Please note, there is no public parking at the ICA Watershed and street parking is limited. The Watershed is .5 miles from the MBTA Blue Line/Maverick Station stop.
Past Events
Veronica Robles Cultural Center Day of the Dead at the Watershed
Sun, Oct 29
Free!
Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC) presents “El Dia de los Muertos,” New England’s largest Day of the Dead Festival and Parade, on Sunday, October 29 in two locations in East Boston: The day will begin at the ICA Watershed with a presentation of 21 altars created by local artists and community members and will include a parade to Central Square Park in East Boston for Community Ofrenda. The Day of the Dead festival at Central Square Park will feature live music, performances, a Catrina contest, artisans, local food vendors, and ongoing shuttle bus trips to the ICA Watershed to view the altars. Now in its 10th year, this important festival brings the rich tradition of El Dia de los Muertos to families in East Boston and beyond.
Schedule
11 AM – 5 PM | Dia de los Muertos at the ICA Watershed
— Altars on view
— Ongoing Day of the Dead activities
— Community Open Mic
1–2 PM | Catrinas Parade: Parade from ICA Watershed to Central Square Park, East Boston
2–7 PM | Dia de los Muertos Festival in Central Square Park, East Boston, including:
— Entertainment and live music
— Local vendors and food
— Community altar
— 6:30 PM – Catrinas contest and prizes at Central Square Park
Note: Shuttle buses will run between Central Square Park and the ICA 2 PM – 5 PM. The ICA Watershed will close at 5 PM. ICA Water Shuttles will not be running.
Little Amal — whose name means ‘hope’ in Arabic — is a 12-foot puppet of a refugee Syrian child who has traveled to 13 countries. She began her journey from the Syrian border and carries a message of hope for displaced people everywhere, especially children who have been separated from their families.
Join the ICA as we welcome Little Amal to East Boston in a special event at the ICA Watershed, where she will be met by music and dancing by Veronica Robles and young performers from the Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC). Meet Little Amal at the corner of Orleans Street and Sumner Street and walk with her as she makes her way to the Watershed for a celebration with music and dancing. Plus, get a final bonus opportunity to view Guadalupe Maravilla’s mesmerizing exhibition at the Watershed, featuring large-scale installations, paintings, and sculptures that retrace and tell the story of the artist’s own migration journey.
There will be no Water Shuttle service.
Schedule
1–2 PM | Procession with Little Amal and young performers from VROCC Starting point: Zumix building, Orleans Street x Sumner Street, East Boston Ending point: ICA Watershed, 256 Marginal Street, East Boston
2 PM | Celebratory musical and dance performances with VROCC ICA Watershed, 256 Marginal Street, East Boston
Following the event, be sure to visit the East Boston Latin Music and Dance Festival in East Boston Memorial Park. The festival will include Latin American music and dance, delicious food, kids’ activities, local arts & crafts vendors, and will provide a welcoming, family-friendly environment for people of all ages and backgrounds.
The ICA along with American Repertory Theatre (ART) at Harvard University, ArtsEmerson, Company One Theatre, Lars Jan, Boston University Center on Forced Displacement, Boston University Arts Initiative, Extinction Rebellion Boston, Foxborough Public Schools, RefugePoint and The Puppet Free Library, will welcome Little Amal to the city of Boston on September 7–9, 2023. Boston will kick off the 35-city tour from Boston to San Diego where 1,000+ artists and arts organizations will create 100+ events to welcome her.
Amal Walks Across America is produced by The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company.
Amal Walks Across America was made possible through the generosity of the Doris Duke Foundation and the Bezos Family Foundation, with additional support from the Backstage Trust, the Barr Foundation, Sunny Bates, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Choose Love, The Conrad Prebys Foundation, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Ruby Lerner, the McMillan Stewart Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Opportunity Fund, The Shapiro Foundation, Students Rebuild, the Thorne Cox Family Foundation, and Barbara Tober.
Sábados: 4 de agos., 1 de sept., 6 de oct., 11 A.M.
Gratis
Acompañe a un educador bilingüe del ICA el primer sábado de cada mes para realizar una visita guiada gratuita en español en el Watershed del ICA. Estas visitas guiadas dialogadas incluirán una introducción a la historia del Astillero y la Marina del Puerto de Boston. No se requiere inscripción previa.
Join a bilingual ICA educator on the first Saturday of the month for a free tour in Spanish at the ICA Watershed. These conversational tours will include an introduction to the history of the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina and close looking at the artwork on view by contemporary artist Diana Thater. No preregistration required, and all ages are welcome.
In Hybrid-Digital Home New York-based artist Saya Woolfalk has collaborated with her six-year-old daughter, Aya Woolfalk Mitchell, to reinvent the ICA’s Bank of America Art Lab as a warm domestic environment. From 11 AM to 4 PM, contribute drawings to be digitally patternized and added to the wall, creating a collaboratively generated portrait of home.
Focusing on the work of black female artists, this is the first exhibition to highlight the voices and experiences of women of color—as distinct from the primarily white, middle-class mainstream feminist movement—in order to reorient conversations about race, feminism, political action, and art in this significant historical period.
Artist, cinematographer, and filmmaker Arthur Jafa has stated his hope to create cinema that “replicates the power, beauty and alienation of black music.” Set to Kanye West’s stirring gospel-inspired “Ultralight Beam,” this single-channel video installation presents a nuanced, multifaceted look at black life in the United States, which the artist sees as both beautiful and painfully fraught.
This installment of the ICA’s annual collection exhibition showcases artists’ engagement and entanglement with the everyday. Interest in common materials and quotidian subjects has been a defining theme of artistic practice in the 20th century; by observing and being in the world, artists make ordinary textures and experiences extraordinary.
The Watershed—a 15,000-square-foot converted warehouse in the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina in East Boston—is the most talked about art destination of the summer. Ferries from the Seaport to East Boston are free on Labor Day and are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so reserve yours early!
Diana Thater
Diana Thater illuminates the Watershed with immersive projections that reflect on the fragility of the natural world in its inaugural exhibition. Immerse yourself in fields of color, move among projected doplhins, and come face to face with a northern white rhino.
Photo by Ally Schmaling
Past Events
Gallery Talk: Marlon Orozco and Betsy Gibbons on A Community in Focus
Sun, Jun 9, 2019, 6 PM
Please note: this event takes place at the ICA Watershed
Join Marlon Orozco, ICA teaching artist, and Betsy Gibbons, Director of Teen Programs, as they discuss the process of working on the ICA Teen photography exhibition A Community in Focus: East Boston, plus hear from the artists themselves.
Free admission to the ICA Watershed is made possible by the generosity of Alan and Vivien Hassenfeld and the Hassenfeld Family Foundation.
The Boston Foundation welcomes you to the ICA Watershed.
The ICA Watershed is supported by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Framing for A Community in Focus: East Boston provided by Stanhope Framers.
Photo by Natasha Moustache
Photo by Ally Schmaling
Past Events
ICA Watershed Family Day
Sat, Jul 13, 2019, 4–8 PM
FREE
Join us as we celebrate Eastie Week with a special family day at the ICA Watershed featuring art-making activities, pop-up dance performances, tours in English and Spanish, food, music, and fun!
Activities from our community partners East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, East Boston Social Centers and Maverick Landing Community Services
Free Trolley Service is included between the ICA Watershed and the following locations:
Maverick Landing Community Services, 31 Liverpool Street
East Boston Social Centers, 68 Central Square
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, 20 Maverick Square
Orient Heights, 856 Bennington Street
Salesian Boys & Girls Club, 150 Byron Street
Get to know your East Boston community! Thank you to our partners East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, East Boston Social Centers and Maverick Landing Community Services.
Plus, add a boat ride with the purchase of an ICA admission ticket for round-trip Water Shuttle service between East Boston and the Seaport.
Reserve your time slot for the Water Shuttle by purchasing admissions tickets online starting June 26.
Free admission to the ICA Watershed is made possible by the generosity of Alan and Vivien Hassenfeld and the Hassenfeld Family Foundation.
The Boston Foundation welcomes you to the ICA Watershed.
The ICA Watershed is supported by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Acompañe a un educador bilingüe del ICA el segundo y cuarto sábado de cada mes para realizar una visita guiada gratuita en español en el Watershed del ICA. Estas visitas guiadas dialogadas incluirán una introducción a la historia del Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina y John Akomfrah: Purple.
Free admission to the ICA Watershed is made possible by the generosity of Alan and Vivien Hassenfeld and the Hassenfeld Family Foundation.
The Boston Foundation welcomes you to the ICA Watershed.
The ICA Watershed is supported by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.
