircase.

Wrapped around the Boylston Street entrance of the Prudential Center, this mural encouraged our city to acknowledge the complexities of parsing the Latinx journey to dream fulfillment.

From the viewpoint of Hernandez, the large atrium on Boylston Street offered unsurpassed visibility, day and night, to the vibrant colors of the mural, tropical foliage, nostalgic imagery, and uplifting message of Latinx empowerment.

We thank Boston Properties, especially Bryan Koop, Rebecca Stoddard, and Sarah Shields, for commissioning this piece and all the Prudential Center staff for assisting in the overnight installations.

This installation marked the fourth time N+T artists have showcased their artistry in this iconic Boston location.

Curated by Leah Triplett Harrington, with support from Curatorial Assistant Jasper Sanchez and Project Manager Leo Crowley, Yenny Hernandez’s mural was also brought to life by AMI graphics (thank you, Garrett Wensberg) and BRM Production Management.

During the opening reception, Arturo Shabazz landed voice and poetry to the site, amplifying the beauty Hernandez infused in the Pru.

Yenny, you inspire us to soar while holding ourselves and others accountable. Thank you for your light!

Look out for Hernandez’s Dreambook — part coloring book, part recipe for success — as a gift for any N+T donation starting on #GivingTuesday.

Juan Obando’s Summer Sets changed the landscape and perspectives of passersby in the heat of Summer in Dock Square.

Crowds gathered around and in front of the Samuel Adams statue with eyes darting over Summer Sets to search for Faneuil Hall, Boston City Hall, and the Old State House.

As this statue crystallizes a familiar image and particular narrative of Boston, Summer Sets re-modeled our role(s) in the construction of public space.

Acting as both reflector and projector, it created space for us to co-create alternatives for memorials and divergent strategies that nurture sites of meaning-making.

We thank the incredible group of Public Art Ambassadors for creating entry points into some thoughts and responses that came up during their engagement with Summer Sets. Our summer stars included: Abby Jamiel, Erin Jackson, Vicky (Ming) Liu, Paige Moreau, Tra Ha, Hasan Muhammed, Daja Taylor, Caio Cassarino, Susan Collings, Adria Katz, and Jasper Sanchez, who did a tremendous job in sunny, overcast and sweltering days.

Shout out to Jessica Roseman, Snapped Boston, PRX Podcast Garage, A Trike Called Funk, The Coffee Trike, and @NkkiPlaydough for their help in co-creating various iterations/interpretations for what potential futures of Dock Square could be. Events ranged from live drag transformation to recordings of visions for memorials and history.

Conversations before the launch of Summer Sets assembled partners Goethe-Institut Boston with Obando, curator Leah Triplett Harrington, and guest speakers: Artist Mischa Kuball, Kathrin Jentjens from New Patrons, Abigail Satinsky of the Tufts University Art Galleries and the Collective Futures Fund, Ulf Aminde from Berlin, Artist L'Merchie Frazier with moderator and educator Devin Morris.

As part of N+T Asks Season Four, these conversations helped prepare audiences for the complexities of monuments and memorials in public space(s) and were partly supported by New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA).

A project of this magnitude and cultural sensitivity meant digging deep into our unrestricted funding, with additional support from the Reopen Creative Boston Fund, administered by the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture.

And, finally, special thanks to all the city departments that helped make this discussion of public memorialization, including the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Property Management Division, and District A1 Police, particularly Joseph Callahan, Lisa Menino, and Awilda Reyes.

Juan, thank you for your partnership and creativity as we brought this idea to life from the sparks that emerged with the summer 2020 protests.

Summer 2022 came, stretched, and left.

As leaves started to fall in September, Five Marble Leaves, by internationally acclaimed Swiss Artist Claudia Comte, arrived in Central Wharf Park.

Right there, at this tranquil respite between the New England Aquarium and the Rose Kennedy Greenway, the large, totem-like leaves inspired by a love of flora and fauna irresistibly call out for a hug.

Guest Curator Pedro Alonzo, again, helped steward this magnificent work to a lovely, leafy, suitable location for an environmentally-focused body of work.

The precision with which Claudia engages our perception of nature and our interdependence with it encourages us to be more curious and playful while honoring what is natural and timeless.

Just a few miles away, across the river, Percy Fortini-Wright connected the Cambridge community to the larger Charles River watershed with “Charles Gate,” a mural where fish, geese, and the Red Line mix, illustrating elements and realities between natural environments and bustling cities.

We give the warmest thanks to MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) for trusting us with the duration of this project and commissioning this piece to create a sense of connection and joy in Cambridge.

We are grateful for the opportunity to be invited to Cambridge and to support Percy, the seventh newly commissioned local artist activating N+T’s 2022 curatorial theme of New Futures for Now.

A continued highlight of our year is the N+T Public Art Accelerator program.

We are honored to be guiding Cohort Five, Krystle Brown, Eben Haines, Tanya Nixon-Silberg, and Ponnapa Prakkamakul in navigating the complexities of public art.

We look forward to seeing the inspired projects they develop in 2023!

None of this would be possible without the generosity of individuals who believe in the power of art + community, including long-time Accelerator supporter Joyce Linde and James and Audrey Foster.

Let’s pause for a moment and celebrate the work of these five local artists who did big things this year thanks to their Accelerator funding and support, including:

Eli Brown’s Beam Me Down crash-landed in East Boston’s LoPresti Park, sparking curiosity and urgency around climate change through queer ecologies and small acts of resilience. This alien object inspired visits from students and storytelling sessions.
Yu-Wen Wu’s We Belong promoted belonging and inclusion among immigrant communities in East Boston (and beyond!) through an LED neon eight-foot circular fixture, with a constellation of light connecting Boston’s neighborhoods in the same stars connect above in the sky.
Karmimadeebora (Mima) McMillan’s Unsung Heroes amplified voices of young Black Women and Women of Color while recognizing the unsung heroes of Roxbury/Dorchester in this community-engaged, printed 6-by-60 foot mural with partners, Freedom House in Grove Hall.
Rixy's Pa*Lante in Roxbury’s Fort Hill embodies the collective empowerment of feminism through the representation of a Latinx woman and her canine sidekick, all through a large-scale mural. With otherworldly landscapes and complex characters, Rixy disrupts social norms and attitudes that do not serve collective liberation.
Ang Li’s Place of Assembly successfully relocated from Chinatown to the Leather District and continues to preserve stoop culture, providing a connection point and rest area between the two neighborhoods bustling with activity and coming and goings motivated by all sorts of needs and desires.

Former and current staff at N+T’s 7th Anniversary Party, held at the Beehive. Back Row L to R: Leah Triplett-Harrington, Erin Sunderland, Jasper Sanchez, Jamison Cloud, Kenny Mascary, and Kate Gilbert. Front Row L to R: Linette Charles, Adria Katz, Hillary Lacombe, and Leo Crowley. (Not pictured: slandie prinston and Rebecca Lipsitch)

We thank the Now + There Team who made our projects come to life: Curator Leah Triplett Harington, CFO Kate Newth, and new additions to the team Jamison Cloud, Leo Crowley, Hillary Lacombe, Rebecca Lipsitch, slandie prinston, and Jasper Sanchez. Sadly, we said goodbye to Linette Charles, Erin Sunderland, and Kenny Mascary, who left big shoes to fill and a too-quiet office. The year could not have been without their commitments and contributions. Meanwhile, consultants Philip Barash, Sharon McDonald, and Jodi Wolin are helping us pursue N+T’s mission and plan for the future.

Without Bianca Mauro and her entire team at BRM Production Management, we could not take concepts from sketch to reality as often as we do. The BRM team extends to Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and Citywide Contracting, who make sure everything stays in place and looks better than when we got there.

We are indebted to Karen Stein Shanley of goodgood design studio for her expertise, creativity, and speediness in design. And to say public art does not exist without our friends in the City of Boston is no exaggeration. Thank you to Kara Elliot-Ortega, Karin Goodfellow, Julia Ryan, Tricia Gilrein, and Paul McCaffrey.

Thanks to Diana McCloy and Taylor Halkabuk of Teak Media, engaging videos crafted by Casey Preston of Whitebirch Media, and the magic immortalized by photographers Caitlin Cunningham, Dominic Chavez, Charles Mayer, and Faith Ninivaggi. With them, we spread the word about the power of public art and relive the moments of connection and wonder experienced in our projects.

We extend much respect and gratitude to the foundations that continue to fuel and underwrite our growth with unrestricted funds — many of whom are excited by the promise of a 2025 Public Art Triennial. We take this moment to thank and honor Harriet and the late Alan Lewis, who helped us start N+T in 2015 and pledged the first million dollars towards this audacious project as Alnoba/Lewis Family Foundation. Alan’s legacy of investing in strong leaders to create strong communities lives on in each of us at Now + There.

We express our deepest gratitude to the Barr Foundation, the Boston Cultural Council, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and Wagner Foundation for unrestricted operating funds. We appreciate the cohort building and training we have experienced with peers across the Commonwealth in the Barr-Klarman Massachusetts Arts Initiative, as well as their support of our work with Technical Development Corporation.

These foundations, a few anonymous angels, the many generous individual donors, and partners LIKE YOU make building an open public art city a genuinely collaborative and invigorating process.

We have much to be grateful for this season! We invite you to thank these friends and join them with a gift, in any amount, today as we launch our Annual Fund Campaign.

In partnership and with gratitude,

Kate Gilbert, Executive Director

With the Now + There Board of Directors: Jesse Bearkahn, Michele Davis, Sabrina Dorsainvil, Audrey Foster, Charla Jones, Brain Moy, Kathy Sharpless, Lisa Tung, and Laura Camila Rivera.

Header Photo: (c) Dominic Chavez