Staff Insight: Art, Joy, And Hope In Public Spaces

Anita Lauricella, Senior Planner/Project Manager

For the last eight months, many of us have taken an accelerated leap into the virtual world. We have worked on-line, on Zoom, and mingled on social media.  It has been exhilarating, and it has made us feel safe during a difficult time. 
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​At the same time, missing from our world have been the connections that come from the physicality and random encounters that are part of daily life, particularly urban life.  The Tasteful Boston Utility Box Project is an attempt to redefine these attributes in a new way.  And a way to restate what is fundamental to the BID’s work: a safe, clean, and welcoming public realm that facilitates safe connections and spontaneous encounters in this new world.   ​

The Tasteful Boston Project allowed me to rethink my work as the BID's Senior Planner and reclaim both attributes.  I could watch and talk with the Project’s artists.  I could watch them transform bland, gray utility boxes, purposely meant to disappear, into objects of whimsy and beauty.  I could learn about their art and their practice.  And most exciting, I could quietly observe the interactions of people with these newly visible objects.  I could listen to their response to encountering an artist working or witness their reactions to this newly found piece of art in their path.
 
Creating space for people to engage with art physically, randomly, and safely is part of the BID’s next public space intervention.  We are lucky to be working with some of Boston’s premier cultural organizations as we support their efforts in ‘Downtown Holiday Magic'.  Keep an eye out for the joy and hope art in public spaces can provide to all of us during these challenging times.