Art and activism around around greater Boston as we saw it in 2017.

Help us keep producing our great coverage of local arts by contributing to Wonderland’s Launch Fundraiser. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. You can also hire us to photograph your event.

Photos all copyright 2017 Greg Cook and Kari Percival. Some of these photos were taken for the Cambridge Arts Council, one of the places I work.

Mass Action Against Police Brutality’s MLK Day March for Justice in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, Jan. 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Mass Action Against Police Brutality’s MLK Day March for Justice in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, Jan. 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
"Writers Resist" event at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center, Gloucester, Jan. 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Writers Resist” event at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center, Gloucester, Jan. 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas speaks at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Jan. 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas speaks at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Jan. 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The "Boston Women's March" rally at Boston Common, Jan. 21, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The “Boston Women’s March” rally at Boston Common, Jan. 21, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Annette Lemieux in her studio in Boston's Allston neighborhood, Jan. 27, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Annette Lemieux in her studio in Boston’s Allston neighborhood, Jan. 27, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Tens of thousands fill Copley Square for the "Boston Protest Against [Donald Trump's] Muslim Ban and Anti-Immigration Orders," Jan. 29, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Tens of thousands fill Copley Square for the “Boston Protest Against [Donald Trump’s] Muslim Ban and Anti-Immigration Orders,” Jan. 29, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The groundhog at Groundhog Day festivities at Massachusetts Audubon's Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, Mass., Feb. 2, 2017. (Kari Percival)
The groundhog at Groundhog Day festivities at Massachusetts Audubon’s Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, Mass., Feb. 2, 2017. (Kari Percival)
More than 4,000 people attended the Somerville Sanctuary City Rally, Feb. 4, 2017. (Greg Cook)
More than 4,000 people attended the Somerville Sanctuary City Rally, Feb. 4, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Terry Marshall of Intelligent Mischief with the group's “The Black Body Survival Guide” installation at Boston University's 808 Gallery, March 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Terry Marshall of Intelligent Mischief with the group’s “The Black Body Survival Guide” installation at Boston University’s 808 Gallery, March 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Dell Hamilton's "Blues\Blank\Black" performance at Boston University's 808 Gallery confronted police killings of African-American women, March 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Dell Hamilton’s “Blues\Blank\Black” performance at Boston University’s 808 Gallery confronted police killings of African-American women, March 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
"Whale Parade" from Cambridge's Gallery 263, April 2, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Whale Parade” from Cambridge’s Gallery 263, April 2, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Mark Cooper in his Boston studio, April 7, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Mark Cooper in his Boston studio, April 7, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Dee Morris, historian and city Cemetery Division trustee, looks at an obelisk in Medford’s Oak Grove Cemetery for members of the Cook family who served in and survived the “Mexican War,” April 14, 2017. The monument was part of a late 19th century tombstone fad for monuments made to resemble granite, but that were are actually made from cast zinc sold as "white bronze.” (Greg Cook)
Dee Morris, historian and city Cemetery Division trustee, looks at an obelisk in Medford’s Oak Grove Cemetery for members of the Cook family who served in and survived the “Mexican War,” April 14, 2017. The monument was part of a late 19th century tombstone fad for monuments made to resemble granite, but that were are actually made from cast zinc sold as “white bronze.” (Greg Cook)
The Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band performs at the "March for Science" at Boston Common, April 22, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band performs at the “March for Science” at Boston Common, April 22, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The "Boston People's Climate Mobilization" at Boston Common, April 29, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The “Boston People’s Climate Mobilization” at Boston Common, April 29, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Museum of Modern Renaissance, Somerville, during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Museum of Modern Renaissance, Somerville, during Somerville Open Studios, May 6, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Samantha Fields's (foreground) performance in which people work on a white petticoat while others read texts by women about art, studio practice, feminst theory, queer theory, and the history of handwork. As part of the "#Resist" exhibition at Somerville's Nave Gallery, curated by Susan Berstler and Greg Cook. May 6, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Samantha Fields’s (foreground) performance in which people work on a white petticoat while others read texts by women about art, studio practice, feminst theory, queer theory, and the history of handwork. As part of the “#Resist” exhibition at Somerville’s Nave Gallery, curated by Susan Berstler and Greg Cook. May 6, 2017. (Greg Cook)
"Our Leaders Are Insane" sign spotted at Alewife, Cambridge, May 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Our Leaders Are Insane” sign spotted at Alewife, Cambridge, May 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
 Cambridge artist Richard Hackel prepares to kayak the Charles River to photograph all 5 miles of the Cambridge shoreline turn it into a 500-foot-long panoramic photo mural, May 18, 2017. His “Cambridge Riverfront Panalateral” now adorns the construction site along Cambridge Street between Berkshire and Willow Streets where Cambridge’s new King Open and Cambridge Street Upper Schools and Community Complex is being built. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)

Cambridge artist Richard Hackel prepares to kayak the Charles River to photograph all 5 miles of the Cambridge shoreline turn it into a 500-foot-long panoramic photo mural, May 18, 2017. His “Cambridge Riverfront Panalateral” now adorns the construction site along Cambridge Street between Berkshire and Willow Streets where Cambridge’s new King Open and Cambridge Street Upper Schools and Community Complex is being built. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
"Resist." Overpass of McGrath Highway, Somerville, May 18, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Resist.” Overpass of McGrath Highway, Somerville, May 18, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Smoothing concrete along the innovative public artwork by New York-based artists Chat Travieso and Yeju Choi that turns an everyday city sidewalk along Cambridge’s Fern Street into a playful walking and biking path, May 26, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Smoothing concrete along the innovative public artwork by New York-based artists Chat Travieso and Yeju Choi that turns an everyday city sidewalk along Cambridge’s Fern Street into a playful walking and biking path, May 26, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Lantern walk around Malden's Fellsmere Pond, June 3, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Lantern walk around Malden’s Fellsmere Pond, June 3, 2017. (Greg Cook)
"Stop Trump!" graffiti at Downtown Crossing MBTA station, June 13, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Stop Trump!” graffiti at Downtown Crossing MBTA station, June 13, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Creation by Sandcastle Matt at Revere Beach, June 21, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Creation by Sandcastle Matt at Revere Beach, June 21, 2017. (Greg Cook)
"We are all sold out of Covfefe" sign at Sav-Mor Liquors in Somerville, June 17, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“We are all sold out of Covfefe” sign at Sav-Mor Liquors in Somerville, June 17, 2017. (Greg Cook)
St. Peter's Fiesta in Gloucester, June 25, 2017. (Greg Cook)
St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, June 25, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Mark Reigelman's "The Meeting House," a temporary sculpture on Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway, June 29, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Mark Reigelman’s “The Meeting House,” a temporary sculpture on Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway, June 29, 2017. (Greg Cook)
A truck featuring an effigy of Norrie Gall, who was the target of several floats in the Beverly Farms Horribles Parade after she accurately criticized the previous year's parade for being racist, July 4, 2017. (Greg Cook)
A truck featuring an effigy of Norrie Gall, who was the target of several floats in the Beverly Farms Horribles Parade after she accurately criticized the previous year’s parade for being racist, July 4, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Tug of War at Malden's Ward 5 Independence Day party. (Greg Cook)
Tug of War at Malden’s Ward 5 Independence Day party. (Greg Cook)
Cheering to begin knocking down the wall at Wee The People's "Protestival" at Boston’s Mozart Park, July 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Cheering to begin knocking down the wall at Wee The People’s “Protestival” at Boston’s Mozart Park, July 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The Solars play on Centre Street during the Jamaica Plain Porchfest, Boston, July 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The Solars play on Centre Street during the Jamaica Plain Porchfest, Boston, July 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Fesival of Chariots—or Ratha Yatra (a Sanskrit phrase that roughly translates as “chariot procession”)—in Boston by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Boston or ISKCON Boston or more generally known as the Hare Krishnas, July 9, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Fesival of Chariots—or Ratha Yatra (a Sanskrit phrase that roughly translates as “chariot procession”)—in Boston by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Boston or ISKCON Boston or more generally known as the Hare Krishnas, July 9, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Keytar Bear gets interviewed by an NECN news crew on Stewart Street at Dartmouth Street in Boston, July 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Keytar Bear gets interviewed by an NECN news crew on Stewart Street at Dartmouth Street in Boston, July 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Nurses picket Tufts Medical Center in Boston as part of a one-day strike, July 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Nurses picket Tufts Medical Center in Boston as part of a one-day strike, July 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Detroit artist Ann Lewis works on her “See Her" mural, about the mass incarceration of African-Americans, at 808 Tremont St. in Boston's South End, July 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Detroit artist Ann Lewis works on her “See Her” mural, about the mass incarceration of African-Americans, at 808 Tremont St. in Boston’s South End, July 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Boston rock/punk legend Willie "Loco" Alexander plays piano in the living room of his Gloucester home, July 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Boston rock/punk legend Willie “Loco” Alexander plays piano in the living room of his Gloucester home, July 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Jason Grow checks his flow hive on Marble Road, Gloucester during Backyard Growers’ “Incredible Edible Downtown Garden Tour,” July 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Jason Grow checks his flow hive on Marble Road, Gloucester during Backyard Growers’ “Incredible Edible Downtown Garden Tour,” July 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Cedric Douglas sketches in the beginnings of his mural, one of 15 painted around downtown Lynn for "Beyond Walls," July 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Cedric Douglas sketches in the beginnings of his mural, one of 15 painted around downtown Lynn for “Beyond Walls,” July 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The Boricua All Stars struggle during the Greased Pole Tournament at Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción’s annual Festival Betances, July 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The Boricua All Stars struggle during the Greased Pole Tournament at Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción’s annual Festival Betances, July 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone speaks during a contentious meeting about the future of the city's ArtFarm at Brickbottom, July 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone speaks during a contentious meeting about the future of the city’s ArtFarm at Brickbottom, July 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Vanessa Platacis (formerly known as PIXNIT) paints a mural on the 7-Eleven in Cambridge's Central Square, July 29, 2017. (Greg Cook / Cambridge Arts Council)
Vanessa Platacis (formerly known as PIXNIT) paints a mural on the 7-Eleven in Cambridge’s Central Square, July 29, 2017. (Greg Cook / Cambridge Arts Council)
California artist Daniel Galvez restores and repaints his iconic mural "Crosswinds" on the side of the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub in Cambridge, Aug. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
California artist Daniel Galvez restores and repaints his iconic mural “Crosswinds” on the side of the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub in Cambridge, Aug. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Cambridge Stands With Charlottesville rally at Cambridge City Hall, Aug. 14, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Cambridge Stands With Charlottesville rally at Cambridge City Hall, Aug. 14, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Bread and Puppet Theater performs "Basic Bye-Bye" at its Paper Mache Cathedral in Glover, Vermont, Aug. 19, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Bread and Puppet Theater performs “Basic Bye-Bye” at its Paper Mache Cathedral in Glover, Vermont, Aug. 19, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Bread and Puppet Theater's "Domestic Insurrection Circus" at First Church, Cambridge, Sept. 3, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Bread and Puppet Theater’s “Domestic Insurrection Circus” at First Church, Cambridge, Sept. 3, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Levering up asphalt at Somerville Climate Action's Depave The Way Event, Sept. 9, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Levering up asphalt at Somerville Climate Action’s Depave The Way Event, Sept. 9, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Cambridge Carnival Parade, Sept. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Cambridge Carnival Parade, Sept. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Ife Franklin led a traditional Ring Shout dance at Boston's Franklin Park "to celebrate the souls … and the gifts of our enslaved ancestors, the Africans who became African-Americans, who built this country. Who gave so much to us so we could be free," Sept. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Ife Franklin led a traditional Ring Shout dance at Boston’s Franklin Park “to celebrate the souls … and the gifts of our enslaved ancestors, the Africans who became African-Americans, who built this country. Who gave so much to us so we could be free,” Sept. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook)
"Make Way for Ducklings" sculptor Nancy Schon at her West Newton studio, Sept. 14, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Make Way for Ducklings” sculptor Nancy Schon at her West Newton studio, Sept. 14, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Carmen Papalia leads his "Blind Field Shuttle" on Cambridge Common as part of Cambridge Arts' "Common Exchange" project, Sept. 17, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Carmen Papalia leads his “Blind Field Shuttle” on Cambridge Common as part of Cambridge Arts’ “Common Exchange” project, Sept. 17, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Revels RiverSing along the Cambridge Waterfront, Sept. 17, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Revels RiverSing along the Cambridge Waterfront, Sept. 17, 2017. (Greg Cook)
 Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 24, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race, Sept. 24, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Artist Bernard LaCasse (at center with dog) and friends celebrate the restoration by the Cambridge Arts Council of his 1980 mural “Beat the Belt,” behind 730 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, celebrating activists defeat of a planned highway that would have destroyed hundreds of buildings and displaced thousands of people in the city. Sept. 28, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
Artist Bernard LaCasse (at center with dog) and friends celebrate the restoration by the Cambridge Arts Council of his 1980 mural “Beat the Belt,” behind 730 Memorial Drive in Cambridge, celebrating activists defeat of a planned highway that would have destroyed hundreds of buildings and displaced thousands of people in the city. Sept. 28, 2017. (Greg Cook/Cambridge Arts Council)
The School of Honk plays as the Honk Parade reaches Harvard Square, Cambridge, Oct. 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
The School of Honk plays as the Honk Parade reaches Harvard Square, Cambridge, Oct. 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Boston artist Gianna Stewart's "Iceberg" arrived in Boston's Fort Point Channel as a harbinger of the dangers of global warming, Oct. 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Boston artist Gianna Stewart’s “Iceberg” arrived in Boston’s Fort Point Channel as a harbinger of the dangers of global warming, Oct. 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Halloween on Malden's Bainbridge Street, Oct. 31, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Halloween on Malden’s Bainbridge Street, Oct. 31, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Massachusetts State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry of Boston speaks at the "Save Temporary Protected Status Now" rally at the Massachusetts State House, Nov. 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Massachusetts State Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry of Boston speaks at the “Save Temporary Protected Status Now” rally at the Massachusetts State House, Nov. 8, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Medicine Wheel,” artist Michael Dowling's annual 24-hour shrine and vigil to mark the Day Without Art and World AIDS Day and honor the millions of people we’ve lost to the disease, at the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama, Dec. 1, 2017. (Greg Cook)
“Medicine Wheel,” artist Michael Dowling’s annual 24-hour shrine and vigil to mark the Day Without Art and World AIDS Day and honor the millions of people we’ve lost to the disease, at the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama, Dec. 1, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Carissa Johnson plays at the 2017 Boston Music Awards at the House of Blues, Dec. 7, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Carissa Johnson plays at the 2017 Boston Music Awards at the House of Blues, Dec. 7, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Intergalactic Night at Stone Zoo's ZooLights, Dec. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Intergalactic Night at Stone Zoo’s ZooLights, Dec. 10, 2017. (Greg Cook)
ArtsBoston's Network for Arts Administrators of Color hosted “Paving the Way: A Conversation with Leaders of Color in the Arts” at the Pao Arts Center in Boston, Dec. 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
ArtsBoston’s Network for Arts Administrators of Color hosted “Paving the Way: A Conversation with Leaders of Color in the Arts” at the Pao Arts Center in Boston, Dec. 12, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Michael Christmas at Bodega in Boston, Dec. 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Michael Christmas at Bodega in Boston, Dec. 16, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Michael Newton (foreground) and Mike Doyle perform at Boston's Downtown Crossing MBTA Station, Dec. 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Michael Newton (foreground) and Mike Doyle perform at Boston’s Downtown Crossing MBTA Station, Dec. 20, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Michael Conlon's home at 403 Lynn Fells Parkway, just east of Donna Road, in Saugus, Dec. 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Michael Conlon’s home at 403 Lynn Fells Parkway, just east of Donna Road, in Saugus, Dec. 15, 2017. (Greg Cook)
Categories: Activism Art Our Photos