Join artist Audrey Watkins at the intersection of River Street and Babson Street from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on October 18, for Our Names, an interactive art project that asks, "Whose name would you put on a building?" Stop by to submit a name, pick up a card, and learn more about some of the figures currently named on the exterior of the Boston Public Library. Our Names by artist Audrey Watkins explores the practice of naming the Boston Public Library McKim Meade and White Building. When Charles Follen McKim designed the facades for the Boston Public Library in 1888, he included the names of 537 “writers and thinkers” that would be displayed to passersby for the next century. Of those 537 names, only 21 are not white European males. The goal of this project is twofold: to formally present the histories of those 21 names to the public through a research booklet, and to spark conversations on the names that today's Bostonians want to see on the library’s facade.

Through a series of activations during Mattapan Open Streets, a list of publicly gathered names derived from the prompt, “Whose name would you put on a building?” These activations will be a form of tabling, where a small portable gallery will show the content of the research booklet as well as the prompt, for passersby to engage in reflection on nearby monuments and imagine what a monument could be in 2025. 

Written and oral responses will be recorded, and translations of the prompt and the booklet will be provided. The artist will collect public response, including any further conversations sparked by the prompt. With consent, these responses will be gathered into an index for the booklet. This index and the booklet will be published together on an Internet Archive, as a lasting “re-monument” to McKim’s original design, that can easily be linked to existing articles on the building and the building’s facade.

Learn more about her project here.

Join us for Hidden Histories' In Conversation: Kameelah Janan Rasheed with Curator-in-Residence Dr. Leonie Bradbury. Rasheed’s latest project in Boston is a series of public poems displayed on billboards and public advertising locations across the city. Come listen and be in conversation with this incredible artist and hear about her practice of text-based art, animations and the moving image.

Join us for a spectacular event celebrating the launch of Emerson Contemporary’s public art exhibition Hidden Histories featuring art projects by Elisa Hamilton, Clareese Hill, Sue Murad, and Kameelah J. Rasheed. Artist will be present to discuss their unique works and visitors can partake in student led walking tours of the projects. Part of the City of Boston’s Un-Monument initiative to transform and expand Boston’s conversation around public art, monuments, and who should be memorialized and why.

Join us for the opening of Journey of Light: A 1975 Memory Field, led by artist Ngọc-Trân Vũ and the project team, on Sunday, September 28, 2025, from 6–9pm at Town Field Park in Dorchester. Experience an illuminated landscape of conical hats (nón lá), intergenerational stories, and large-scale projections that transform the park into a space of remembrance and reflection, part of the community-led vision for the 1975: A Vietnamese Diaspora Memorial. This special evening honors the Vietnamese diaspora and the war’s lasting impact on families and communities. Free and open to all, rain or shine, with bilingual Vietnamese interpretation and light refreshments provided. Bring your family and friends to share in this meaningful gathering!

Join Boston Public Art Triennial artist Nicholas Galanin and curator Tess Lukey ‘16 in conversation with Lisa Tung, MAAM Executive and Artistic Director. Offered in connection with MAAM’s current exhibition, Nicholas Galanin: Aáni yéi xat duwasáakw (I am called Land), this conversation invites us to consider Indigenous perspectives on kinship and artistic process; audience question and answer to follow. After the talk, head to MAAM to explore current exhibitions on view. 

In-Person and Virtual 

This event will be offered in-person as well as virtually via the Zoom webinar format. Select your attendance type when registering via Eventbrite. 

Meet the Speakers 

Examining the complexities of contemporary Indigenous identity, culture, and representation, Nicholas Galanin works from his experience as a Lingít and Unangax̂ artist. Embedding incisive observation and reflection into his oftentimes provocative work, he aims to redress the widespread misappropriation of Indigenous visual culture, the impact of colonialism, as well as collective amnesia. Galanin reclaims narrative and creative agency, while demonstrating contemporary Indigenous art as a continually evolving practice. Speaking through multiple visual, sonic, and tactile languages, his concepts determine his processes, which include sculpture, installation, photography, video, performance, and textile-based work. This contemporary practice builds upon an Indigenous artistic continuum while celebrating the culture and its people; Galanin contributes urgent criticality and vision through resonant and multifaceted works.

Nicholas Galanin (b. 1979, Sheet’ka (Sitka), Alaska) lives and works with his partner Merritt Johnson and their children in Sheet’ka (Sitka), Alaska. He earned a BFA at London Guildhall University (2003), an MFA at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand (2007). Solo institutional exhibitions include Baltimore Museum of Art (2024-25); SITE Santa Fe (2023); and New York Public Art Fund (2023). Galanin will participate in Public Art Abu Dhabi (2024-25) and the Boston Triennial (2025), he is currently participating in the Toronto Biennial (2024). Public collections include Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of AmericaN Art, New York, NY; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA.

Tess Lukey is an enrolled citizen of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah and serves as the Associate Curator of Native American Art at the Trustees of Reservations, where she is based at both Fruitlands Museum and deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum. Her curatorial practice centers on the intersection of historic and contemporary Native American art, with a specialization in pre-20th-century materials. Lukey’s expertise also spans NAGPRA, Mayan art history, and folk art. She holds an MA in Art History with a minor in Museum Studies from the University of New Mexico and a dual BFA in Ceramics and Art History from MassArt.

Lukey has contributed to exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston—including Collecting Stories: The Invention of Folk Art and A Little Bit of the Southwest—and curated recent shows at Fruitlands titled Across Boundaries Across Barriers, Place of Intersection: Survivance in the American West, and A Surreal Place: Sky Hopinka and Cannupa Hanksa Luger, which prioritize Indigenous-led interpretation. Her work is shaping new strategies for museums seeking to engage Native collections through community-driven frameworks.

In addition to her museum work, Lukey is an independent curator for the Boston Public Art Triennial (May 2025), a city-wide exhibition of over 15 public art commissions accompanied by hundreds of community-based programs. She is also a traditional artist, continuing the ceramic and basketry techniques of her Wampanoag heritage, reflecting her commitment to cultural continuity through both institutional and creative practice.

 

Join artist Audrey Watkins at the intersection of Newbury Street and Hereford Street from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on September 21, for Our Names, an interactive art project that asks, "Whose name would you put on a building?" Stop by to submit a name, pick up a card, and learn more about some of the figures currently named on the exterior of the Boston Public Library.

Join artist Audrey Watkins at the intersection of Newbury Street and Hereford Street from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on September 14, for Our Names, an interactive art project that asks, "Whose name would you put on a building?" Stop by to submit a name, pick up a card, and learn more about some of the figures currently named on the exterior of the Boston Public Library.

Join artist Audrey Watkins at the intersection of Newbury Street and Hereford Street from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. on September 7, for Our Names, an interactive art project that asks, "Whose name would you put on a building?" Stop by to submit a name, pick up a card, and learn more about some of the figures currently named on the exterior of the Boston Public Library.

Ecosistema Urbano, Pao Arts Center, and the Greenway invite you to the opening celebration of PlanTable at Chin Park.  Bring the whole family to explore this unique installation that provides both a refuge from the heat for people, as well as pollinators also threatened by rising temperatures.  Enjoy climate and plant related interactive activities for all ages and meet the creators and partners of this project. 

Read more about PlanTable

Rain Date: Saturday, August 16 | 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.