City of Boston Announces Search for New Director of Public Art

Leader to take the reins from Karin Goodfellow who moves to newly created position as Director of Transformative Art and Monuments

Thursday, August 22, 2024 - Mayor Michelle Wu and The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture today announced they have launched a search for a new Director of Public Art for the City of Boston. Karin Goodfellow, the Director of Public Art for the past 16 years, will become the Director of Transformative Arts and Monuments, overseeing Un-monument, the City’s recently announced Mellon Foundation funded program focused on re-imagining Boston’s public art and monument landscape.

“I am so grateful for the pioneering work that Karin has accomplished during her long tenure leading Boston’s public art programs,” said Kara Elliott-Ortega, Chief of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston. “She has not only brought first-class artwork to our city, but has done so with a deep commitment to creating equitable opportunities for local artists. I am excited to continue to grow our public art program so that all of our residents and visitors can experience the power and impact of art across all of Boston’s neighborhoods.”

The Director of Public Art plays a crucial role shaping the vision and visual landscape of the City of Boston and oversees efforts to commission and conserve our city’s public art. This exciting portfolio of work has grown in investment and capacity over time as Boston has increased support for the arts. In 2023 alone, over 100 projects—murals, monuments, and new media projects—on City-owned property across Boston were approved.

The Director of Public Art will be responsible for the oversight and daily operations related to all of Boston’s public art programs, overseeing a dedicated team of three full time staff and multiple contracted project managers. This portfolio of work includes the City’s Paintbox program, transformative public art program, along with ongoing Percent for Art projects and staffing the Boston Art Commission.

“I’m proud to have led public art in Boston at such a creative moment. Across the city, people are engaged in meaningful dialogue about art, whether they feel connected to the new mural at their child’s school or if a new monument up the street reflects their understanding of history,” said Karin Goodfellow. "As Director of Public Art, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to build systems and a team of talented leaders, diversify funding mechanisms, while opening up wider opportunities for not only artists to engage with culture, but everyone in Boston and beyond. I'm excited to now lead Un-monument to collectively expand our cultural narrative through exciting contemporary art and public conversations.”

Goodfellow served as Boston’s first Director of Public Art and has held this role for over 16 years and across four administrations. During her tenure, she played a pivotal role in developing the City’s burgeoning public art program, leading the Boston Art Commission, and growing a dedicated team within the Mayor’s Office. She founded the City's key public art programs for long and short-term public art, including PaintBox, Transformative Public Art, and piloting the inclusion of public art in City capital projects which led to the creation of the Percent for Art program. She also created the Boston Artists-in-Residence program and led several major public art consultancies – the Indigenous Public Art and Cultural Spaces consultancy, a mural consultancy with Street Theory, and a conservation consultancy with Daedalus.

This transition builds upon Goodfellow’s experience curating new projects and leading the City of Boston's monument strategies, including commissioning a 2017 audit of national approaches to monuments and related study of Boston's collection and overseeing the first public process leading to the eventual removal of two monuments. Goodfellow also designed and led the art process for the high-profile The Embrace monument to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

The job description for the Director of Public Art can be found here and applications will be accepted until September 27, 2024.