JUNE 16, 2017

AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS HAS RECOGNIZED
“Public Trust”
AS AN OUTSTANDING PUBLIC ART PROJECT

Our interactive, temporary work, “Public Trust,” created by Paul Ramirez Jonas, has been honored by Americans for the Arts’ 2017 as an outstanding public art project. “Public Trust” is one of 49 projects chosen from 325 entries nationwide by a jury through the Public Art Network Year in Review program. Public Art Network (PAN) is the only national program that specifically recognizes the most compelling public art and is the only professional network in the US dedicated to advancing public art.

We are thrilled that this work has been recognized by Americans for the Arts for its capacity to spark a conversation and change hearts and minds.

PUBLIC TRUST

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 17, 2016 the final promise of Public Trust’s journey through Greater Boston was slowly written, one letter at a time, on the marque in Copley Square. That promise, “I promise to show up,” echoed the first one posted in Dudley 21 days earlier, “I will be a better citizen.”

Public Trust, the free interactive artwork by Brooklyn artist Paul Ramirez Jonas produced by Now + There, asked us to consider the meaning of a promise during a time when words matter. From August 27–September 17, Ramirez Jonas and a team of artist ambassadors went to three Greater Boston locations – Dudley, Kendall and Copley – and collected promises from 956 Bostonians.

Regardless of age, status, or race, Greater Boston residents and tourists alike added to the Public Trust marquee of constantly changing pledges – yours, mine, scientists’, and those of our presidential candidates. Together, we created a piece of art about promises, those contracts we with make with each other and with ourselves, and the potent speech acts that keep a society together.

Public Trust was generously supported by the Lewis Family Foundation, which believes that our communities grow stronger through artistic expression, and the generous contributions of individuals like you.

Public Trust, the book, is published by APC in collaboration with Now + There with support from the Elizabeth Graham Firestone Foundation and distributed by D.A.P.