Talk: Answering the Call for Public Art, Demystifying the Proposal Process with Cambridge Arts

Answering the Call for Public Art: Demystifying the Proposal Process with Cambridge Arts

(This event is free and open to the public. Click the Virtual Event URL link to register directly on ZOOM.)

Interested in taking your art practice to the public realm? Or teaming up with the City of Cambridge to create an exciting mural project in your neighborhood? Join us for an informational talk and presentation with Cambridge Arts. Hear directly from Hilary Zelson, your local municipal Public Art Administrator, about navigating the public art process in Cambridge. Hilary will explain the proposal and application process, upcoming open calls, and their unique Digital Public Art Registry!

This talk is presented in partnership with the Cambridge Arts, and is part of an ongoing series exploring relevant topics, opportunities, and available resources related to public art initiatives throughout the greater Boston area. Stay tuned for more related talks from this series!

About Hilary Zelson

Hilary Zelson is a Public Art Administrator and Public Artist. In 2016, she began working as the Public Art Administrator for Cambridge Arts. In her role, she is responsible for coordinating logistics, education, and outreach for numerous percent for art and temporary public projects. She also helps manage Cambridge Arts’ Gallery 344 and oversees the Public Art Registry of over 600 artists. Previously, she spent eight years working in the Education Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She has a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston at Tufts University, with a Certificate in Museum Studies from Tufts University, and earned a BA from Union College in Studio Arts.

In addition to her work for the City of Cambridge, Hilary continues to make her own Public Art. Some notable projects include “Winter Blooms”, in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA, “Spectacle Butterfly”, at the Nashville International Airport, in Nashville, TN, “Rainbow Rooster”, at Cambridge Ellis Preschool, in Cambridge, MA, “Who Wears Wool”, in Fort Point Channel, Boston, MA, and the Community Arts Initiative Artist Project: “Elemental”, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Her work has been featured in, among others, The Boston Globe, the AP, Wicked Local Brookline, Metro Boston, Brookline Patch, Nashville Arts Magazine, Boston Magazine, Boston.com, The Jewish Advocate, and The Improper Bostonian. Hilary lives in Needham, MA with her husband Andrew, two-year old twin boys Ari and Jordan, and two cats Augustus and Posey.

About Cambridge Arts

Cambridge Arts is a city agency that funds, promotes, and presents high-quality, community-based arts programming for the benefit of artists, residents, and visitors to Cambridge, MA. Established in 1974, Cambridge Arts is one of the oldest and most dynamic arts agencies in the country. As a public nonprofit, Cambridge Arts operates with funding from local government, private foundations, corporate sponsors, and individual donors and delivers on its mission by fulfilling three primary roles:

Connector: Through partnerships with artists, presenters, donors, and audiences, the agency operates as a vital cultural presence in the region. From connecting local youth with professional teaching artists to securing performance space for both emerging and established ensembles and introducing residents to local artists through Cambridge Open Studios, Cambridge Arts links people and resources from across the artistic spectrum to spark innovative collaboration.

Presenter: In addition to exhibitions and educational programming presented in Gallery 344, Cambridge Arts stages high-profile events such as the Cambridge River Festival, a signature city celebration and regional event. The festival features a wide array of music, dance, theater and visual art and attracts a robust audience of close to 200,000 visitors annually.

Funder: Through the Cambridge Arts Grant Program, Cambridge Arts awards dozens of financial grants each year in support of high-quality, community-based art projects representing all artistic disciplines.

Cambridge Arts embraces a vision that welcomes and supports everyone. Believing that a multiplicity of perspectives is essential to a strong society, we are committed, both in our policies and practices, to building participation in and awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the arts and all cultures. In our ongoing work to address cultural and historical inequities, we strive to be a community anchor that reflects the entire Cambridge community and expands access, opportunities, and inclusion in every form of creative expression. We value diverse voices and people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic situations, religions, citizenship statuses, and family configurations.