Arts and Culture
COVID-19 update: For more information, learn about how we've been responding to COVID-19. If you have questions, email arts@boston.gov.
Our office enhances the quality of life, the economy, and the design of the City through the arts. The role of the arts in all aspects of life in Boston is reinforced via equitable access to arts and culture in every community, its public institutions, and public places.
Key areas of work include support to the cultural sector through grants and programs, as well as the production and permitting of art in public places.
Contact
1 City Hall Square
Room 802
Room 802
Boston, MA
02201-2029
Office hours
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Current Opportunities
Current Opportunities
Be Boston's Next Youth Poet Laureate
We're looking for Boston youth ages 13-18 interested in the civic challenge of inspiring deeper engagement in the written and spoken word.
Funding for arts organizations
We're awarding over $3 million in grants to arts organizations through the Boston Cultural Council and Reopen Creative Boston funding.
Latest news
News
Upcoming Events
EventsArtist Resource Desk
Find out about resources and services available for artists in the City of Boston.
Public Art
Photo Credit:
Learn more about public art in Boston
Photo of Don Rimx's "Powerful Knowledge" mural courtesy of Chris Gaines.
Strand Theatre
The theater in Dorchester serves as a cultural and educational resource to artists and audiences.
Cultural Planning
Cultural planning works with City planning and development processes to create more opportunities for the local arts and creative community to live, work, and create in Boston.
Our Grant Opportunities
Contact: Arts and Culture
Artist Fellowship Award
The pilot grant invests in individual artists living and working in Boston.
Arts and Culture COVID-19 Fund
This fund will support cultural nonprofits that have had to drastically reduce and change their programs as a result of COVID-19.
Boston Cultural Council Organizational Grants
The BCC organizational grants provide awards of up to $5,000 to local arts organizations.
Fay Chandler Emerging Artist Awards
Every fall, the City recognizes fresh, original, and contemporary work made by Boston artists.
Opportunity Fund
Apply for a grant to help continue your development, build skills, share your artistic work, and teach others.
Project Partnership Grant
This grant is intended to elevate recurring events and programs that create opportunities for artists in Boston.
Radical Imagination for Racial Justice
This regranting program distributes funds to artists seeking to advance racial justice through collaborative projects in their communities.
Other Programs
Alternative Space Pilot Project for Artists
We partner with local businesses and institutions to make underused private spaces available to artists.
Artist Resource Desk
Find out more about services for artists in the City of Boston.
Arts and Culture Response Forum
We hold meetings with the cultural sector to connect and share information on COVID-19 and equitable recovery.
Boston AIR
In the program, artists, community members, and City employees work on projects that help reframe social conversations. These artists explore the ways they can use art and media to improve and bolster City initiatives.
Boston Cultural Council
The council awards grants that help artists and arts organizations thrive.
City Hall Galleries
Boston City Hall is home to several galleries that promote and exhibit the work of Boston artists.
Creative Commercial Space Connector
We created a form to help match those seeking spaces and spaces looking for long-term tenants.
Current open calls and applications
See what public art projects the City has planned and submit your proposals.
Finding space as an artist in Boston
We want to help artists of all disciplines find spaces in Boston.
One Boston Resilience Project
We're beginning a citywide community engagement process to envision our collective strength after violence, as illuminated by the Boston Marathon Bombing.
Open Studios
Talk to and buy art directly from artists, see demonstrations, listen to music, and more.
PaintBox
Local artists can paint a City of Boston-owned utility box with their original designs.
Percent for Art
The City sets aside one percent of its annual capital borrowing budget for the commissioning of public art.
Poet Laureate
The Poet Laureate works to raise the status of poetry in the everyday lives of residents.
Public Art Projects
We commission permanent and temporary public art projects in the City that engage communities and enrich the urban environment. We also support projects led by artists and community members.
Raining Poetry
The Mayor's Mural Crew works with the Poet Laureate and Mass Poetry to create invisible poems on the streets of Boston.
Transformative Public Art Program
We commission several murals and temporary projects every year as part of the Transformative Public Art Program.
Meet the Staff
Our staff
Kara Elliott-Ortega
Chief of Arts and Culture
Sharon Amuguni
Program Manager, Boston AIR
Matthew Breton
Technical Director, Strand Theatre
Alene Burroughs
Assistant to General Manager, Strand Theatre
Kristina McGeehan
Communications Director
John Crowley
Curator and Exhibitions Coordinator, City Hall Galleries
Naida Faria
Director, Administration and Finance
Ty-Juana L. Flores
Director of Grants and Programs
Patricia Gilrein
Art Collections Manager
Karin Goodfellow
Director of Public Art
Melodi Greene
General Manager, Strand Theatre
Thomas Johnston
Partnerships and Events
Elizabeth Liriano
Office Coordinator
Melissa Meyer
Cultural Planning Project Manager
Sarah Rodrigo
Public Art Project Manager
Julia Ryan
Artist Resource Manager
Jessica Wong Camhi
Data Coordinator
