Arts Administration Alum Makes Impact Capturing Historic Boston Architecture

When Matthew Dickey (MET’13) graduated with his MS in Arts Administration, he entered the working world equipped with the know-how to take on leadership roles in the nonprofit sector. Today, he’s putting that expertise to work in multiple ways: not only is he employed in an important role at a Boston nonprofit, but he’s also an influential artist in his own right—using his talents as a roving photographer to bring attention to iconic, historical, and underappreciated buildings across the city.

Dickey is the communications director at the Boston Preservation Alliance, a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to protecting and preserving Boston’s storied architectural heritage. He reinforces this effort as the creative force behind @streetscapecurator, a popular Instagram account focusing on quirky, memorable, and distinguished facades from all over Boston’s many distinctive neighborhoods. By spotlighting as many notable buildings as he can find, Dickey is creating a groundswell of support for preserving them.

“If people don’t really care about a thing being there, it’s not going to survive. It’s not going to continue,” he recently told the Boston Globe. Through his photography, he is championing the very cause his nonprofit advances. “We run on the adage that there should be no buildings torn down because everything should be reused,” he said.