More than $800,000 in grants awarded for arts and culture projects

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture today announced 10 projects that will improve public spaces have been awarded grants totaling $809,500 through the City of Boston’s Edward Ingersoll Browne Trust Fund.

“The grantees in this round of Browne funding represent a diverse array of projects from all across the City of Boston,” said Mayor Walsh. “We’ve seen the tremendous impact that public art and the beautification of neighborhoods can have on the City as a whole, and I am excited to see these projects enhance neighborhoods and uplift communities.”

The Browne Fund was created in 1892 by Edward Ingersoll Browne who gave one-third of his estate to the fund. The projects in the most recent round of funding include:

• $24,500 to the Foundation for the Preservation of 20 Arlington Street for landscape improvements and lighting to the passive open space located at the Arlington Street Church
• $225,000 to the Fund for Boston Neighborhoods for the fabrication and installation of markers honoring the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings by artist Pablo Eduardo
• $50,000 to Rosie’s Place for fabrication and installation of a memorial, which has since been completed, honoring Kip Tiernan, a relentless activist who fought for economic and social justice in Boston and Massachusetts
• $25,000 to the Friends of Elliot Norton/Bay Village Parks for design development for landscape improvements and restoration to Bay Village Park and Fountain
• $100,000 to the Nonquit Street Land Trust for the refurbishment of the Nonquit Street Park Green and for the fabrication and installation of a piece of public artwork
• $120,000 to the Friends of Memorial Hall for the design, fabrication and installation of ornamental fencing surrounding Memorial Hall in Charlestown, and lighting elements for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Garden and Monument honoring Charlestown residents who gave their lives for their country
• $45,000 to the Puerto Rican Veteran Square Association for the design, fabrication and installation of an ornamental gateway located at the entrance of the Puerto Rican Veterans Memorial Park in the South End, which has since been completed

Mayor Walsh offers remarks during the annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Puerto Rican Veterans Monument in the South End (May 28, 2018)

• $50,000 to the Frederick Douglass Sculpture Committee for landscape design development to the open space surrounding the planned Frederick Douglass sculpture located along Tremont Street in Roxbury
• $20,000 to the Roxbury PATH Forward Neighborhood Association for design development to create public art in Gertrude Howes Park to celebrate and honor the many individuals who have contributed to improving living conditions and social equity during the Civil Rights era and beyond
• $150,000 to the Freedom Trail Foundation for the creation of public art adjacent to Faneuil Hall commemorating Africans and African-Americans sold into slavery on Merchants Row by artist Steve Locke

“The community-driven projects awarded funding this year play an important role in integrating arts and culture into the public realm and embedding more public art into every neighborhood of Boston,” said Chief of Arts and Culture Kara Elliott-Ortega.

In addition to the Browne Fund, the City of Boston also supported 198 individual artists with over $190,000 in funding through the Opportunity Fund in 2018, and awarded over $480,000 to 221 arts organizations and projects through Boston Cultural Council organizational grants earlier this year. Several permanent public art projects are also underway in the City, as a result of the Percent for Art program, which allocates one percent of the City’s capital construction budget to the creation of permanent public art.

In accordance with the Browne Fund guidelines, organizations that received funding are required to complete the funded portion of their projects within 18 months of receiving the award.

To learn more about other resources for funding art in the City of Boston, visit here.