BostonAPP/Lab
Incubating new collaborations for art in public places
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Lab's activities -- whether the Workshops or the ArtsCommons -- are continuously driven by the imperative of civic engagement -- of striving to understand the multiple definitions of "public" in the context of art in public places, and of generating initiatives and new collaborations based on that understanding. In short, the problem/challenge: Define "public" as it relates to art in public places, and shape initiatives that reflect those definitions.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Lab Workshops
The Lab's scheduled Workshops -- brainstorming sessions now numbering more than 3 dozen since their inception in 2013 and attracting over 700 participants -- focus on specific challenges related to arts in public places throughout Greater Boston's neighborhoods -- technical, social, political, aesthetic -- and responses to those challenges. They have taken place throughout Greater Boston in venues ranging from the Boston Society for Architecture to Agencia Alpha to the Dance Umbrella to the Engagement Lab, among many others. The twin objectives continue to be civic engagement as a way to build community. Surrounding this is a critical framing issue: "What can we do together that we can't do separately?" As expressed in one of the Lab's workshops, design in collaboration as a central idea builds trust, which in turn builds, or strengthens, community in ways that are sustainable because they derive from the community itself that emerges from collaborative action.
ArtsCommons
Free-standing arts-maker's spaces, comprised of anywhere from one to seven repurposed (and donated) 20' x 10' x 10' steel shipping containers temporarily located within neighborhoods, in partnership with organizations, schools, and other entities within those neighborhoods, and designed to support performances, installations, improvisations, and the surprising, providing "collection points" for people in those neighborhoods -- and others -- which in turn provide the fuel for enhanced community-building.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of participants attending course/session/workshop
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
ArtsCommons
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2019 the Lab attracted upwards of 600-700 participants to its ArtsCommons at Boston art events: repurposed shipping container serving as black box for performance/installation/civic engagement..
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Through the Lab's "brainstorming hubs" -- whether a Workshop or the ArtsCommons -- to create an "open mic" environment that triggers the imagination and participation of individuals and of communities as a whole, generating in turn a wide and to-be-discovered array of art in public places.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Lab continuously seeks its own collaborators -- public, private, organizational, community -- with which to present new possibilities whose results in turn lead to new collaborations, with or without the Lab's participation. Perhaps a key ambition of the Lab is to serve as a catalyst for a more inclusive, participatory approach to art in public places. To pick up our approach, with the ArtsCommons, at Figment 2017, we asked participants then, and we ask them now: "What's next...?" And for the time being, at least, there are no wrong answers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
With a full-time staff of one (the executive director/founder), the major contributions of an intern, a small army of volunteers, and a committed Board, the Lab continues to "incubate new collaborations." A more recent fund-raising strategy has been set in motion, aiming toward a increase (by one) of full-time staff, as well as completing the fit-out of two of the seven ArtsCommons containers that have been donated to us. The Lab began as an idea and has since turned into a passion. The latter, as much as anything else, informs and propels the organization's capabilities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We've produced 34 Workshops, with another scheduled for January 2019, in collaboration with a major dance organization, and another in development for the Spring, in collaboration with a major theater organization. We are currently engaged in discussions with a local community development corporation for inclusion of the ArtsCommons as part of an "arts plaza" which that CDC is planning. These are all signals of an expanded reach made possible by the accumulated impact of the Lab's activities and the resulting increase in awareness of those activities. This is, at the same time, most definitely still a work in progress. Which I suspect it'll be throughout its existence!
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
BostonAPP/Lab
Board of directorsas of 11/02/2022
Mr. Ron Mallis
Boston.APP/Lab
Term: 2016 - 2018
Mike Eagle
Eagle Leasing Company
Rich Frank
Artists for Humanity
Rob Trumbour
Department of Architecture, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Dan Sieck
Pepper Hamilton LLC
LMerchie Frazier
Artist
John Cannistraro
Cannistraro LLC
Ben Bruce
DesignLab
Malia Lazu
Transformative Culture Project
LMerchie Frazier
Artist
John Cannistraro
Cannistraro LLC
Ben Bruce
DesignLab
Malia Lazu
Transformative Culture Project
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data