Our newest team members from left to right above: Katie Charlton, Development Associate; Adria Katz, Office Manager; and Jules Leonardos, Communications Manager; talk the power of public art, their favorite work-from-home tunes, and how they hope to bolster Now + There’s impact on Boston’s arts landscape.
What brought you to Boston? What brings you to Now + There?
Katie’s favorite project, ¡Provecho! by Justin Favela. Photo by Dominic Chavez.
Katie: I moved to Boston four years ago for school, I just graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Theatre this past May! I came to Now + There from an internship-turned-job at the Boston Center for the Arts my Junior year of college at the recommendation of my former boss (and N+T Board Member) Emily Foster Day! I started working with N+T at the beginning of my senior year last fall, and I’m so glad to be working with such wonderful people — I’ve loved watching this organization grow!
Adria: I moved to Boston after college - I lived in a big house in Providence, and we lived there for a few years after graduating and then one person got a job in Boston. After that, we all fell right in line and got jobs in Boston so we could move up here together! That was 8 years ago now! I came to Now + There after being on partial unemployment - my previous work place has still not reopened. I miss it a lot, but I am also looking forward to growing my experience in non-profit operations. It really helped that Victoria [Hall, N+T’s Director of Operations] and I had worked at the same non-profit previously - I felt like I’d be in good hands!
Jules: Born and raised in Cambridge, MA; I left for freshman year of college in Atlanta, took a yearlong pit stop in North Adams, MA; and finished out undergrad in NYC. I came back home a few months after graduation for a job at a university art museum...and never left. Now, I’m *amped* to be with an org that puts up art outside, for free, all around the city.
What’s your favorite N+T signature project to date?
Adria: I really love the mural by Sylvia Lopez Chavez on the Esplanade, Patterned Behavior — I ride my bike a lot and when that mural was made, I loved the addition to the bike path — this was before I’d ever heard of Now + There. I love the silhouettes and the colors, and I love how faceted and maze-like it is under that concrete jungle.
Jules’s favorite project, Augment by Nick Cave. Photo courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery. Photo by James Prinz.
Jules: Adria, that explains your “A” in our “thank you” photo! It’s impossible to choose, and yet I have to say Nick Cave’s Augment. More than just an art installation, this project reached beyond the gallery and poured, literally, into the streets. As a follower of Cave’s work, it was the project that first introduced me to Now + There — and I’ve been following them (us??) ever since!
Katie: I agree with Jules-- it is impossible to pick! I feel like we’ve launched so many great projects in the year I’ve been here alone! I think ¡Provecho! from this past February has a special place in my heart. It was such a stunning piece from inside and outside of the Prudential, and was a great example of how public art can really transform a space.
How do you see N+T impacting Boston’s public and contemporary arts landscapes?
Katie: I think that we’re looking to create a public art landscape that is a reflection of the city of Boston. We’re interested in creating art that serves the communities in which it exists, art that lives and breathes with us-- and a lot of the time, changes as we change. I see us making more connections between the art and the people most directly impacted by it, like we did with Augment, and serving as a model for collaboration between communities and artistic producers and presenters.
Install shot from Adria’s favorite project, Patterned Behavior by Silvia Lopez Chavez.
Adria: People really develop close connections with their public art - it becomes tied to a place in their mind, or a memory. I remember how I was so thrilled to see Os Gemeos’ painting larger than life - our very own example of a pair of artists I really admired - when I first came to Boston. It really iconified a time and a place for me. So Now + There has this two-fold role: of offering the community opportunities for place-based connections, paired with the responsibility to respond to the community, the goals it has for connections. All the while supporting, elevating, nurturing Boston’s artists and their goals, too!
Jules: Funny you should mention them, Adria — I was thrilled about the Os Gemeos mural too, and then promptly let down by some of the local responses to the work. That rage, one I’ve felt a lot growing up here, continues to motivate me to make Boston a better place to live. For everyone. If you’re from here — or even (especially?) if you’re not — you may be familiar with the phrase “Banned in Boston.” But the Boston I know is not about that. Despite our reputation, I’m lucky enough to have seen the “Boston” that’s constantly taking risks, carving new niches, and hustling to be seen by the rest of the world. Now + There is playing a major role in putting Boston on the public-art map, and I know we deserve to be there.
BONUS: Rapid Fire Round! What’s the first song on your WFM playlist?
Katie: Right now, Dreams by Fleetwood Mac— I can’t stop listening to Rumors!
Adria: La Noche de anoche, by Rosalia.
Jules: Workin’ by the artist formerly known as “Puff Daddy.”
Describe yourself with one word that’s also your first initial.
Katie: Oh boy...kind was the first one that comes to mind...can I call myself kind?
Adria: My brother in law called me Arenicolous Adria. I don't even know what that means.
Jules: Jellicle. Do not @ me. No one really knows what this means, either. Not even The Lord Lloyd-Weber.
Drop your third emoji. NO CHEATING.
Katie: You hate to see it. 🥺
Adria: 😬Sorry but it’s true. 😬
Jules: Surprising no one: 😭