City Hall Galleries
The galleries at Boston City Hall promote and exhibit the work of Boston area artists.
You can find information about the galleries, as well as what's currently showing, on this page.
Current and upcoming exhibits
Exhibits- Location: Emerging Gallery, 8th Floor
- Dates: November 6 - December 30, 2023
Ileana Doble Hernandez started a series of staged photographs called Animal Nature, based on the disturbing relationship we have with animals, on the way we categorize them. Some are beloved companions while others do work for us, are our food or both. We create objects that represent them, we give them names and personalities, yet we eat them. The Algerian-French philosopher Jacques Derrida explains how distinguishing them as animals allows us to justify the violence we inflict upon them.
To learn more or inquire to purchase this art, contact (ile@ileanadobleh.com)
- Location: Mezzanine Gallery, 3rd Floor
- Dates: November 6 - December 30, 2023
This show explores concepts of people and place, those who are often out of sight and out of mind. Tapping into the experience of modern Native culture and community, artist Hartman Deetz from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe hopes to highlight the need to increase visibility of threatened populations in spaces where decisions are made. The works feature subjects of Native people and their reciprocal relationship with the natural world through song, ceremony, sustainable harvest, and respect for all life.
Hartman Deetz is a lifelong artist born into the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. An interdisciplinary artist, Deetz has spent years refining his skills in the realm of traditional cultural arts such as soapstone and wampum copperwork and woodcarving, but has always produced more contemporary art works as well such as screen printing linocuts and acrylic paintings on canvas. Deetz is also a performing artist who has performed internationally as a part of the Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers, and as a playwright and stage actor with the Wampanoag Storytellers.
To learn more or inquire to purchase his art, contact: hartman.deetz429@gmail.com.
Location: The Mayor’s Office Gallery, 5th Floor
Dates: November 6 - December 30, 2023
Yalun Li is an artist and an architect. Born in Beijing, China, she now lives and works in Boston and New York. She holds a Master of Architecture II degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her works investigate the threshold between the mundane and the fantastical with various mediums, including texts, prints, and paintings. The exhibition contains a series of prints and acrylic paintings that explore how architecture and space can transcribe narratives, imaginations, and emotions.
To learn more or inquire to purchase this art, contact: yalunli12@gmail.com or 617-794-1005
- Location: The Mayor’s Office Gallery (display case), 5th Floor
- Dates: November 6 - December 30, 2023
Janet Hansen Kawada's work explores relationship of texture, color and narrative through fibers. The Home series is an ongoing body of work that explores the concepts of what home is, how we carry it, and where it resides. The small representations of home draw their inspiration from the nomadic yurt. That round structure encloses a dwelling which on the outside may be plain but inside holds all the possessions of the family. The yurt needs a group of people to erect it and move it as they move in their life cycle. This necessitates the group communicating and working with each other to survive in the community.
To learn more or inquire to purchase this art, contact: Jkawada@usa.net
- Location: 3rd Floor Mezzanine, Boston City Hall
- Dates: Ongoing
We Belong is a light-based public art installation with the intent to promote ideas of belonging and inclusion among communities in Boston. In LED neon, the work forms the text “We Belong – here – together – guided by the same stars” in a circular format, with a constellation that maps and connects Boston’s neighborhoods.
With the support of a City of Boston Transformative Public Art grant, the installation will travel to multiple Boston neighborhoods in 2022-2023, beginning with the East Boston Social Centers from July-September 2022. Local residents are invited to participate in the project by sharing what the concept of “belonging” means to them.
Yu-Wen Wu is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Boston. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Wu’s subjectivity as an immigrant is central to her artwork. Arriving in the United States at an early age, her experiences have shaped her work in areas of migration—examining issues of displacement, arrival, assimilation, and the shape of identity in a new country. Passionate about data, mapping, and its storytelling, Wu’s work lies at the crossroads of art, science, politics, and social issues. Her wide range of projects include large-scale drawings, sculpture, site- specific video installations, community-engaged practices, and public art. Wu has been awarded numerous grants, exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is included in several private and public collections.
The Mayor's Poetry Program is an annual program in which Boston residents are invited to submit poems to be displayed throughout City Hall and in an online gallery for one year. The theme for 2023, selected by Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola, was "Love".
All poems are displayed next to the elevators on the south side of Boston City Hall. On the fifth floor, there is only one poem displayed on the wall to the left of the Mayor's Office reception area.
First floor- "Facetime" by Vivienne Shalom
- "Love in Downtown Crossing" by Ann Doyle
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"Boston: Mother to the World Behind My Ears" by Clementine Zei
- "I Want to Lay Alone With Love" by Zofia Provizer
- "Jefferson Avenue" by Tashanna Edwards
- "a calendar of solar and lunar eclipses" by Emily Li
- "On Deserving" by Naomi Westwater
- "In Memory of My Wounded Survivor" by Rachel Hammerman
- "Carrots" by Fatima Seck
- "Photographs" by Marsha Kaminsky
- "Boston Grocery Store" by Allison Tervo
- "On a walk in the neighborhood without my son" by Ariel Friedman
- "The Quiet Lake" by Harry Yu
- "When We Were Young" by Mayank Chugh
- "For the Ones I Am (Re)membering" by CoCo Rosenberg
Gallery locations
Mayor's Art Gallery
The Mayor's Gallery exhibits work by Boston area artists who have received recognition for their artwork through grants, awards and other types of public display.
Directions: It's located on the 5th floor of City Hall. From City Hall Plaza or Congress St. entrances, take South Elevators to the 5th floor, follow signs to Mayor's Office: signage marks the gallery entrance. If you are planning to attend an opening you must enter from Congress Street.
Mayor’s Neighborhood Gallery
Directions: Located on the 2nd floor near the South Elevators. From City Hall Plaza or Congress St. entrances, take South Elevators to the 2nd floor.
Scollay Square Gallery
The Scollay Square Gallery showcases the many arts organizations and artists community groups that support local artists throughout the City.
Directions: It's located on the 3rd floor/main lobby of City Hall. When entering from Congress St, take elevators to 3rd floor, proceed through lobby, passing the information desk on your right. The gallery is ahead of you. When entering from City Hall Plaza, proceed through lobby, passing the information desk on your right. The gallery is ahead of you. Signage marks the gallery entrance. If you are planning to attend an opening you must enter from Congress Street.
The Emerging GalleryThis is the newest of City Hall's galleries. It showcases Boston's up and coming artists.
Directions: It is located on the 8th floor of City Hall. When entering from Congress Street or Cambridge Street, take the elevators to the 8th floor. The gallery is in the hallway to the left of Room 801, which is perpendicular to the elevators.
Videos
Maya Erdelyi's Gallery Tour
Artist Maya Erdelyi gives a tour of her show in the Mayor's Gallery and her mural on the 8th floor.
Real F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Artist Talk with Jamaal Eversley and Beacon Gallery
This exhibit was on display in the Mayor's Gallery of Boston City Hall from November - December 2020.
Recurring Programs
Fay Chandler Emerging Artist Awards
These annual awards recognize fresh, original and contemporary works of art created by Boston artists.
National Arts Program
The City of Boston's National Arts Program invites City of Boston employees and their immediate family members to submit artwork every year.
Gallery Highlights
Re-imagine City Hall
In honor of Boston City Hall’s 50th anniversary in February 2019, we sent out a call artists to reimagine and redesign the exterior of City Hall.
National Arts Program 2018
As part of this program, City of Boston employees and immediate family members were invited to display their art.
'Alone Together: Photos' by Jerry Russo
An examination of people while confined to the crowded spaces of the MBTA.
Boston Public Schools Youth Arts Month Festival
Each year we showcase the work of young Boston Public Schools artists from across the district.
'The Art of Science'
"The Art of Science" featured artists who work in new media, including Michael Moss and Claudia Ravaschiere's piece "Precious", an interactive mixed-media sound installation.
'A Summer Proposal'
Paul C. Ha invited eight Boston and Cambridge-based artists to create work for Boston City Hall, keeping in mind the building's architecture.