JP resident named to Art Commission

Jamaica Plain resident George Fifield, founder and director of Boston Cyberarts, has been named to the Boston Art Commission.

Fiefield recently talked to the Gazette about the appointment at the Green Street T Station, where the Boston Cyberarts manages an art gallery.

He spoke favorably about the Walsh administration’s new focus on the arts and applauded it for raising the art commissioner to a cabinet-level position. He said that move is “really great” for the arts community and for the spirit and economics of the city.

Fifield said it was exciting to be named to the commission and looks forward to working with “great people” on the board, including Lynne Kortenhaus, CEO of Kortenhaus Communications; Edward Saywell, chair of contemporary art and programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Lisa Tung, director and curator for the Bakalar & Paine Galleries at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Fifield said his goal on the commission is to help bring innovative and 21st century public art displays to the city. He gave as an example the Cyberarts’ 80-foot LED display “Art on the Marquee” at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston.

Asked if there are any places in JP he would want public art, he looked outside the T station at a Hubway bike-sharing station and said he would like to see an artist redesign that.

But, Fifield said, the role of the commission should not be to designate public art. He said that it should rather help “good public art” pass through hurdles to become a reality.

“We should be helping to widen the gate rather than say, ‘This should be here,’” he said.

George Fifield, a new member of the Boston Art Commission. (Gazette Photo by Peter Shanley)

George Fifield, a new member of the Boston Art Commission. (Gazette Photo by Peter Shanley)

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