Founded in 2015 as Now + There, the Boston Public Art Triennial is an artist-run nonprofit that connects Boston’s communities with free contemporary public art. After nine years and 45 projects, the organization launched Triennial 2025, Boston’s first citywide public art exhibition. Created in partnership with more than 75 organizations, the exhibition featured 25 artworks and 115 art experiences, welcoming more than 225,000 visitors between May and October 2025. By bringing together international, national, and local artists with many of Boston’s leading institutions, the Triennial creates opportunities to envision a more vibrant, equitable, and inclusive city.
Each year, the Triennial discovers and supports local talent through its Public Art Accelerator and commissions new work for Boston’s shared public spaces, balancing artistic vision with community input. Every three years, it builds on this work by co-creating an ambitious public art exhibition that responds to the issues and possibilities of its time.
Kate Gilbert
Kate Gilbert (she | her) is a Boston-based artist, curator, and cultural producer dedicated to transforming public spaces through contemporary art. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Boston Public Art Triennial, the city’s first large-scale public art festival, which evolved from the nonprofit Now + There, established in 2015 to open minds, conversations, and spaces with contemporary public art. Gilbert earned her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and a BA from Connecticut College. She is a recipient of the New England Foundation for the Arts’ Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art (2020). Gilbert contributed to Idea City: How to Make Boston More Livable, Equitable, and Resilient (2023), calling on civic leaders to advance art in public spaces.
