2021 “inPUBLIC Festival” (FREE)
60 artists will transform the Downtown Crossing steps into a place for public discussion and healing at the 2021 “inPUBLIC Festival”! The event will take place November 5-7 and all are welcome!
Inclement weather updates will be posted at DS4SI.org
The DS4SI team will construct a site-specific experience around the Downtown Crossing steps, which will include a stage area for the opening and closing ceremonies and performances. A gallery-like atmosphere will be designed to encourage reflection and interaction.
The public will be invited to participate, watch and be moved by a mix of vibrant visual and performance art, sound installations and participatory art-making.
“inPUBLIC Festival” curators Letta Neely and Sheila Novak put out a national call to artists for work that addressed the question, “What are you tending to?” to bring an artistic response to the issues that are holding people’s attention and those in need of care and nurturing.
Friday, November 5, 2021, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
A space-building project from The UnBound Bodies Collective, a group of queer and trans-BIPOC creatives who will transform the steps with an immersive installation that calls for collective rest, care and rejuvenation.
November 6, 2021, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
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November 7, 2021, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Opening ceremony led by performance poet and event producer, Dzidzor Azaglo.
A big colorful hopscotch game that encourages participation from the intersection of Washington and Summer Streets to the Downtown Crossing steps.
30+ pieces of visual artwork will surround the steps.
Visitors are invited to add personal reflections to a growing participatory art installation called a “Tending Garden.”
Soundscape with DS4SI’s “Voicemail Project” — a virtual project in which anonymous callers describe what they will tend to in their personal lives and communities, and poems and songs curated by artist Crystal Bi.
Music by DJ Bruno.
Closing ceremony led by Dzidzor Azaglo.
The “inPUBLIC Festival” is presented in partnership with the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) and the Downtown Boston BID.
Where are the artists from?
Local artists
Dorchester
Downtown Crossing
Hyde Park
Jamaica Plain
Mattapan
Roslindale
Roxbury
Seaport District
South End
Brookline
Cambridge
Somerville
Regional artists
Brockton
Lawrence
Lynn
Malden
Medford
Springfield
Watertown
Worcester
Out-of-State artists
Colorado
Florida
New York
Out-of-Country artists
Canada
