Visual Arts

Shepard Fairy cuts out the stencil for the mural being installed on a wall of the IMAX Simon’s Theater at the New England Aquarium. The mural is part of Sea Walls, an environmental public art project based in East Boston to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on the planet's fragile oceans. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

From Obey Giant To Oceans, Artist Shepard Fairey Reflects On His First Permanent Mural In Boston

The street artist and activist has immortalized the likenesses of wrestling icon André the Giant and President Barack Obama in paint. Now, it's the North Atlantic right whale's turn.

WBUR News

06:09Jul 23, 2021

Horace Ballard has been named the new curator of American art for the Harvard Art Museums. (Courtesy Jeneene Chatowsky)

Harvard Art Museums Appoints New Curator Of American Art

Horace Ballard is set to begin this role in September and hopes viewers will come away from the collections with questions and a desire to keep learning.

WBUR News

Jul 9, 2021

Visitors pose in the Vibe-O-Mat room at "Go Pixel Yourself." (Courtesy John Carter)

A Trippy Funhouse Art Installation Invites You To 'Go Pixel Yourself'

In artist John Carter's immersive experience at the CambridgeSide Galleria Mall, visitors walk through 13 themed rooms that feel made for Instagram.

WBUR News

Jul 2, 2021

Virgil Abloh, "You're Obviously in the Wrong Place," 2015-2019. (Courtesy Gymnastics Art Institute)

At The ICA, Virgil Abloh's 'Figures Of Speech' Offers Loaded Words

The designer and artist's 20-year retrospective showcases his work, which he said, "exists to surf on this hydroplane of pop culture, to sort of spread ideas and empower people."

WBUR News

Jul 1, 2021

The Huntington Avenue entrance at the Museum of Fine Arts with banners featuring tribute drawings by Boston-based artist-in-residence Rob Stull featuring Lady Pink, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Futura. (Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

State Commission Recommends $575 Million Investment In Mass. Cultural Sector

The commission's final report urges the Legislature to spend $575 million of the roughly $5.3 billion that state government received from the American Rescue Plan Act on the arts and...

WBUR News

Jun 30, 2021

Artists Reconsider The Mayflower Crossing In Exhibition At Fuller Craft

Ten artists were asked to create works interpreting the historic voyage but using only tools, materials and processes that existed back in 1620.

WBUR News

Jun 30, 2021

Nathan Clark Bentley, "Tomorrow Won’t Do (Waiting for the Night)," 2020. (Courtesy of the artist)

At The Fitchburg Art Museum, An Artist Ponders The Caprice And Folly of Youth

Nathan Clark Bentley creates paintings that are comic and surreal critiques of youth culture and what he calls "toxic masculinity."

WBUR News

Jun 23, 2021

Valerie Imparato, "Dragonfly," 2021. (Courtesy of the artist)

8 Art Exhibits To Explore This Summer

After more than a year of interruptions, Boston museums and galleries are open and going full force. Art critic Pam Reynolds recommends eight art exhibits worth seeing this summer.

WBUR News

Jun 21, 2021

Zy Baer's "Polarity" installation imagines how the Fort Point and Seaport neighborhoods could look if nothing is done to reverse the effects of climate change. (Courtesy Fort Point Arts Commission)

'Your Condo Is Going To Flood': A Sculptural Installation Predicts What Climate Change Could Bring

Interdisciplinary artist Zy Baer's installation, called "Polarity," warns about the threat of rising sea levels, and what the Seaport District will look like if no action is taken on climate...

WBUR News

03:13Jun 18, 2021

"FutureSHORELINE," an art installation by Carolina Aragón along Fort Point Channel, imagines how high the water will rise in coming decades. (Courtesy Matt Conti)

Fort Point Channel Sculptures Model How High The Water Could Rise In The City

Artist and professor Carolina Aragón created "FutureSHORELINE," a temporary art installation that shows projected flooding in Boston, due to sea level rise.

WBUR News

Jun 16, 2021

The Boston LGBTQIA+ Artist Alliance (BLAA) exhibition features work from early and mid-career artists. Works shown here by Vick Quezada, Meera Chuahan and Annielly Camargo. (Jenn Stanley for WBUR)

Distillery Gallery's 'Some Assembly Required' Showcases Boston’s Intergenerational Queer Arts Scene

The Boston LGBTQIA+ Artist Alliance brings together 34 works from 30 emerging and established queer artists from the region working in a broad range of disciplines to create a bold...

WBUR News

Jun 11, 2021

"Still Life with a Peach and Two Green Pears," (circa 1883-87) by Paul Cézanne. (Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

A Concise Cézanne Exhibit At The MFA Maps Connections With His Contemporaries

The show, “Paul Cézanne: Influence,” is mostly about the influence of Cézanne on later artists, but also looks at the influence of some earlier upon him.

WBUR News

Jun 10, 2021

Daniel Gordon's new mural "Summer Still Life with Lobsters and Fern" brings vibrancy to Dewey Square along the Greenway. (Courtesy Haybe Todd)

The Greenway Gets A Zesty Mural With A Lobster And A Fern

The scene -- which took eight days or 88 hours of painting -- evokes the quintessential New England summer, a much-needed nod to normalcy after more than a year indoors.

WBUR News

Jun 7, 2021

Left: Demetri Espinosa, "Catharsis," 2020. Right: Anina Major, "Red Tip Loci," 2018. (Courtesy LaiSun Keane)

At LaiSun Keane, Two Artists Investigate Identity And Belonging

Anina Major and Demetri Espinosa provide very personalized takes on identity, culture and belonging in “A Chorus of Marks and Artifacts,” on view beginning June 3.

WBUR News

Jun 1, 2021

In this March 26, 2011, file photo, soldier and cavalry details are displayed on the memorial to Union Col. Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, near the Statehouse in Boston. The monument in Boston honoring a famed Civil War unit of Black soldiers has been unveiled May 28 following a $3 million restoration. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Shaw Memorial Honoring Black Union Army Soldiers Unveiled After A Year-Long Restoration Project

The Memorial to Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Regiment, built in 1897, was the first public monument in the nation to honor African-American soldiers.

WBUR News

May 28, 2021

The front doors of the Institute of Contemporary Art in the Seaport. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

No More Masks At Boston Art Museums

After more than a year, vaccinated patrons will no longer be required to wear masks at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

WBUR News

May 28, 2021

Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design Group's proposed memorial. (Courtesy City of Boston)

Boston's MLK Memorial Cleared By City Landmarks Commission

The 20-foot-high (6-meter-high) bronze sculpture called “The Embrace" will be one of the country’s largest memorials dedicated to racial equity when installation is complete in October 2022.

WBUR News

May 26, 2021

Artist Cedric Douglas works on the mural he is installing commissioned by the Cultural Alliance of Medfield at the Medfield State Hospital. The mural's concept centers on the healing power of music, building on the Hospital’s legacy of health and wellness.(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Former Medfield State Hospital Is Transforming Into A Cultural Hub

Still in the early stages, plans are to revive the property with a mix of indoor and outdoor performing arts and education venues, and even a culinary arts center.

WBUR News

May 21, 2021

Humphreys Street Studios, with their landmark chimney, in Dorchester, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Pending Sale Of Dorchester Studios Awakens Fears Of Artist Displacement

The 42 artists at the Humphreys Street Studios in Dorchester hoped to gain control of the building through an unusual partnership with local developers. But an offer from an outside...

WBUR News

May 13, 2021

Mass MoCA sits on 16 acres in North Adams, Mass. (Courtesy Mass MoCA/Kaelan Burkett)

Seeking Job Security And Better Pay, Majority Of MASS MoCA Employees Vote To Unionize

The mail-in ballots were counted over a Zoom meeting on Wednesday.

WBUR News

Apr 29, 2021

Radio Boston

From Obey Giant To Oceans, Artist Shepard Fairey Reflects On His First Permanent Mural In Boston

Harvard Art Museums Appoints New Curator Of American Art

A Trippy Funhouse Art Installation Invites You To 'Go Pixel Yourself'

At The ICA, Virgil Abloh's 'Figures Of Speech' Offers Loaded Words

State Commission Recommends $575 Million Investment In Mass. Cultural Sector

Artists Reconsider The Mayflower Crossing In Exhibition At Fuller Craft

At The Fitchburg Art Museum, An Artist Ponders The Caprice And Folly of Youth

8 Art Exhibits To Explore This Summer

'Your Condo Is Going To Flood': A Sculptural Installation Predicts What Climate Change Could Bring

Fort Point Channel Sculptures Model How High The Water Could Rise In The City

Distillery Gallery's 'Some Assembly Required' Showcases Boston’s Intergenerational Queer Arts Scene

A Concise Cézanne Exhibit At The MFA Maps Connections With His Contemporaries

The Greenway Gets A Zesty Mural With A Lobster And A Fern

At LaiSun Keane, Two Artists Investigate Identity And Belonging

Shaw Memorial Honoring Black Union Army Soldiers Unveiled After A Year-Long Restoration Project

No More Masks At Boston Art Museums

Boston's MLK Memorial Cleared By City Landmarks Commission

Former Medfield State Hospital Is Transforming Into A Cultural Hub

Pending Sale Of Dorchester Studios Awakens Fears Of Artist Displacement

Seeking Job Security And Better Pay, Majority Of MASS MoCA Employees Vote To Unionize