Call for Artists: Bring Boston’s Stories to Life

A creative collaboration with the MIT Center for Constructive Communication to transform Boston into a Listening City

Opportunity

We are inviting a small group of Boston-based artists to join us in bringing recorded conversations to life, publicly—through art.

Questions: dimitrad@mit.edu
Creative Stipend: $3,000-5,000
Deadline: 04.25.2025

Apply Now >

The Opportunity

realtalk@Boston is a citywide civic listening initiative led by the MIT Center for Constructive Communication in collaboration with local community-based organizations. Over the past year, community leaders from all over Boston have hosted and gathered more than 40 in-depth recorded conversations with Bostonians from all walks of life—stories filled with love, grief, struggle, hope, and dreams for the future of the city.

Now, we are inviting a small group of Boston-based artists to join us in bringing these stories to life, publicly—through art.

This is a call to creatively respond to the voices of our neighbors. To reimagine listening as something you can see, hear, walk through, or carry with you. To help others pause, reflect, and connect, and perhaps to share stories of their own. Your work will help shape what it means to build a Listening City—a city where people feel seen, heard, and valued.

What We Are Inviting You to Do

We are inviting artists to be co-creators in a new kind of public storytelling—one rooted in deep listening, community voice, and participatory engagement.

We invite you, the artist, to:

  • Listen deeply to a curated set of realtalk@Boston conversations—unfiltered, intimate recordings from neighborhoods across the city.
  • Choose what moves you—a voice, a moment, a theme—and let it inspire your creative practice.
  • Create an original work that helps others to hear, imagine, and feel what you did by incorporating some of the recorded audio. Your original work could take the form of a sound piece, a participatory performance, an interactive installation—or something we haven’t imagined yet.
  • Share your creation in a way that meets people where they are—on a sidewalk, in a storefront, at a bus stop, in a library, or online. We’ll help make that happen.

Compensation

What We Provide

  • A creative stipend of $3,000-5,000 (depending on scope and materials needed)
  • Access to a curated selection of stories (available as transcripts and audio)
  • Collaboration with the realtalk@Boston team and community cohort
  • Opportunities for public exhibition of the work
  • Amplification through the MIT CCC designated website and social media channels

Apply

We welcome artists of all disciplines and backgrounds, especially those rooted in community storytelling, participatory practice, and work that invites reflection and dialogue.

Questions? Please email Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou, Head of Translational Research & Practice, MIT Center for Constructive Communication (dimitrad@mit.edu) with the subject line: Listening City Artist Proposal. 

Ready to submit your idea? Fill in this form. What you’ll need to prepare for your submission is:

  • A brief statement of interest (300 words max)
  • 1–2 initial creative ideas or approaches you’d like to explore
  • A link to your website, portfolio, or 3–5 samples of your past work
  • A short bio (include neighborhood or Boston connection)

The deadline to apply is 04.25.2025.