A Poetic Summary of NEFA’s Public Art Impact Convening 

On June 11, 2026, NEFA held a Public Art Impact Convening in New Bedford, MA at the Zeiterion Theater in collaboration with Arts Equity Group. We gathered public art makers, arts administrators, advocates and funders together as we shared the preliminary findings from NEFA’s Public Art Impact Assessment and explored the ripple effects of NEFA’s public art investments in Massachusetts and the New England region from 2020-2025.

As a former Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice and Public Art Learning Fund grantee, Iva Brito of New Bedford MA penned her reflections throughout the day and generously offered to share them as part of our closing. With permission from Iva, we are publishing her edited poem below, and you can also hear her speak these words in the live recording of the event.

Artist Gathering Poem  

by Iva Brito  

Our Wampanoag lands felt our vibration 
We honored their historic dance 
We gather in meaningful connections 
In ritual 
In movement 
Asking 
Who gets to shape public spaces? 

Cultural bearers 
Building bridges of authenticity 
Where indigenous songs are heard, reclaimed, creating new landscapes of rebuilding 
While asking 
What is still reverberating and vibrating in the community? 

Context brings balance 
Curving us to the shape of our cultural straw hats 
Providing shade to those displaced and overpoliced 
We choose to tilt our heads and hats up 
Bringing light to how public art can create inclusion and possibility 
What is possible when BIPOC artist are valued across sectors 
Co -creating vibrant colors of collective resistance 
Healing the dark colors of our past 
What does public art that fosters public change look like 
When our collective imagination expands with infinity flirtation and imagination’s embrace? 

We come to this work as people 
So bring all of who you are 
Because yes, you are all that Bo 
Dr. Bo said as a parent I need space too 

Our stories are part of our bodies 
Our bodies contour and shape truth 
You say 
We say 
A theory of change is possible 
When BIPOC artist breathes life on to brick walls 
And internal spaces of societies rhythm 
Because our arts ecosystems create belonging 
Creates meaning 
Create healing 

Mind the empty chair 
Bring your seat, unfold it, unpack it and share your impact story 
Plant your dream seed 
Let it soak in the universal roots of black magic 
Dark matter of becoming 
From cosmic dust to extended exhales 
We hear change’s drum beat 
When we turn and talk 
We learn and grow 
We learned about funding and sustainability 
Does it help? 
Yes, but it also gives hope that we could not access 
What happens when the funding ends? 
The weight that lingers 
That we hold on to 
Especially when we can't fully protect the people 
The people we give extra love to, give dap to, 
Those we give extra-long hugs 
When we are collectively grieving 
Where do we place it? 
Can you place it on an altar 
Perhaps it can rise up like the incense smoke 
Transform 
At least we hope it can 
Allows us to be witnessed 
In a world that too many go unseen during backstage performances 

I hope we can capture the data 
What is not captured is heard 
In a big QR code that tells our stories and ask 
Do we remember the true meaning of art? 
Capturing the inner crevices of meaningful connections, placements and intentions 
Spilling it onto futures door opening 

May the poles of love, faith, and courage 
High five loved ones in the sky 
Remind us of the wisdom of the elders 
Stories of generations 
May we recreate our murals 
The old, the young, the beautiful force fields of liberation 
May it have ripple effects of agency 
Eroding the damage of oppression, colonization and all the other isms that are seen at our seashore 
Perhaps if we weave it into prayers 
It can uphold, fill in the spaces 
Where voices are not heard 
Screams un-screamed 
May we find that thing that brings us joy and do them 
Interrupting the stuff that brings us pain 
But do not wait 
So we don't say too little too late 

How do we hold the line against those that want eraser of truth? 
We are in the mix of a revolution 
The revolution is now! 
Community building is an art of breaking rules 
So change erupts 
Coffee, community, mothering it's all part of it 
We are a tapestry 
Each stitch makes it stronger 
When woven with love 
It is always worth it 
We are creating a healing path 
May we stomp 
Knowing that there is power in our collective movement 

Who gets to rest? 
How about a rest-ival? 

This is how we survive 
Through music, dance, art 
When there isn't a program, we created it 

This is a gathering 
Reminding us 
We are artists 
We creative beings 
And dreamers of worlds not yet born 
We are each other's medicine 
Each other's mirrors 
Each other's reminder of what is possible 
We are not waiting for rescue 
We are not waiting for permission 
We are the ones we have been waiting for 
 

So create boldly 

Imagine wildly 
Dream beyond the limits of what you've been told 

 
For the future is not something we enter— 
It is something we create!