Call for artists for public art piece at BCYF Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture today announced a call for artists for a second artwork that will be located at the BCYF Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury. This piece will be one of five Percent for Art-funded projects currently underway in the neighborhood. The funds allocated for the Percent for Art program, enacted by Mayor Walsh in 2017, come from one percent of the City's annual capital borrowing budget for the commissioning of public art. 

"This project will have a real impact on the families who visit the BCYF Vine Street Community Center as well as the entire neighborhood of Roxbury," said Mayor Walsh. "I look forward to seeing the Center, which has served as an anchor of the Roxbury neighborhood, enhanced and beautified by this new piece of public art."

The City of Boston is calling on artists who have a cultural, historic or artistic connection to Roxbury to develop a permanent, two-dimensional, interior artwork with a budget of $9,999. This is the second call for artists for BCYF Vine Street. Casto Solano was selected to create a piece of public art on the landscaped area in front of the center that will be installed in 2020. 

Last year, Mayor Walsh and members of the community celebrated the opening of the renovated BCYF Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury. The $5.3 million dollar renovation is a part of the Mayor's $37 million FY20-FY24 Capital Plan investment in BCYF facilities. 

Building on his continued support of arts and culture in the City of Boston, Mayor Walsh dedicated over $2.5 million in funding in the past year toward arts programming, including support for 220 different arts organizations, more than 200 individual artists, and more than 90 free arts experiences for all residents to enjoy. 

Over the next five years, the City is committing $13.4 million to the Percent for Art program, an initiative of Boston Creates, the City's first cultural plan that aims to integrate arts and culture into all aspects of civic life. This, combined with $80,000 for temporary public art projects in the next year and several new City staff positions, is the most funding the City has ever dedicated to public art. 

The deadline to apply for the second Vine Street BCYF Center public art project is Friday, December 6. Interested artists can apply online. You can also learn more about the City's public art projects online.

The Office of Arts and Culture enhances the quality of life, the economy, and the design of the City through the arts. The role of the arts in all aspects of life in Boston is reinforced through equitable access to arts and culture in every community, its public institutions, and public places. Key areas of work include support to the cultural sector through grants and programs, as well as the production and permitting of art in public places.

Boston Centers for Youth & Families (BCYF) is the City of Boston's largest youth and human service agency. BCYF operates 36 community centers (including 18 pools) in Boston that offer a variety of engaging and enriching programs for people of all ages created through community input and need. BCYF also oversees citywide programs focusing on supporting high-risk and proven-risk youth and young adults, girls, teens, children and adults with special needs, and youth employment.