The 2023 Cohort: Acton, Brockton, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Concord, Devens, Erving, Greenfield, Holyoke, Middleborough, and Revere were selected for our 2023 cohort!

The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) in partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Arts and Culture Department (MAPC) and  Forecast Public Art (FPA), invited municipalities in Massachusetts to participate in the Making it Public for MA Municipalities 2023 cohort. 

Municipalities selected for the 2023 cohort participated in Making it Public, a free 5-week virtual training facilitated by FPA designed to equip administrators in strengthening local capacity to support, create, and promote more vibrant and just public art making. FPA has facilitated Making It Public across the nation for almost a decade. This particular series has been tailored for MA municipalities in partnership with MAPC’s Arts & Culture Department and General Counsel.

Making it Public covered 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 included 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.

At the conclusion of the training, municipal administrators had the tools needed to create their own Call for Temporary Public Art.  Participating municipalities also received a $15,000 grant from NEFA to fund artists selected through a Call for Temporary Public Art in 2023.

Through Making it Public and funding artists through municipalities, NEFA aims to foster a community of practice that is inspiring more vibrant and just public spaces and culture through public artmaking across MA.  To learn more about NEFA’s vision and values for public art, visit NEFA’s website.