Chelsea is among 11 communities across the state that was selected to participate in Making It Public, a public art program presented by the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s Arts and Culture Department, and Minneapolis-based nonprofit Forecast Public Art.
The Making It Public initiative’s goal is to foster more equitable opportunities for public art, while also preparing more artists to respond to calls for public art across the state.
Making It Public for Municipalities includes a five-week workshop series to support, create, and promote more vibrant and just public art making. The workshop will cover practical and tactical subject matters for administrators at all stages of their career facilitating public art, such as stakeholder considerations, community engagement, preparing a call-for-artists, equitable selection processes, contracting, and more. Sessions include guest public art professionals, both local and national, adding a depth of knowledge about the field of public art, the profession, and its contemporary issues.
As part of that initiative, Chelsea received $15,000 to put its new skills to work by conducting a call for temporary public art in 2023. The deadline for that call for public art is the beginning of December, with Chelsea and the other municipalities publicizing the public art by the end of the year.
Representing Chelsea in this program are Mimi Graney, who coordinates public art and events for the City of Chelsea under the City’s neighborhood initiative, Chelsea Prospers; District 3 Chelsea City Councilor Norieliz DeJesus; Communication and Community Outreach Manager Lourdes Alvarez; Director of the Chelsea Public Library Sarah Gay Jackson; and Chair of Chelsea’s Historical Commission Matt Frank.
The three organizations are also teaming up for the Making It Public for Artists program, a free five-week virtual workshop series designed to support artists of all disciplines in exploring and expanding their public art making practice. At the conclusion of the workshop series, participating artists will be better equipped to respond to a Call for Temporary Public Art and foster more vibrant and equitable public spaces through artmaking, according to the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Registration for the artists’ program runs through Feb. 13, with workshops scheduled to begin on March 14. Artists interested in registering can visit https://www.nefa.org/MakingItPublic.