An abundance of newly commissioned public art has arrived in Boston care of the Boston Public Art Triennial. Thanks to years of collaborative work by the Triennial team, the city, and curators Pedro Alonzo and Tess Lukey, 23 artists have bestowed temporary gifts of art to the Commonwealth. As the name implies, the Triennial will happen only once every three years, so don’t miss your chance to see as much work as possible. You have from now until the end of October. Let’s get going!

To make things easy for you, Misstropolis has created a series of practical itineraries called How to Triennial. These plans organize the twenty different sites into art and neighborhood-touring itineraries you can do in a reasonable amount of time—an afternoon say, or a lunch break.

Our first guide suggested routes through the southernmost parts of the Triennial map—Mattapan and Dorchester—as well as a loop of five artworks in the Fenway neighborhood near the MFA, the Gardner and the MassArt Museum (MAAM). This time we visit beautiful Charlestown Navy Yard and explore the four works in walking distance from each other.

A SUMMER SUNDAY IN CHARLESTOWN

Charlestown is one the best areas of Boston to visit on a sunny Sunday. I love the Navy Yard’s combination of harbor views, maritime history and green spaces. It’s a place that marks Boston as one of the most walkable, historic and fascinating cities in the country.

Artistic Director Pedro Alonzo, Beatriz Cortez, and Exec. Director Kate Gilbert at Cortez’s Los Angeles studio. Photo: Robin Hauck

The Boston Public Art Triennial grew out of the nonprofit Now + There which launched their Accelerator Program in 2017 to support artists undertaking public projects for the first time.

A small public park across from the USS Constitution Museum hosts three Accelerator-supported artworks commissioned for the Triennial: Alison Croney Moses’s This Moment for Joy, Andy Li’s Today is the Day, and Evelyn Rydz’s Convergence: Porous Features.

Though they work well in conversation, each installation could easily hold its own in a public space, given their clear points of view and resonant messages. Each artist responds to the historic Navy Yard site in uniquely personal ways.

Charlestown Accelerator Artists
Location: One 5th Street, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston
Parking: Public parking available nearby
Public Transportation: Charlestown Ferry; MBTA
Hours: 24/7
Amenities: USS Constitution and Museum, walking paths, harbor view, nearby restaurants and bars

ALISON CRONEY MOSES

When I saw Alison Croney Moses and Triennial Executive Director Kate Gilbert in conversation at Abigail Ogilvy Gallery in Los Angeles, the artist’s two children sprawled on the ground drawing. I was so enthralled by their good behavior, I missed some of the talk. Croney Moses is an educator who is very good at teaching not only small children but adults. Describing her Triennial project to the MA Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts earlier this month, she passed samples of her bent wood forms and patiently explained how—and why—she makes her signature curved sculptures.

Trained as a furniture maker at RISD, she decided to pursue art full time after the birth of her children. She explained, “Once I had my kids I realized, ‘Oh, I have more to say.” She wanted to spark conversations around the transformative experience of transitioning from non-motherhood to motherhood. Of Guyanese descent, Croney Moses experienced a lot of fear around her identity as a Black mother in America. She seeks to acknowledge and form community with Black women, and create moments for joy. Her Triennial work, with its wide spiral shape and open grass-colored slats, creates a protected space in the midst of the busy harbor area, perfect for resting, reflecting or changing your point of view.

Croney Moses’ signature curved sculptures recall vessels, pregnant bellies, seed pods or intricate interactions. With its intricate design and grand scale, This Moment for Joy stretched her technically, as public art projects do, ultimately achieving the evocation of freedom, joy and safety that she intended.

Alison Croney Moses, *This Moment for Joy*, 2025. Photo: Robin Hauck

ANDY LI Today is the Day 2025

Andy Li’s hand-stitched flags flap in the wind like beckoning, outstretched arms. Known for his feel-good poetic textiles, Li focuses his practice on the power of now. His Triennial installation is both a monument and an invitation. Come on in, it encourages with its friendly colors and font, and take a moment to celebrate you.Today is the Day exists on two fronts: the physical structure in the Charlestown Navy Yard and a participatory website online.

Andy Li , *Today is the Day*, 2025. Detail. Photo: Robin Hauck.

The structure is a many-armed flagpole hoisting a hand-stitched 4X6’ flag which reads “Today is the Day.” At its center a rotating wheel flies twelve additional flags via a pulley system. The concept nods to Charlestown’s military history and the ceremonial practice of raising and lowering the flag.

Li’s accompanying website invites users to submit their personal achievements, no matter how small. Today is the day I _: fill in as you wish. Submissions are transformed into colorful online declarations, and the artist chooses some to make into new flags for the project which he will rotate in throughout the Triennial run.

By prioritizing inclusion and compassion, Li hopes his work makes people feel seen. Scroll through the site to read the submissions, they made me smile almost as much as the physical work.

EVELYN RYDZ Convergence: Porous Futures

Cuban American, Boston based artist Evelyn Rydz thinks a lot about bodies of water—how they travel, merge, define space and carry meaning. With Convergence: Porous Features, Rydz calls attention to the way the Mystic and Charles Rivers meet near the Charlestown site, and how parts of Boston were once wetland. Where once water could flow back to itself, it now faces barriers such as parking lots, roads, buildings and accumulated pollutants. She sees her Triennial project as a chance to envision future infrastructure designed for mutual support, interconnection and natural balance.

A mirrored monument in the shape of a storm drain tilts upward, grounded by absorbent plant beds. While the mirrors search the sky, the blue metal supports link back to the earth, creating a harmonious, circular system. Rydz is well known for her drawings, and here she draws directly into the manicured lawn. Stretching from the sculpture toward the other two artworks, 13 foot gardens contain native plants with long roots, offering a filtration system for rainwater.

During the installation visit with the MA State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Rydz explained that she appreciates the way her project will exist in a constant state of change. “From the moment they are set in the ground, the plants will change… the mirrored surface will constantly evolve based on your perspective and changes in the sky.”

The mirrored surfaces of Evelyn Rydz’s *Convergence: Porous Futures* reflect sky, clouds and trees. Photo: Evelyn Rydz

BEATRIZ CORTEZ Nomad 2
Location: Charlestown Navy Yard, Pier 3, 1st Ave & 3rd Street
Parking: Public parking available nearby
Public Transportation: Charlestown Ferry; MBTA
Hours: 24/7
Amenities: USS Constitution and Museum, walking paths, harbor view, nearby restaurants and bars

From the park, it’s an easy walk to Pier 3 to experience Nomad 2. Enjoy the breeze from the water and imagine back to the 19th century when whaling was a major industry driving the Massachusetts economy.

Beatriz Cortez in her Los Angeles studio, explaining the construction of her steel sculpture *Nomad 2*. Photo: Robin Hauck

Salvadoran artist Beatriz Cortez lost her home in the catastrophic Eaton fire which devastated Altadena in January 2025. During a visit to her downtown LA studio in February, Cortez explained that she was working through the trauma—spending as much time as possible in her studio and searching for ways to rebuild.

The artist’s practice includes many forms of building: building on ancient knowledge, building rich speculative narratives, and building steel sculptures that have been exhibited everywhere from the Venice Biennale, Storm King Art Center and the Smithsonian to a fireboat on the Hudson River.

Fascinated by geological and elemental change, Cortez sees the world in a state of ceaseless circulation. Human movement may mirror that of volcanic ash or meteoric debris. Oceanic, geological and tectonic research inform her practice, as does belief in the importance of unseen, unknown forces beyond human comprehension.

Beatriz Cortez, *Nomad 2*, Installation View, Boston Public Art Triennial, May 22-October31, 2025. Photo: Caitlin Cunningham

Cortez is an adventurous traveler who often finds inspirational building blocks in remote landscapes. It was during a trip to the Arctic Circle that she witnessed a whale boneyard which informed her Triennial project, Nomad 2. The size and shape of the whale vertebrae captivated Cortez. As climate change and international hunting bring populations close to extinction, whales become a symbol of humankind’s disconnection with the natural and animal kingdoms as well as the spiritual forces that connect us all.

The “control panel.” Beatriz Cortez, *Nomad 2*, Installation View, Boston Public Art Triennial, May 22-October 31, 2025. Photo: Caitlin Cunningham.

Nomad 2 is a steel sculpture of a futuristic space capsule modeled from the whale vertebrae. Climb inside and play with the control panels. Whale sounds and videos take visitors on a trip through time and space, perhaps inspiring action or at least awareness of the impact of human behavior on our always evolving planet.

Cover photo: Evelyn Rydz, Convergence:Porous Futures, Installation View, Boston Public Art Triennial, May 22-October 31, 2025. Photo: Caitlin Cunningham