Triennial Accelerator
Open Call Application

An Accelerator is a small-group-based program that offers a range of resources and funding opportunities. It is not a fellowship or a grant. Inspired by business startup Accelerators, the Triennial’s Public Art Accelerator offers resources through education, mentorship, and funds to create your own project. The Boston Public Art Triennial Accelerator provides a cohort environment for experienced artists that is intense and fast-paced. But at the end of the program, you'll have all the tools (intellectual, physical, emotional) you need to create a public artwork in concert with 15 projects opening around the city for the Boston Public Art Triennial!

The Triennial iteration of the Public Art Accelerator offers a higher budget than before, involves a tighter timeline than previous cohorts for the development of a Conceptual Design proposal, has a predetermined site (Lot Lab @ the Charlestown Navy Yard), and will thrust artists into the implementation period immediately after their conceptual designs are approved, all with the goal of having a public art project installed by May 2025 as part of the city wide Boston Public Art Triennial.

While muralists certainly qualify as experienced public artists, we encourage interested muralists to strongly consider the site context for this opportunity before applying. Triennial Accelerator projects will be presented at Lot Lab in the Charlestown Navy Yard, which does not have many large-scale, accessible, and/or “mural-quality” walls due to its nature as a historic National Park site. Thus, getting approval for murals is unlikely on National Park Service property and historic buildings. The Triennial team has found that the Navy Yard is more suited for artists with backgrounds in creative placemaking or placekeeping, architecture, sculpture, and/or socially engaged art. If you are a muralist deciding whether this opportunity is a good fit for your practice, we recommend visiting Lot Lab 2024 at One 5th Street Boston, MA, 02129 to familiarize yourself with the limitations of the site.

No, not this year. With artists expected to successfully execute a large-scale project to exhibit as part of the Triennial within a period of 8 months, this opportunity is for artists who have presented two or more public art projects, or who have 10+ years of sculpture practice and/or experience in the realms of creative placemaking/ placekeeping, architecture and socially engaged art. If you are an early to mid-career artist who has not yet made public art and are seeking to learn the foundational elements of creating public art in Boston, please apply next year for our traditional Public Art Accelerator!

Yes! If you are a local artist and have worked with us before to create public art, you are an advanced public artist who qualifies for the program. We are eager to further support the work of experienced local artists and invite them to participate in the Boston Public Art Triennial.

No. Artists are welcome to come to the Accelerator without a preconceived project. However, Triennial Accelerator projects will be presented in Lot Lab at the Charlestown Navy Yard, so having early ideas and considerations of this particular site context is encouraged! (it’s also one of the questions!)

Consider why hands-on support, resources, and the cohort experience of the Triennial Accelerator could benefit your practice at this moment. (Psst, it’s one of the questions!),

Select images that demonstrate you’ve created large-scale public art projects. Please remember to use your captions to offer an explanation of the work, and,

Get in touch with a collaborator, mentor, teacher, or colleague for a reference. References are due at the same time as your application and are auto-generated from Slideroom. PROTIP: Start an application on Slideroom now and ask for a reference now to give them a few weeks! Your reference will receive an email request directly from Slideroom asking them to answer two questions about your work and practice.

Great question! Curious, empathetic, and tenacious are a few words that come to mind when thinking about artists who thrive in the program. We are eager to expand our support of local BIPOC, and LGBTQIA artists in the Triennial Public Art Accelerator and strongly encourage artists who are hungry to destabilize hierarchies and boundaries to apply. If you are interested in making art more accessible, approachable, and representative of Boston’s racial and cultural diversity, please submit!

The Triennial Accelerator experience will be 8 months total, from September 2024 to April 2025, and trust us, it goes by quickly! Between September and November 2024 artists are expected to participate in 10 of the 12 workshops which typically run 3 hours long with assignments in between. During this time we cover intellectually and creatively rigorous topics as varied as the history of public art in Boston, theories of public engagement, and group critiques with guest curators and each other to inform your project development. Artists will develop a public art proposal during this time, also referred to as a Conceptual Design. The Implementation Phase, December 2024 to April 2025 is a time for artists and the Triennial production team to perform R&D and expand their projects with community feedback. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consider how much time they have to apply themselves to the demands of the schedule. Artists who will succeed in the Triennial Accelerator are self-motivated and dedicated to opening their project as part of the Boston Public Art Triennial.

Only artists who intend to present a project for funding are eligible to apply. We understand life gets in the way but we have funds we’d love to distribute to artists. If you have specific circumstances or questions, please sign up for a drop-in session.

No. For the Triennial Accelerator, all projects will be presented in the Charlestown neighborhood as part of the third iteration of a three-year pilot program called Lot Lab, which transforms underutilized spaces in Boston into sites for art and community. Lot Lab will be a featured Triennial destination. You can learn more about the last two years of Lot Lab here.

As a Cohort, we will typically meet on Wednesdays from 2-5 PM between September 2024 and November 2024. During the implementation period, between December 2024 and April 2025, the cohort will also have the opportunity to meet with fabricators, community partners, and Triennial artists as we prepare for the opening of the Boston Public Art Triennial in May 2025.

Yes, we will! Unlike the traditional artist-produced Accelerator projects of the past, Triennial Accelerator projects will receive hands-on production support from the entire Triennial team—from curators to communications and production specialists— to ensure your project is successfully implemented along with all other city-wide Triennial commissions.

Accelerator artists must attend at least 10 of the 12 workshops. Each workshop is typically three hours long. While we don’t have required “homework,” we provide strongly recommended steps to develop your project and readings are offered for most workshops. Additionally, you might be asked to present or lead a discussion that will require advanced prep work. Finally, workshops will offer connections to other artists, organizers, and curators, who you will want to follow up with.

Workshops are primarily held in the N+T office at 186 South Street, Boston, following City of Boston COVID-19 gathering guidelines. Workshops may also be held on Zoom. Additionally, in an effort to introduce you to all of Boston’s neighborhoods, we will sometimes meet at new locations for site visits (e.g., Mattapan, East Boston, Charlestown, Grove Hall).

No. However, an artist fee of $5,000.00 can be used to cover expenses as artists see fit. It will be paid in two installments: the first 50% upon entering the cohort in early September, and the remaining 50% upon submitting a completed Conceptual Design at the end of November.

Greater Boston is any city within the 495 beltway.

No. The Accelerator is open to all Greater Boston artists with some or plenty of experience in the realms of public art, creative placemaking or placekeeping, architecture, sculpture, and/or socially engaged art. You will, however, be asked to provide a reference with your application.

The application portal, Slideroom, will ask you for the name and email address of someone who can provide a recommendation. They’ll receive an email with a link to the portal where they’ll answer two questions about you. It’s a good idea to ask them before you sign them up and tell them to expect an email from notifications@slideroom.com. You can check to see if your reference was completed or send a reminder by logging into Slideroom and clicking on tab 2, References.

Your application is collected via Slideroom. You’ll be asked to respond to five mandatory questions, provide a Bio (or a CV/Resume), up to 10 images and corresponding information, and ask one person for a recommendation.

You can apply by clicking this link.

Yes. Studio GLD, Cynthia Gunardi, and Joel Lamere worked as a duo in Cohort One. Additionally, you may involve other artists or partners in the final artwork you create as Cat Mazza did in Cohort Two with students from UMass Boston.

Yes! Congratulations on submitting your application. Please email additional information (e.g., resume or CV) to us at info@thetriennial.org by the deadline: Friday, July 19, 11:59 PM.