Nine Artists Stir Up “Good Trouble” at the 2026 Seaport Art Walk

Nine artists look to stir up some “Good Trouble” at the 2026 Seaport Art Walk
Annual public art installation runs now through October 31

NEW BEDFORD, MA — New Bedford Creative at the New Bedford Economic Development Council are proud to present the 2026 Seaport Art Walk. Now in its 14th year, the city’s premier outdoor public art exhibition brings striking temporary sculptures and installations to the working waterfront and Seaport Cultural District, running now through October 31, 2026.

This year’s exhibition centers on the theme “Good Trouble,” drawing inspiration from the late U.S. Representative and civil rights leader John Lewis. In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, artists were challenged to confront systems of power, celebrate cultural resistance, and explore themes of civil disobedience, community organizing, and social progress.

“When I founded Seaport Art Walk fourteen years ago, the core mission was simple yet vital: to activate our beautiful waterfront while creating a direct, meaningful way to pay local artists for their labor and vision,” says Jessica Bregoli-Sparling, founder and curator. “This year’s theme, ‘Good Trouble,’ feels incredibly urgent. Our local creative community has met this call to action with profound, challenging works that prove that art is not just decorative—it is a catalyst for conversation, justice, and community resilience.”

This year’s exhibition includes several powerful new featured sculptures positioned along the waterfront:

Eric Lintala honors the legacy of Everett Hoagland, New Bedford’s first Poet Laureate (1994–1998) who passed away in 2025, through Good Trouble: Protest and Poetry, celebrating Hoagland’s award-winning literary contributions to poetry. In a nearby installation, Mandy Fraser presents a silhouette of the Statue of Liberty and an American flag constructed from the text of Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus,” celebrating compassion, refuge, and opportunity for immigrants.

Timothy Goldkin presents Where They Stood: Good Trouble, a freestanding, life-size sculptural portrait of Eulalia (Eula) Mendes (1910–2004). Mendes was a prominent Portuguese industrial migrant worker and labor activist who organized and led her peers during the historic 1928 Textile Workers Strike in New Bedford. Created from archival photography, the sculpture is paired with an immersive augmented reality (AR) experience accessed through a QR code. Further down the way, Ed McAloon shares a reflective piece depicting a hand holding a cell phone made of mirrored aluminum, highlighting the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, record the actions of lawless forces, and create the “good trouble” of documenting systemic crimes.

Craig Gray contributes Novel Idea, a concept sculpture constructed from stacked granite books. The piece was created in collaboration with over 100 New Bedford-based artists and cultural leaders, who provided input on books that either have been banned or could be banned in the future. The final arrangement of fifteen books is comprised of the most popular suggestions from the community; it contains a mix of well-known challenged works including The Color Purple, The Handmaid’s Tale, plus Andrea Davis Pinkney’s Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down—which tells the story of the Greensboro Four and honors New Bedford’s own local civil rights icon Dr. Jibreel Khazan—as well as uniquely local titles from authors Everett Hoagland, Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag) and Russell M. “Fast Turtle” Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag).

In an exciting continuation of the large-scale outdoor photography panels first introduced in 2025, the 2026 Seaport Art Walk features new, themed works of “Good Trouble” from five celebrated artists: Deborah Kennedy, Paula Robinson Deare, Beatrice Alder, Suzanne Schireson, and Danielle O’Malley. Together, these artists use the medium of photography to capture their artwork and to question and reflect the spirit of revolutionary change, advocacy, and storytelling.

By weaving these diverse narratives of courage and activism directly into the fabric of our working waterfront, the 2026 Seaport Art Walk invites residents and visitors alike to engage in their own reflections on what it means to make “good trouble” today.

About Seaport Art Walk

New Bedford’s annual Seaport Art Walk was founded in 2013 by artist Jessica Bregoli, and is the city’s first large format outdoor public art installation. Each summer, sculpture and murals are strategically placed along New Bedford’s working waterfront and Seaport Cultural District. Seaport Art Walk is facilitated by New Bedford Creative, housed at the New Bedford Economic Development Council, and a collaboration with the City of New Bedford’s Parks, Recreation and Beaches, Explore New Bedford, Massachusetts Design, Art, and Technology Institute (DATMA), and UMASS Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA).

Seaport Art Walk in New Bedford is made possible through the generous support of the City of New Bedford’s Arts, Culture, and Tourism Fund, with additional funding from Bristol County Savings Bank, Barr Foundation, and the Cultural District Initiative of Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Visit https://newbedfordcreative.org/seaport-art-walk/ to learn more about Seaport Art Walk and to see past exhibits.

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