Move the City is an interactive workshop exploring how artists and city government can collaborate through cultural expression, creativity, and community participation.

Influenced by Boston’s Caribbean and Latin American communities, participants respond to civic questions through music, movement, gesture, and making to prototype more dynamic approaches to community engagement and civic dialogue.

A generative workshop and shared meal where Boston artists, residents, and creative organizers will imagine how artists and City government can collaborate to build a more thriving, well-resourced, and culturally rooted Boston.

Together, we will map artistic life across the city, identify what artists need to stay and work here, and create future scenarios for a Boston Artists-in-Residence program grounded in memory, belonging, civic imagination, and community care.

Join a co-facilitated experience of making and ideating with local arts consultants and DS4SI with food, space to play, and dream up ideas together. What does it look like for art and government to work together? How can we design and ideate for a creative future? What’s possible when arts and government combine?

An evening of chatting, eating, and crafting with local Allston-Brighton artists interested in learning about creative civic engagement at the City of Boston. This event includes a design intensive where artists use “artistic thinking” to solve hypothetical City issues.

We will talk with Allston-Brighton artists and former Boston Artists-in-Residence to understand how artists contribute to civic problem-solving. Following the panel, breakout room activities will re-imagine an artist-made City Hall where creative practitioners are embedded across departments.

Panelists:

• “Prophet PM” Prophet Paker-McWhorter

• Golden

• Wayne Strattman

• Melissa Q. Teng

H2O SOS: Water Warning is now on view at the Mezzanine Gallery (3rd floor) in Boston City Hall. This installation will come to life with a special opening performance by the artist.

Directions: Please use the entrance located on Congress St, across from Faneuil Hall. Pass security and take the elevators to the 3rd floor. The reception will take place at the top of the stairs.

Please note the exhibition will be on view through August 14, 2026. For more information visit boston.gov/cityhallgalleries.

Are you looking to grow your artistic practice and build a thriving creative career in Boston? Join the Arts Action Consortium, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, and Spark Boston at this free Artist Resource Fair to connect with Boston’s vibrant network of resources and support.

Featuring:

• An art supply swap
• A dance clothing swap
• Access to City departments and arts service organizations
• Free 1:1 arts business coaching
• Free 1:1 physical therapy evaluations
• and more!

Alongside resource sharing, the event will invite creatives into an open dialogue space focused on what artists need to thrive in Boston - from affordable studios and venues to sustainable career pathways. By bringing artists, advocates, and city agencies into conversation, the AAC Resource Fair aims to strengthen Boston’s creative ecosystem and help shape a more sustainable, artist-centered city.

Whether you’re an emerging artist or an established creative, this is a unique opportunity to build connections, gain valuable knowledge, and deepen your engagement with Boston’s arts community. Don’t miss your chance to discover the tools, resources, and relationships that can support and elevate your artistic journey!