Biography

Cedric Douglas is the Founder and Creative Director of The Up Truck.

Established in 2014, The Up Truck is a mobile art lab designed to engage

underserved Boston communities through art and creativity.

The Up Truck was created in response to a grant for $100,000 funded by

The Boston Foundation in partnership with Dudley Street Neighborhood

Initiative. Out of 70 national and international applicants Cedric was

awarded to receive this grant for his understanding of social intervention

and community engagement. In the last two years, The Up Truck has

engaged over 3000 Boston residents in 12 communities.

The Up Truck was awarded a grant for $15,000 from the City of Boston’s

Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund and a $10,000 grant from the New England

Foundation for the arts. These grants are being used for design and

fabrication of public work in the Upham’s Corner community.

Cedric is a Boston-based public artist, designer, street artist and social

interventionist who has created work in the community for over 20 years.

He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the

Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Cedric was recently awarded $10,000 for a creative city grant funded by

New England Foundation of the Arts and the Barr Foundation. Building

upon the connections created through the Up Truck, Cedric Douglas aims

to create a more vibrant culture for street art in Boston through a new

project called Up Walls. Currently in the planning phases, the goal is to

empower local artists looking to create a positive impact in communities

that have historically been neglected by traditional arts funding. Up Walls

will involve the creation of a constellation of art walls throughout Boston, a

mobile pop up art wall for cultural and community events, and ultimately a

citywide festival of street art. This grant will support the community

organizing and art making that is required for thoughtful, strategic social

intervention through art.

Cedric is currently working with the City of Boston’s Youth Lead the

Change initiative, this program is designed to empower youth to vote for

projects they want see happen in the community. Youth voted for legal art

walls to freely be able to paint. Cedric is currently working with the city, the

youth, and local organizations to establish 2 legal public street art walls.

Cedric was awarded to be Artist in Resident in Upham’s Corner

Dorchester. During his residency he offered a platform for community to

engage in play. This work he named “Creative Playmaking”. He offered a

series of games to community members to engage in conversation and

play in the middle of the street. During a time where police and community

do not have a favorable relationship he was able to use the act of play to

bring police and community together to build a stronger sense of trust and

community.

Cedric is an active member of multiple Boston based art organizations

including on the board of Celebrity Series Community Engagement

advisory committee, Artweek Boston, Mass Creative and the Design

Industry Group of Massachusets D.I.G.M.A.