Beloved Art and Technology Guru George Fifield Passes Away at 71

a letter from the Boston Cyberarts Board

Boston, Dec. 5, 2022 -- Affable, generous, creative, open-minded, innovative, sweet natured, and enthusiastic are typical of the words used to describe George Fifield by his worldwide network of admiring artists, colleagues, friends, family members, students and museum professionals. Fifield, 71, died on November 11 due to complications from a fall he suffered at his home on Martha’s Vineyard in July. A resident of Chilmark and Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Fifield leaves a legacy of curiosity and innovation that drove evolution in digital media and inspired scores of young and established artists across the globe.

An early advocate of new media, Fifield served as the Curator of New Media at the DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum from 1993 to 2006. In 1999, he founded the Boston Cyberarts Festival, which showcased international digital artists. As the executive director of Boston Cyberarts Inc. and its gallery, uniquely located over a subway stop in Jamaica Plain, he continued to curate wonderful exhibitions of cutting-edge work until the time of his death. An outstanding teacher and mentor, Fifield taught at the Rhode Island School of Design, Emerson College, Mass College of Art and Design and Boston University.

Fifield’s expertise in the field of new media made him a valued and respected independent curator both locally, regionally and internationally. A major figure in the region’s cultural community, he was a member of the Boston Arts Commission for many years. He oversaw outdoor technologically based art exhibits in the City of Newton (MA), at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, at the Massachusetts Convention Center’s 80-foot tall Marquee in the Seaport, and Boston’s Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace. Fifield was honored with the First Annual Special Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Boston Arts Community by the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) Boston Chapter. In 2007, the Boston Cyberarts Festival was honored with the prestigious Commonwealth Award for contributing to the Creative Economy of Massachusetts.

Fifield was one of the first to acknowledge that the New England region was a center of art and technology for the rest of the country and even the world. He became quickly aware of all the exciting things going on that very few in the art world knew about. His big concept was to celebrate this somehow, which led to his idea for the Cyberarts festival. It was a biennial event that fostered collaboration between arts institutions and showcased artwork in all emerging media. This in turn encouraged cultural tourism and the creative economy. The festival ended in 2011, but George continued the expansion of new media through Boston Cyberarts and its innovative gallery programming. In addition, George exuberantly wrote on a variety of media, technology and art topics for publications including Artbyte, Bomb, Communication Arts, Digital Fine Arts, The Independent Film and Video Monthly, Sculpture Magazine, Art New England and numerous exhibition catalogs.

Fifield leaves behind many friends and family members: his beloved wife, Lynne Adams, his sister, Virginia Fifield, and his brother John (Sandi) Fifield. Survivors also include nephew, Ben (Yang-Yang Zhou) Fifield, niece Jocie (Tim Corkum) Fifield and grandnephew, Leo Fifield, sister and brother-in-law, Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub, nieces Josie (Traver Tischio) Adams and Sophie Shalhoub, cousin Jeremy Gould and close friends Madden and Sevi Foreman.

There are plans for a public (in-person and virtual) memorial celebration in the next few months. To further celebrate George’s contributions, former Cyberarts staff members have reunited to create The George Archive to facilitate a collection of work and memories of George’s life and legacy. Through December 31, artists, colleagues and friends of George are invited to submit video footage and images. Please follow this link to the instructions doc. Contributions will be selected for a reel to be presented publicly at George’s upcoming memorial. Questions and inquiries should be directed to: rememberingGeorgeFifield@gmail.com

His legacy is his passion and curiosity about new media art. He is sorely missed.