Special to the Times-Free Press
On October 31, 2025, the Boston Public Art Triennial (The Triennial) officially concluded its inaugural citywide exhibition, Triennial 2025: The Exchange. Presented in partnership with the City of Boston, Triennial 2025 marked a triumphant success in transforming Boston’s historic public spaces into vibrant venues of creativity, collaboration and civic dialogue.
Triennial 2025 achieved a first-of-its-kind exhibition between May 22 and October 31, bringing 24 large-scale artworks to outdoor and publicly accessible sites across eight Boston neighborhoods, including East Boston, Charlestown, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Downtown, Back Bay and Fenway, as well as Cambridge. Focusing on neighborhoods and populations not typically included in conversations about contemporary art, The Triennial, the 501(c)(3) organization behind the exhibition, overcame narrative and logistical challenges by tapping into the City of Boston’s relationships with community liaisons and building over 75 unique partnerships with cultural and community organizations that would make their facilities, resources and representatives available for public programming.
Over six months, Triennial 2025 connected artists, communities, and partners across sectors, all with a shared mission to build a more vibrant, bold and equitable city through public art that opens minds, conversations, and spaces. Over six months, the $8 million initiative reached over 2.7 million views from people of all backgrounds and ages, ranging from local Bostonians to tourists visiting from far-flung locations. The effort also garnered local, national and international attention from leading cultural keepers, critics and media, reinforcing Boston’s growing reputation as a contemporary art city and expanding its status as a global leader in cultural innovation.
“With Triennial 2025, we set out to expand what public art can mean for Boston. With the City of Boston, phenomenal artists, dedicated community leaders and extraordinary partners, we did just that—we created something as dynamic as the city itself and truly reflective of Boston’s cultural legacy and its diverse voices,” said Kate Gilbert, Executive Director of the Boston Public Art Triennial. “Triennial 2025 showed that Boston is ready to embrace big ideas and lead nationally in public art. We’re proud to carry the momentum into the next phase of building a vibrant, open and equitable arts landscape.”
Co-curated by Artistic Director Pedro Alonzo and Curator Tess Lukey, The Exchange invited dialogue around pressing global and local issues through themes of Indigeneity, climate and biodiversity, health and recovery and shared humanity. The Exchange brought the work of 19 artists to Boston, spanning 16 new commissions and five temporary and permanent projects throughout Boston art museums and institutions, including the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, MassArt Art Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) and MIT List Visual Arts Center.
The Exchange, featured renowned global, national and local artists including Beatriz Cortez, Julian CharrieÌre, Adela Goldbard, Nicholas Galanin, Stephen Hamilton, Ekene Ijeoma, Laura Lima, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Patrick Martinez, Alan Michelson, New Red Order, Chiharu Shiota, Gabriel Sosa, Swoon, Lan Tuazon and Yu-Wen Wu. Three additional local artist contributions were made possible by the Triennial’s Public Accelerator Program; cultivated by Assistant Curator Jasper Sanchez, they included Andy Li, Alison Croney Moses and Evelyn Rydz, whose works transformed a National Park site in Charlestown. Croney Moses was subsequently named an ICA 2025 Foster Prize winner, underscoring the Accelerator’s role in propelling Boston’s homegrown talent.
“The Boston Public Art Triennial has showcased the very best of what our city’s public spaces represent — joy, community, and dialogue,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “The citywide artscape was a vibrant and bold opportunity for our communities to gather in neighborhoods across the city to share in reflecting on these incredible pieces. From historic public buildings like the Boston Public Library and City Hall to our parks, and waterfront sites, Triennial 2025 turned Boston into a living gallery that reflects our city’s rich, layered history and cultural legacy.”
The closing week was marked by Making Public: Triennial 2025 Convening, a day-long gathering on October 24 at Roxbury Community College (RCC), supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts with support from the Barr Foundation, that brought together artists, curators, community leaders and cultural practitioners for a robust exploration of the role of public art in shaping a more open and equitable city. Over 200 attendees joined the ongoing conversation about how art shapes shared space and celebrated the long-term installation of Ekene Ijeoma’s project, Stone Circle Bench, which will remain on view at RCC through 2026.
At the convening, Gilbert announced the Triennial will continue its commitment to supporting contemporary artists and fostering community engagement in Boston’s throughout 2026 and 2027 as it begins preparations for its next citywide exhibition in 2028. The Triennial will commission new public art projects across neighborhoods; host interdisciplinary programs focused on art, civic engagement and more; and fund the annual Public Art Accelerator, a skill-building and grant-funding program supporting early-to-mid-career Boston-based artists in creating temporary public projects.
To learn more about Triennial’s continued work visit thetriennial.org
Boston Public Art Triennial is the city’s first and only public art organization dedicated to supporting artists and communities in bold, contemporary, public art. The Triennial’s mission is to foster relationships between artists and the public to create bold public art experiences that open minds, conversations, and spaces across Boston, resulting in a more open, equitable, and vibrant city.