Indigenous Public Art and Cultural Spaces Consultant

In 2024, Erin Genia, Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota, joined our office as the first Indigenous Public Art and Cultural Spaces (IPACS) consultant, with the goal of bringing expertise on regional Indigenous arts, cultures, and communities to the office’s work commissioning public art.

As the IPACS consultant, Genia studies and reviews the existing and developing public art collection as well as the working frameworks, definitions, processes, and practices of the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the Boston Art Commission. 

The goals of the IPACS consultant are:

1. To inform the City of Boston's public art commissioning program and governmental approaches to art, property, and land in Boston
2. To create intentional touch points across departments, including with an existing interdepartmental working group that may serve as a resource to this work.
3. To critically examine City of Boston's public art collection for depictions and omissions of Indigenous people, cultures, and communities
4. To advise on historical and current trends of commemoration or representation of individuals and events in public art.