Inhabit Series 4 Episode 2: “Transient Art”

[Clock Ticking]

[‘Twist of Mentality’ by Kikoru plays]

Kara Elliot-Ortega: A lot of times when we say public art, what that means to people is an object in public space, and that, to me, is more of like the outcome of one of many outcomes of what a public art making kind of process might be.

Kimberly Seigel: That was Kara Elliott-Ortega, the former Chief of Arts and Culture for the city of Boston and our guide throughout today’s episode.

Kara Elliot-Ortega: When you see a piece of quote – unquote, public art out there in the world, like it could be the results of an artist just wanting to make a statement, or wanting to make something beautiful and inspiring. It could be like the results of a big public process about telling a history about those people in that place. Could be the results of community members getting together to have like a public ritual. It could be a dance party, right? Like all of these things to me are public, civic, creative expression.

Kimberly Seigel: On a season dedicated to public art, her wisdom reminds us that the definition of public art is complex, expanding, and ever changing. I am Kimberly Siegel, the research manager at Perkins&Will.

Erika Eitland: I’m Dr. Erika Eitland. And this is Inhabit.

Erika Eitland: Kimi, since last episode, I have been thinking a lot about how Boston is a city of firsts, you know, for the United States specifically, obviously. We had the first public park here, 1634. First public school, 1635. And then we had things like the first post office, the first public library. And then I think it’s probably a pretty good thing that we had the first electric fire alarm system in 1852

Kimberly Seigel: It’s true. Protect those books.

Erika Eitland: But, with all that in mind, I feel like these first civic spaces have a ripple effect on design long term and how it evolves in our cities and communities. Those buildings actually tell the history of the spaces we inhabit today.

Kimberly Seigel: Okay, so, Erika, I promised you in the last episode that I’m really excited to talk about Boston being home to the first underground subway system in all of North America.

Erika Eitland: I do remember that.

Kimberly Seigel: Yeah, yeah. And you know, it’s not just a part of the history here. It’s an indelible part of our present and our future. Sound familiar?

Erika Eitland: This sounds familiar. Sounds sort of like our art ecosystem from last time.

Kimberly Seigel: Exactly.

Erika Eitland: But hold on, we need to do a little vocab here.

Kimberly Seigel: Okay, all right, let’s check it.

Erika Eitland: This is Boston. We are not the underground, the Metro, the subway system. This is the T or the MBTA

Kimberly Seigel: True! T for true.

Erika Eitland: T for true, yikes. [Kimberly chuckles] But that’s a good reminder. MBTA or sir or dame, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority. So, all’s to say, we use “The T” for the rest of this episode, because it’s what’s connecting all of the different neighborhoods in Boston, all right?

Kimberly Seigel: It really does connect all of the neighborhoods of Boston. And, in talking to Kara, I realized that public art doesn’t just happen in public places (Erika: Thank god) like the public garden, which is where we were last episode. It happens everywhere, like the T, and it can happen anytime, even for just a few minutes.

Erika Eitland: Or even a few decades, if it’s a mural or, you know, even thinking about some of that graffiti that we talked about last time.

Kimberly Seigel: Exactly, exactly. So what’s special is that everyone can contribute, right, not just professional artists, but pretty much anyone that wants to dive into art. And we’re going to see how every other city department and initiatives can contribute to a holistic and thriving public art scene.

Erika Eitland: Because public art in Boston is a lever used to activate spaces and Boston’s art history and future highlights that this is all about the people: the leadership, the advocates, and truly the magic that happens at those intersections.

Kimberly Seigel: Like the intersections of climate change and design!

Erika Eitland: For sure, or design and public health.

Kimberly Seigel: Or public art and public transit. And that, that is what I want us to nerd out on today.

Erika Eitland: All right, I’m here for this. Where are we headed?

Kimberly Seigel: We are going from micro to macro. From Inhabit by the numbers, to the people who contribute to public art on the T every day to the large city initiatives that bring vibrancy to neighborhoods across the city during the Boston Public Art Triennial.

Erika Eitland: Oh, all right,buckle up, people. It’s gonna be a good one.

Kimberly Seigel: Should we say, “Top up that Charlie Card?”

Erika Eitland: Ooh, Lord.

[both laugh]

[Fiddler music playing]

Erika Eitland: Kimi, before we kick off this adventure, I think we need to get into the numbers.

Kimberly Seigel: Uh, Inhabit by the numbers?

Erika Eitland: Yes, aka, “context quantified.” Because those data points, help decision makers for cities well, make decisions.

Kimberly Seigel: And as a carbon nerd, I’m a fan of transit because it’s both a climate mitigation and an adaptation strategy. Meaning, it not only curbs the amount of carbon emissions that get put into the atmosphere, but it also helps large urban populations adapt to a warming world.

Erika Eitland: Listen, I’m a climate adaptation girly, so I’m here for this. I think we should do a little speed dating with data. What do you think?

Kimberly Seigel: Okay! Can we make it public transit focused?

Erika Eitland: I think we could. I think we could. All right, challenge accepted. Producer, Lauren, let’s put 90 seconds on the clock.

[Clock winds up]

Erika Eitland: Speed dating commence.

[Bell dings]

Kimberly Seigel: So the first number is 2.2. 2.2 is the number of tons of carbon emissions one individual can reduce up to annually if they shift from taking cars to taking public transit.

Erika Eitland: Holy cow, that’s a whole Rhino worth of carbon. All right. Next one, we have [Bell dings] 4 T lines in Boston, but really this is just a small part of a larger combination of busses, commuter rail, Ferry and subway. So they can serve our next number, which is [Bell dings] 23 the officially designated neighborhoods in Boston that rely on the T to get around this crazy city.

Kimberly Seigel: Wow. Okay, so, but for public transit systems to be successful, they need riders. [Bell dings] 833,769 to be exact. That is the average weekday ridership on the MBTA for the month of May 2025.

Erika Eitland: that’s nearly a million people a day. Crazy.

Kimberly Seigel: Yeah, yeah. Isn’t that nuts? And you know what stunned me? That’s the average weekday ridership on the T and it’s still [Bell dings] 32% lower when compared to May 2019, you know, in a pre-pandemic world.

Erika Eitland: Okay, we’re running out of time. But what’s a great way to bring riders back?

Kimberly Seigel: Ooh, art. Okay. And, fortunately, Boston has a robust Arts on the T program. Housing over here’s another number, over [Bell dings] 100 pieces of art and murals across all their modes of transit, [Erika: Okay.] And that’s not even counting their subway performers program, which is about performance art rather than static art.

Erika Eitland: Oh, my God. Okay, that was 90 seconds. [Timer runs out] That was so fast.

Kimberly Seigel: Oof! That was real fast.

Erika Eitland: I feel like we got to take a moment, because the Subway Performers Program, I feel like that’s broadening our definition of what we’ve called public art.

Kimberly Seigel: It is. It really is. And interestingly enough, it doesn’t fall under the purview of our friends at the Boston Arts Commission,

Erika Eitland: Oh my gosh, the commissioners, if they’re not managing it. Who is?

Kimberly Seigel: That’s a great question. And I think I know someone who we could call.

[Phone line rings]                                   

Her name is Ellen Bello she works for a real estate company called Grey Stone. And they are contracted by the MBTA to administer all the commercial and social activity that happens inside all of the T stations.

Ellen Bello: My name is Ellen Bello. I work at Greystone. I’m actually the office manager. Greystone is the MBTA real estate service provider. So we provide all applications for everything, anything, anybody and anybody who wants to do anything in the station or near the station needs to come through us.

Kimberly Seigel: Ellen is in charge of clearing all of the vendors who have concession stalls inside the stations.

Erika Eitland: She had the inside scoop, and she told us all about the MBTA Subway Performers Program, which allows musical performers to, well, perform at designated performance areas throughout the subway system on a daily basis.

Kimberly Seigel: But we really wanted to know the process, what does it actually take to become a subway performer?

Erika Eitland: I could do it.

Kimberly Seigel: You could- Okay! I’d love to see this. [Chuckles] Because after a $25 money order and a background check it seems like anyone can contribute to public art.

Ellen Bello: If they pass, which is great, I send them their badge, which is good for a year, and I send them a pink certificate or a permit that they’re supposed to display, and a list of all the places they are allowed to play at each station. And that’s it, and they can just do their thing. As far as, like, adhering to the rules- there’s many rules. There’s sound level rules, there’s, I don’t know, only certain places they can perform so they’re not in the way of the people trying to get on the train, you know, like, no one has a designated spot and they’re supposed to be courteous. As far as, like, you know, not standing there all day.

Kimberly Seigel: So, considering that this was a formal process for subway performers to go through, we kind of assumed that there would be this threshold for performances that they were planning to bring. But you know what? It actually turns out, that is not the case.

Ellen Bello: Some of them are great. I mean, they come in. They want it. They want to try out. I’m like, you don’t have to try out. But they send me their CDs. It’s- it’s fun.

Erika Eitland: I wouldn’t have to audition. I think I got this.

Kimberly Seigel: [Chuckles] Yeah, you could just go out there, show us your stuff.

Erika Eitland: [Laughs] I’ll go back to that. But that was pretty eye opening for us. We learned that there are so many processes and rules for permanent art in this city, but when it comes to more temporary versions of art, aka performances, they don’t appear to be evaluated or treated in the same way. So, this definition of public art seems to be slightly different when there’s a temporal element to it.

[‘This Little Light of Mine’ by Ilana Katz Katz plays]

Erika Eitland: That was longtime subway busker, Ilana Katz Katz, performing a song that has been sung for at least 100 years and an important resistance song during the Civil Rights Movement. In a new place, a new time, this song has new meaning.

Kimberly Seigel: And I wanted to understand why Ilana performs in subway stations like the Park Street T station just underneath the Boston Common

Erika Eitland: Because, let’s be honest, Kimi, the design of these spaces contributes to a unique [Kimberly laughs] acoustic environment.

Kimberly Seigel: Yup.

Erika Eitland: We got the echoes, reverb, ceiling height, background noise from trains and ventilation.

Kimberly Seigel: The people.

Erika Eitland: People.

Kimberly Seigel: I mean don’t forget the people murmuring about.

Erika Eitland: So it’s a decision.

Ilana Katz Katz: I do this because I like to bring joy to people who weren’t expecting to hear live music when they woke up in the morning. I think it’s especially important right now, with the world being what it is, whatever side you’re on, we’ve got a lot of darkness, and I’m raising the vibration a little bit at a time. I know and trust however much I make or don’t make, I say a prayer when I go down to the subway to reach the people I’m supposed to reach, and I know I do every time.

Erika Eitland: This is the clearest example I’ve heard of what value public art gives our communities. In our moments of pause, designers create entryways, platforms, mezzanines, but performers take advantage of this stage to impact, to educate, to bring happiness, to bring pride to the community that experiences it.

Kimberly Seigel: I think that’s why I was so drawn to this topic of public art this season, because it complements our built environment. It shape our ecosystem, whether you’re a commuter or a tourist, and it transforms anonymous transit zones into cultural touch points of memory. It’s really place making at its finest.

Erika Eitland: I mean, I think the T is literally giving a platform [Kimberly chuckles] to artistic expression, but unlike other forms of art, this feels less regulated, more accessible for both the artist and the public.

Ilana Katz Katz: I feel great, great freedom in the subway because I do have a permit. I mean, you don’t need a permit to play on the streets. But I feel great freedom as an artist to do whatever I want here, and I try to read the crowd and do what people want. But no, I love it.

Kimberly Seigel: It’s fascinating that even though a permit is required to perform on the subway, an artist can feel so liberated and free.

Erika Eitland: And so responsive to what the public needs in real time. Really, it makes me wonder, if we are designing spaces that actually let that magic unfold? Are we inviting it or preventing it? I mean, subway performers aren’t just entertainment. They’re signs that architecture is alive.

[Fiddler plays]

Kimberly Seigel: Erika. This really makes me feel like there must be a sweet spot between fleeting and permanent art- or artistic regulation and artistic freedom.

Erika Eitland: Mm. I like a sweet spot.

Kimberly Seigel: I think it’s time to bring back our friend Kara. She was able to give a little more context on the city-wide landscape of art.

Erika Eitland: Well, and she also shares how the Boston art commission is responding to today’s modern landscape after being in existence for more than 100 years.

Kara Elliot-Ortega: Yeah, the Boston Art Commission still exists. There’s some fun quirks of having things that were started in the late 1800s. You know, we’re responsible for all that record keeping and all of the data and information of every art commission meeting that’s ever happened. But yeah, it’s the body that has regulatory approval over public art on public land anywhere in the city. And it’s evolved a lot over the years. I think there’s been a lot of work to really think about what equity looks like in a regulatory body like that. I mean, there’s, like, aesthetic questions, there’s representation questions.  And I think it’s been really great the more and more that there’s been investment in public art, which there’s a lot more in the last, you know, five years, than there was previously. The commission is seeing tons of projects, and like a real range of projects. It’s not just people who have the resources to do, like a really big, you know, sculpture, something like that. It’s also like temporary art, all sorts of things funded by the office. The work that the Boston Art Triennial is going to be bringing that’s going to go through review. And we tried, you know, so hard, to work with people to kind of navigate the bureaucracy.

Erika Eitland: So, the Boston Triennial, this may be our sweet spot. The Triennial is a six month festival of temporary art across Boston, and it’s happening right now. It started in May, and it goes until October 2025, so if you’re in Boston, come and check it out.

Kimberly Seigel: The Boston Art Triennial is a city-wide initiative with clear intent to showcase how art shapes public life and reflects our city values. It’s a real opportunity to take that T that we’ve been talking about this whole episode and explore this great city, right? You know, riding a ferry to Charlestown to catch a sculpture.

Erika Eitland: I have not done that yet.

Kimberly Seigel: Or just following the Triennial events calendar to see what performances may be happening in the city that day.

Erika Eitland: Well, what’s nice is there’s a lot of juicy examples coming up of pieces to see. But from the beginning of this episode, Kara discussed the importance of strengthening the arts ecosystem, and this Triennial is a direct manifestation of that ecosystem in action. Yes, it’s bringing together artists, city agencies, designers, and residents. I told you, it’s about the people, so it validates that public art isn’t incidental. It’s orchestrated, supported and ever evolving.

Kimberly Seigel: And a critical person behind this orchestration is Marguerite Wynter, the Director of Partnership and Engagement at the Boston Public Art Triennial.

Marguerite Wynter: We are the city’s first and only public art organization dedicated to supporting artists and communities with bold contemporary public art. The Boston Public Art Triennial is for everybody. There is an experience that you can engage with art, whether you’ve been in a museum, whether you’re familiar with contemporary art at all, whether you find it intimidating, different ways of engagement. We’re finding different entry points through art-making. You can make flags with Andy Lee in Charlestown or at the Children’s Museum, you could do some weaving with Steven Hamilton. You could hear a talk between a climate scientist and Julian Charet, or Adela Goldbart is going to be in conversation with a horticulturist. So it doesn’t matter what your familiarity was with art, it is for everybody to experience. And that could even be just walking by New Red Orders project that’s on view and Faneuil Hall area. You never know. You’ll never know what you can experience with public art.

Erika Eitland: This is a plot twist I personally wasn’t expecting. Kimi, this is a safe space to share. I have often thought of public art as, like stunning, beautiful, but really something that’s experienced passively, and what I appreciate about Marguerite here is that it really is something that you can deeply engage with. And she’s talking about the breadth and the depth of engagement, which, to me, showcases that public art belongs everywhere and to everyone, not just in those high traffic tourist zones.

Kimberly Seigel: Yeah, so this brings me back to transit, and specifically how the T connects all of Boston, right? To truly make it accessible, the MBTA needed, it absolutely needed to be top of mind.

Marguerite Wynter: In terms of, you know, thinking about the MBTA when we started to select sites, that was definitely a factor. We wanted people to be able to move throughout the city and see projects easily. So whenever we’re starting to look through a site, we’re always like, “Where is the closest MBTA line?” Is there public transport, whether that’s a T or a bus within walking distance, and making sure that you don’t always need a car. There’s four projects that are in the Charlestown Navy Yard. So for that, you can access that by either taking the ferry from Aquarium, the MBTA ferry, and getting over there, or you’re able to walk the Freedom Trail, or you could take the Orange Line.

Kimberly Seigel: Now, Erika, you and I both know we tried to take people on a little ferry ride to Charlestown to check out a piece entitled Nomad 2, 2025.

Erika Eitland: Uh, yeah, and I was so excited. Because we were curious to hear everyone else’s reactions to her steel sculpture in the form of a whale vertebrae. It was going to be a multi-sensorial experience, with audio, visual and tactile elements. And then… it rained.

Erika Eitland (on the street): You know, from heat waves to pouring rain. This is a vibe.

Kimberly Seigel (on the street): This… this is climate change.

Erika Eitland: But this piece was so special to us because it was considering climate change, capitalism, space exploration, immigration, industrialization and even extinction.

Kimberly Seigel: Whoa, whoa. Okay, that’s a lot of intersections. That is like the Shibuya Crossing of art intersections.

Erika Eitland: Well, I mean, I think what’s special is it seems to parallel Sarah Brophys Climate Monsters piece from last time. Being able to sort of see climate in this unexpected way, and yet, here we are with the best laid plans and…

Erika Eitland (on the street): All right, well, it’s summer in Boston, and we are recording in the pouring rain. So, all right, so Kimi, we are in Post Office Square, uh… (fades out)

Erika Eitland: It’s bringing me back to the T conversation with Ilana Katz. Katz – “Where does performance fit in to the Triennial?”

Kimberly Seigel: Okay, Marguerite had a great example that intersects with performance history and our natural world.

Marguerite Wynter: Yeah. So one of our projects is not on view yet because it is more performative. We’re working with an artist, Adela Goldbard, who is based part time in Mexico City and then part time in Rhode Island. The piece goes up at the end of August, and the performance will be a cumulative community performance. The project is based off of colonization and global indigeneity. So what she did is she started to talk to a few horticulturists at Harvard to learn about invasive species, because invasive species were plant species brought over by colonizers. And so earlier this spring, she had this like open call for people to come and pick these Phragmites that are invasive. And so they started to harvest them. And then from there, she’s going to be working with local, indigenous and Wampanoag craftspeople to build a replica of the Mayflower. And then she works a lot with Mexican pyrotechnic traditions, which, again, those were brought over by Spaniard colonizers. And so they will be doing a powerful performative intervention of burning this ship with pyrotechnics, and then they’ll also be music and performances by indigenous and Native American musicians and performers. So that is something that will be happening in September.

Kimberly Seigel: So here’s public art on display incorporating themes of indigenous culture, representation, climate change and invasive species and a whole lot of other ideas emblematic of the evolving nature of public art.

Erika Eitland: And this is a good example that public art can be as temporary as a one time performance, all accessible by public transit might I add. Marguerite is really offering an invitation to everyone in Boston this fall. The Triennial is for you, near you, and free to you.

[Wooshing sound effect, bell dings]

Kimberly Seigel: The mayor’s office, the MBTA, the Triennial. Like the T talking about public art has taken us all over the city of Boston this episode.

Erika Eitland: And let’s talk about the data, because the data helps us track daily T ridership and just to know how many people are activating that space when we design for it. So there are a lot of intersections to consider. I think design

Kara Elliot-Ortega: I think design is hugely, hugely important. I mean, I want, I want everyone in kind of like the design and planning professions, to think about themselves as a connector. And as an activist. And as somebody who brings a way of thinking that is useful in so many kinds of scenarios for people. Like this is not something that design approaches, design thinking, that kind of creativity, is not something that should be like a rare, specialized thing. I think this is something that we all have access to, and something that communities can have access to, but like, as a designer, you’re able to help make that happen through collaborations. But I also think that design, design is something that we need to help us picture these alternative futures. Like design is so critical for like, productive fictions and just straight up science fiction even, like, help us think about what it looks like to be in a scenario where we’ve actually made amazing progress on, you know, a specific aspect of being resilient while all of this climate change work is happening, and what does that look like?

Erika Eitland: Now, Kara is echoing what we said last episode, that design is a future planet intervention.

[‘Building Blocks’ by Josef Falkensköld plays]

Culture changes faster than climate changes. So art has the ability to have a lasting impact on ourselves and on our communities, especially when expression and representation are available on all time scales. So that might be performance art, it might be temporary art installations, or just permanent fixtures and sculptures.

Kimberly Seigel: Or even the Triennial.

Erika Eitland: Yes! And I think Kara is telling us that how design makes space for art is essential to dreaming up that future.

Kimberly Seigel: You’re right. You know, the design is only part of the equation. The other part is what actually happens after these places are designed and built.

Erika Eitland: And I think that’s where the people come in. You know, that’s where programming and operations of places comes into play. Because really, who is playing there? Is it subway performers? Is it kids? Like, what’s going on?

Kimberly Seigel: Who’s playing there? It’s definitely about the “who” that we consider right? Who’s occupying the space? So, alright, I’m putting my “Carbon Nerd” hat back on here. This is the same thing we see in the design world. You know, where we strive to achieve something like net zero energy or even net zero carbon performance, only to learn that the occupants of a building consume way more energy than the energy model that our designers used predicted.

Erika Eitland: And I think that’s why, like education, collaboration and, dare I say, like Human Experience research, are so important to the design process, because with those three things, you can start to actually get to the outcomes we all need.

Kimberly Seigel: Yeah, yeah! All right. I can’t help but reflect on how, in the last episode, the Climate Monsters piece communicated really intense data and scientific information about climate change to a broad audience by generating this emotional connection. And on this episode, we saw how that connection to art can be a positive side effect to a variety of designed civic spaces.

Erika Eitland: Truly, and I think there’s this unexpected quality, whether it was looking at, you know, Climate Monsters through a viewfinder, or subway performers changing the way that you feel on your commute, or just like as you space out and listen to your Inhabit podcast while looking at murals on the T all of those things are at play about sort of creating a better human experience for us all.

Kimberly Seigel: Exactly! But, Erika, let’s be honest, because while a reliable train and bus or ferry network is arguably the most critical piece of successful transit network, making the spaces feel appealing, comfortable and welcoming are what actually draw riders in.

Erika Eitland: Oh my god, yes.

Kimberly Seigel: You know. And if people feel safe and welcome, they’re going to use the system. And so art and subway performers are a part of making these spaces feel activated and safe. Art is a tool. It’s a mechanism.

Erika Eitland: To me, this is where public art, in all its forms, is adding texture to space. It’s ensuring that we have place making that is activating all of these voices. But what’s sticking with me right now is it’s kind of like graffiti that we talked about in the first episode. You know, it’s art ‘from the people, for the people.’ Our response to climate change must also be ‘from the people, for the people,’ because that’s how we’re going to get to some really sustained changes. The evolution of art and culture can guide us in this pursuit, I think.

Kimberly Seigel: All right, the question is: Who is it from, and who is it for?

Erika Eitland: I mean, I think this is the question that’s at the top of my mind, and we’ll get into it next episode, because we’re going to talk about another climate risk facing Boston, which is extreme heat. So stay tuned. Get excited. Stay cool. We’re gonna do it.

Kimberly Seigel: All right.

Inhabit Chorus: Inhabit.

Erika Eitland: I’m Dr. Erika Eitland.

Kimberly Seigel: I’m Kimberly Siegel.

Erika Eitland: We have a great website at inhabit.perkinswill.com. There are show notes, pictures and links to all the resources and references we’ve shared.

Kimberly Seigel: A big thank you to Kara Elliott-Ortega, Ellen Bello, Ilana Katz Katz, and Marguerite Wynter for being so generous with your time, experiences, and perspectives.

Erika Eitland: And shout out to Dr. Lauren Neefe for producing and editing the show. Our music is from Epidemic Sound.

Kimberly Seigel: Have you seen our amazing illustrations by Julio Brenes? Find them on Instagram and follow us at inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the Surround Podcast Network. We’re cousins with some of the best architecture and design podcasts around.

Erika Eitland: And thank you, as always, to our advisory boar: Yanel de Angel, Leigh Christy, Casey Jones, Deirdre Mick, Angela Miller, and Rachel Rose.

Inhabit chorus: People, places, power, design, change, and health.

Voice: A Perkins&Will podcast.

[Surround mnemonic]

Bonus on the street:

Erika Eitland (on the street): Alright, well, at least we’re not in like hurricane level rain right now. That was…

Kimberly Seigel (on the street): Yeah, I know, when I got that emergency alert this morning, I was like, “This can’t be real!”

Erika Eitland (on the street): Ha, yeah. That’s when I saw it, I was like, “N-no, Kimi, there’s like a flood warning, and like I think us being on a ferry right now seems like a bad idea.”

Kimberly Seigel (on the street): We’re dedicated to the cause!

Erika Eitland (on the street): Yeah… oh man…

Kimberly Seigel (on the street): Can we put our umbrellas down here?

Erika Eitland (on the street): That’s the hope.