2023 Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art

NEFA is thrilled to be accepting nominations for the 2023 Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art. At NEFA we believe that public art has the power to inspire more just, vibrant, and welcoming public spaces and public life. Through the Newell Flather Leadership Award in Public Art, we hope to celebrate and lift up leaders, artists, and arts administrators in the field who are helping us live into these new realities. Each recipient is awarded $5,000 of unrestricted funds in celebration of their leadership and impact in the field. This year, we are particularly looking to honor unsung and emerging leaders in the field of public art.  

Learn more about the Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art and past awardees 

We cannot honor the leaders in this field without you! That is why we are opening this public process to help us find the next Newell Flather Awardees and shine a light on leaders who deserve to be recognized and celebrated. 

The Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art seeks nominees who: 

• Identify as an artist, curator and/or arts administrator  
• Resides full-time and work within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
• Creates/Curates/Supports public art that aligns with NEFA’s public art vision and values.
• Helps us to see, feel, experience, and imagine more just futures for our public spaces and public culture.  
• Addresses the intersectionality of spatial justice and racial justice as critical to cultivating a more vibrant public art ecosystem.  
• Recognizes the importance of context in public artmaking.  
• Inspires more just, vibrant, and welcoming public spaces and public life in Massachusetts.  

This year, we are particularly looking to honor unsung and emerging leaders in the field of public art

• “Unsung leaders” in the field of public art may be individuals who have been doing the work for a while and may have been ahead of their time as they paved the way for others. In retrospect, their leadership has cultivated more just, vibrant, and welcoming public artmaking, and may deserve more recognition today. 
• “Emerging leaders” in the field of public art may be individuals who are newer to creating and/or supporting public artmaking.  And their leadership is currently paving the way for more just, vibrant, and welcoming futures for our public spaces. These are the folks we want to keep an eye on. They are shaping our future for the better with the work that they are doing today! 

Nominate a Leader

Who do you think of when you read these criteria? Help us celebrate the unsung and/or emerging public art leaders in your community by nominating them today! Nominations will be accepted through February 27, 2023. Self-nominations are welcome. Nominators may submit up to two nominations. 

Nominate a Leader

Learn more about the Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art and past awardees 

About Newell Flather 

The Newell Flather Award for Leadership in Public Art is named after the late Newell Flather (1938-2021) for both his relationship with NEFA since 1993 and his leadership in establishing and championing the Fund for the Arts. Newell was a champion for the arts in the greater Boston area who believed in the power of the arts and artists in shaping the quality of life in our communities.