Krause Knight Discusses Public Art on WGBH

Cher Krause Knight, professor in the Visual and Media Arts Department and member of public art curator Now + There‘s advisory board, was on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio last week with Now + There founder/director Kate Gilbert talking about artist Liz Glynn’s work, Open House, now on display on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Kenmore Square.

“We’re trying to break down the idea that public art has to be so precious,” Knight said of Open House, which features 26 pieces of concrete furniture and architectural details that evoke a Gilded Age ballroom.

Hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan also talked to Knight and Gilbert about the role of public art and the Boston’s “public art identity.”

“It’s not that we don’t have a public art history in the city,” Knight said. “It’s art that’s rooted in 19 th-century bronzes and guys on horses… In some ways, that history’s been frozen in amber. What Now + There [is doing] is trying to reinvigorate it.”

Listen to the segment (and listen to the end to find out how Knight did on the BPR News Quiz).