Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Join Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Martinez for an event discussing the role of art in public space as a tool for advocacy.
In Cost of Living (2025), a series of Boston-wide installations that are part of the inaugural Boston Public Art Triennial, Patrick Martinez reflects the landscape of his hometown, Los Angeles. Influenced by murals on liquor store walls, taco truck LED signs, graffiti, and neon signs from pawn shops, money services, locksmiths, and realtors, Martinez foregrounds “the overlooked beauty found in the city.” Drawing from his conversations at Breaktime, an organization dedicated to ending the cycle of homelessness, Cost of Living illuminates their words and experiences. Martinez also created a series of signs through an exchange with Breaktime Associates, a three-year youth employment program. Cost of Living serves as a platform to raise awareness, foster empathy, and promote understanding of the challenges unhoused young people face, elevating their voices and experiences through art.
00:00 Introduction by Charles Waldheim
05:02 Presentation by Patrick Martinez
24:28 Panel Discussion
40:03 Presentation by Malkit Shoshan
53:26 Panel Discussion Continued
01:04:16 Q+A
Join Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Martinez for an event discussing the role of art in public space as a tool for advocacy.
In Cost of Living (2025), a series of Boston-wide installations that are part of the inaugural Boston Public Art Triennial, Patrick Martinez reflects the landscape of his hometown, Los Angeles. Influenced by murals on liquor store walls, taco truck LED signs, graffiti, and neon signs from pawn shops, money services, locksmiths, and realtors, Martinez foregrounds “the overlooked beauty found in the city.” Drawing from his conversations at Breaktime, an organization dedicated to ending the cycle of homelessness, Cost of Living illuminates their words and experiences. Martinez also created a series of signs through an exchange with Breaktime Associates, a three-year youth employment program. Cost of Living serves as a platform to raise awareness, foster empathy, and promote understanding of the challenges unhoused young people face, elevating their voices and experiences through art.
00:00 Introduction by Charles Waldheim
05:02 Presentation by Patrick Martinez
24:28 Panel Discussion
40:03 Presentation by Malkit Shoshan
53:26 Panel Discussion Continued
01:04:16 Q+A
