As part of the ICA’s continued engagement with East Boston, the ICA Teens Special Focus and Advanced Digital Photography classes took a field trip on Saturday Dec. 1st to East Boston, in order to visit landmark sites, meet locals, and take pictures. We met at the ICA Seaport and took the water taxi across the harbor to Maverick Landing and walked to our first stop: Zumix, a long-running youth arts organization with a highlight on music and audio work. 

A group of people sits inside a boat with windows, some looking out at the water. One person is using binoculars, others are chatting and looking at their phones. The sun is shining, and city buildings are visible through the windows.

We met Rene Dongo and Brittany Thomas, two staff working mainly with the Radio Lab, at Zumix. They showed us around and introduced us to Sindy Castillo, a local Latinx activist who brought a couple teens and staff to a nearby church that was offering community services. 

A person wearing a black baseball cap and hoodie is singing into a microphone with a pop filter. The background is warmly lit, creating a cozy ambiance.

After spending time with the teens and staff in the Zumix Radio Lab and Beatmaking Studio, we made for Eastie Farms, barely a block over. Director Kannan Thiruvengadam met us and talked the group through the inspirational history and many features of the publicly owned urban farm. 

A group of people stands outside near a garden, listening to a speaker in a hat and jacket. They are in an urban setting with buildings and leafless trees in the background, under a clear blue sky.

Kannan also led us to the East Boston Greenway, which is currently installed with a public artwork called FutureWATERS/AGUASfuturas, which demonstrates in real-space the anticipated flood water levels of 2030 and 2070. We could see clearly that the levels of 2070 were dangerously high –up to and above the heads of many in our group!

A group of people outdoors, standing and crouching around art installations with hanging blue and purple objects. Theyre wearing winter clothing and several hold cameras. A concrete wall and grassy area are in the background.

Our second to last stop was Atlantic Works Gallery, which is run out of a warehouse building off of Border St. by the East Boston Artist Group. There we met members of the Group, drank homemade apple cider, and enjoyed the artwork on display. 

A person in a gray hoodie listens attentively to an older person with gray hair, who is gesturing with their hands. They are standing in an art gallery with small artworks visible on a white wall behind them.

At about 3:30pm, with the sun barely still in the sky, we left Atlantic Works and walked back along Sumner over towards Maverick Station.  Before hitting the Blue Line and going our separate ways, however, we made sure to stop in at La Sultana Bakery and enjoy some fresh, crispy empanadas as a group, reflecting on our day with the neighborhood. 

A quiet residential street lined with parked cars and houses on both sides. Leafless trees stretch toward a cloudy sky, while city buildings are visible in the background, under a soft, overcast light.