A Celebration of Joy and Inspiring Creativity
The MassArt Common Good Awards celebrate the profound role that art and design play in solving problems, building empathy, and inspiring collective progress.
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MassArt Common Good Awards
MassArt Common Good Awards. Photo: Mike Ritter
2025 MassArt Common Good Awards
Date: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Time: 12pm
Location: MassArt Design and Media Center, 621 Huntington Ave, Boston
Admission: Free and open to the public. Tickets are required.
Honoring Visionary Artists, Educators, and Advocates Driving Positive Change
Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) proudly presents the 2025 MassArt Common Good Awards, celebrating artists, educators, and cultural leaders whose work demonstrates the transformative power of art and design in civic life across the Commonwealth and beyond.
About the MassArt Common Good Awards
The MassArt Common Good Awards honor individuals and organizations who use art, design, and creative leadership to strengthen communities, advance education, promote social justice, and enrich civic life.
As the nation’s first and only independent public college of art and design, MassArt has long championed the role of creativity in shaping a more equitable, vibrant, and connected society. These awards highlight those who embody that mission—using the arts to make lasting, positive change.
2025 Honorees
Kris Moran
Distinguished Alumni Award
Kris Moran (BFA ‘89 Painting) is an acclaimed artist, designer, and set decorator whose career spans film, art, and immersive design. Aside from her notable prop work in The Cider House Rules and Good Will Hunting, Moran is known as the creative mind bringing the “Wes Anderson” look to life in films like The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Darjeeling Limited, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Trained as a painter, Moran’s drawings, prints, and videos are magical in their play with medium and sophisticated in their simplicity. Her studio work serves as inspiration for art direction and event design. She lives in New York.
Sarah Richards
Frances Euphemia Thompson Award for Excellence in Teaching
Sarah Richards (BFA ‘96 Art Education and Photography) is Director of Art K–12 for Brockton Public Schools, supporting more than 15,000 students and 29 educators across 22 schools. With 28 years in education, she champions arts integration and community partnerships, especially with Fuller Craft Museum. Richards holds degrees from MassArt, Lesley University, and Fitchburg State University, and currently serves as Chair of the Board at Fuller Craft Museum. She lives in West Roxbury.
Tracy Silva Barbosa
Common Good Award
Tracy Silva Barbosa (BFA ‘99 Glass) is a multimedia artist, designer, and founder of Duende Studio, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Drawing on her background in glass and architectural design, she creates layered works and large-scale public art that explore the connections between nature, memory, and urban life. Barbosa has contributed to major architectural glass projects worldwide and continues to shape New England’s public art landscape through community-based installations and civic design. She lives in New Bedford, and is the Executive Director of Fall River Arts and Culture Coalition.
Kate Gilbert
Common Good Award
Kate Gilbert is Founder and Executive Director of the Boston Public Art Triennial, formerly Now + There. An artist and cultural leader, she has spent two decades transforming public spaces through bold contemporary art. Under her leadership, Triennial 2025: The Exchange brought 21 large-scale works and more than 100 interdisciplinary public programs to eight Boston neighborhoods, drawing more than 200,000 visitors from across the globe between May and October 2025. Gilbert holds an MFA from School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and is a recognized leader in public art and civic engagement. She lives in Boston’s Leather District.
Lisa Simmons and Alison Simmons
Common Good Award
Lisa Simmons and Alison Simmons are the Artistic & Executive Director and Co-Director, respectively, of the Roxbury International Film Festival, New England’s largest festival celebrating people of color. Together, Lisa and Alison have expanded the festival’s reach, cultivating community, dialogue, and representation through film. In addition to her work with RoxFilm, Lisa serves as a Program Manager at Mass Cultural Council, where she leads the Communities Initiative, advancing creativity and equity through community-driven grantmaking. A filmmaker and cultural advocate, Simmons has produced theater and researched Boston’s WPA Negro Theater Project, highlighting untold stories in Black cultural history. Lisa lives in Boston and Alison lives in Roslindale.
Marquis Victor
Common Good Award
Marquis Victor is the founder and executive director of Elevated Thought, a creative youth development organization rooted in art and social justice. A multidisciplinary artist and educator, Victor created ET’s foundational curriculum focused on critical consciousness, collaboration, and creativity. He holds a Doctor of Education from Northeastern University and is committed to expanding access and opportunity for young artists of color. He lives in the Merrimack Valley.
Each honoree will receive a custom-made artwork by Alison Layton, a MassArt graduate creating objects and immersive sculptural environments inspired by the natural world.
Alison LaytonBFA ’06 Jewelry & Metalsmithing
Distinguished Alumni Award: Celebrating a MassArt graduate whose creative work exemplifies excellence and impact.
- Nominee must have attended MassArt.
Frances Euphemia Thompson Award For Excellence in Teaching (one award): Honoring an educator or alum who advances the power of art education.
- Nominee must be a current or retired art teacher in a K-12 setting in Massachusetts.
- Nominees in this category do not need to have any MassArt affiliation.
MassArt Common Good Awards (multiple awards): Recognizing outstanding contributions to community, culture, and civic life through art and design.
We ask nominators to think broadly about individuals and organizations doing great work at the intersection of art and civic life. For instance, awards could be to an architect or landscape architect who worked on a public project or successfully incorporated public use into a private project; a public artist; an elected or appointed public official who has advanced the sector in a meaningful way; a designer who made something for a public purpose; someone who took a bold stand related to arts and culture; a youth artist working in community; someone working to address artist displacement; someone working in arts and health; an innovator, etc. Nominees in this category do not need to have any MassArt affiliation.
Please note: While there is one specific alumni award, alumni may be nominated in any category.
The MassArt Common Good Awards are open to individuals and organizations whose work embodies the College’s mission to create, engage, and transform for the common good. Details about the 2026 nomination process will be announced in Spring 2026.
About the Nominations Process
For the purposes of nomination, arts and culture should be broadly defined, and include visual and performing arts, literature, film, fashion, design, advocacy, administration, creative economy, etc. We seek to think differently and surprise people with what might be considered arts victories. We look for nominations that are highly intersectional to illustrate the intrinsic value of arts and culture in our lives. Nominations are being solicited from the MassArt community as well as the broader arts community in Massachusetts and beyond.
- You may nominate more than one person, but please use one form per nomination.
- You may self-nominate.
- Preference will be given to individuals, organizations and ideas with Massachusetts ties.
The deadline for 2025 nominee submissions ended on August 1, 2025.
About MassArt
As the nation’s first and only independent public college of art and design, Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) has been a catalyst for envisioning the role of art, culture, and design in all aspects of life. We honor those who use creativity as a force for community, equity, and joy.
Arts, culture, and design are everywhere, embedded in all facets of our lives. As a public institution, we exist at the nexus of service, civic life, arts, and culture.- Dr. Mary K. Grant, MassArt President
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