Listening + Learning with Communities
December 12, 2024
From vibrant Community Listening Sessions where community members shared what they love about their neighborhoods to insightful conversations by artists who spoke thoughtfully on the intersection of historical imagination and public memory, the Triennial Partnerships + Engagement team fosters community engagement and develops meaningful partnerships through programs of all sorts. We sat down with Emerson Holloway, Triennial Partnerships + Engagement Associate to learn more about what you can look forward to in the upcoming Triennial’s programming.
Can you share what the Triennial’s Partnerships + Engagement team does?
The Partnerships + Engagement team creates and maintains long-standing, trusting community relationships across Boston through unique and interdisciplinary public programming. As Partnerships + Engagement Associate, I co-create, manage, and scale community programs that activate and complement the public art sites we install around the city. Much of my work involves designing free, engaging, and accessible public art experiences that are informed by my experiences collaborating with and listening deeply to the desires and interests of neighbors, community leaders, and local organizations.
Earlier this year, we hosted Community Listening Sessions where we invited community members to share what they love about their neighborhoods to develop our relationships with communities across Dorchester, Mattapan, Roxbury, East Boston, and Allston. What are some of your favorite memories from these sessions?
I had the pleasure of co-hosting these Community Listening Sessions with wonderful partners during the spring and early summer; we spoke with over 300 neighbors! I have a particular interest in how people show their love for their hometowns and neighborhoods, so the moments I remember most fondly are ones that provided me with new knowledge about each place I was in. Having conversations about hidden neighborhood history, for example, from lifelong residents, deepened my understanding of how many stories are present in Boston and made me further appreciate how many of them we are uplifting by traveling around the city and listening closely to our fellow Bostonians in advance of the Triennial 2025.
How did these Community Listening Sessions influence your approach to programming for the upcoming Triennial?
So, aside from speaking with us directly, we encouraged attendees to participate in two activities at the Listening Sessions that helped influence our approach to programming. People could fill out postcards to artists and also share with us their favorite places to spend time in their neighborhoods: favorite restaurants, small businesses, parks, et cetera. All of the information we received allowed us to gather these resources and begin connecting directly with the people and places community members recommended to us. We’re so thankful for the insights and suggestions!
We had fantastic Public Art Ambassadors (PAAs) at Lot Lab this year and you worked very closely with them to train and check-in with them throughout their time with us. Can you share a little about the role of a PAA? What are some of the reasons someone might consider applying to be one?
Absolutely! Public Art Ambassadors (PAAs) connect with the public — from local Bostonians to visitors — to introduce them to the artwork and our organization through friendly, curious conversation. PAAs are outgoing, creative, reliable, collaborative, and enthusiastic about connecting with people of all ages and backgrounds to further Boston Public Art Triennial’s mission of creating a more vibrant, open, and equitable city. Aside from being a paid position, one might consider applying to be a Public Art Ambassador because they would like to learn about public art’s relationship to the city and its different neighborhoods, develop visitor service skills, or support public arts programming and Triennial-led events — just to name a few things!
You are planning neighborhood weekends for the 2025 Triennial. What does that mean and what can attendees expect at those gatherings?
Neighborhood Weekends are an opportunity for us to highlight the specific art installations in each of the six neighborhoods we are operating in during the Triennial while also collaborating with local community organizations to produce fun, engaging, and free public programming. During each Neighborhood Weekend, attendees can expect a variety of performances, art-making workshops, talks, sound installations, family-friendly activities, and more. While most programs will be Triennial-produced, other events that our partner organizations are holding will also be uplifted during that time, encouraging attendees to get to know the neighborhoods.
I know that Triennial Partnerships + Engagement currently has an open call for folks to propose programs for the upcoming Triennial. Can you share a little about what you look for in a potential partner program?
Yes! Boston Public Art Triennial is committed to fostering relationships with new and existing community partners to co-create public programming. We ask that partners propose experiential and inclusive programming that aligns with Boston Public Art Triennial’s vision of a more open, equitable, and vibrant Boston. We also ask that the proposed programs are connected to the Triennial 2025’s curatorial theme, The Exchange, which addresses four core complex issues — climate resiliency, Indigeneity, health + wellness, and shared humanity — in interdisciplinary ways.
What does the Triennial's commitment to reciprocity mean for our programming?
Intentional engagement that prioritizes the interests and values of the communities it serves is a critical element of our approach to public art programming. We want to produce artworks and complementary programs that benefit the communities we serve as much as they benefit our organization. The Community Listening Sessions are a wonderful element of reciprocally-minded public program design; the engagement efforts we plan to produce will respond directly to community desires and needs.
There are such vibrant, already-existing music and other performing arts scenes in Boston. How do you plan to work with the folks who are part of those communities as you plan programs for the upcoming Triennial?
These pre-existing scenes in Boston are another piece of the reciprocity puzzle. Many of the people we spoke to at Listening Sessions suggested we reach out to a variety of local musicians and performance artists around the city. As much as we are showcasing the work of the Triennial artists selected by the curators, we also want to uplift and support local artists and their work, and we are doing this by designing public programs that they can participate in. Part of reciprocity, to us, includes visibility; the performances we plan to hold throughout the Triennial are a way to continue supporting local artistic communities and introduce visitors to performers and musicians that they may not have otherwise encountered.
I know that youth and family programming is also very important to us at the Triennial. How did the Community Listening Sessions inform your approach to this type of programming?
Super important. As someone who is passionate about interdisciplinary, multimedia youth education, I’m personally quite excited about our Youth + Family programs. Most people who attended the Community Listening Sessions — regardless of age — expressed a desire for more youth-accessible programming and spaces for young people to spend their time. Three of our Listening Sessions were youth-focused, too, and the participants were excited about the prospect of public art and related programming coming to Boston. We decided, thanks to our conversations (and all of the postcards we gathered!), that Youth + Family programming would be integral to meeting community needs and to the Triennial’s success. We plan to produce Youth + Family days on a monthly basis and have youth-centered resources available to all on our website.
We had the first talk of the Let’s Talk Series in September. What’s the intention behind this series?
This program series brings together interdisciplinary voices to respond to and expand upon the Triennial theme of The Exchange. Our first edition was held last September and was a great success; we’re excited to continue this series through the run of the Triennial 2025. Each talk will address the critical issues presented in The Exchange through multiple lenses, engaging with communities and presenting new forms of understanding the world and each other beyond public space, using public art as the conversational anchor point. We plan to partner with different university institutions to host this series in order to further engage Boston’s large academic audiences while also welcoming art-seekers and local community members who are looking to hear from international and national artists in conversation with a variety of local experts.
Are there any special moments from our public art programs this past summer that you’re treasuring?
I’m still thinking about the inquisitive conversation on the intersection of historical imagination, public memory, and creative practices that we held in September. Using Ifé Franklin’s The Resurrection of Mark, Phillis, and Phebe as an example of confronting complex histories through creative practices, artists Dell Marie Hamilton and Angela Counts spoke with professor Nicole Aljoe about what we gain by addressing the past in creative spaces. I am so grateful for their participation, to Triennial artist (and Accelerator alum) Stephen Hamilton for his moderation, and to the Charlestown branch of the Boston Public Library for kindly hosting the program. I’m looking forward to more opportunities for gathering as such during the Triennial’s run.