AAMARP original location at 11 Leon Street. Northeastern University photograph collection (A103), Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections, Boston, Box 1, African American Master Artists folder.
AAMARP original location at 11 Leon Street. Northeastern University photograph collection (A103), Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections, Boston, Box 1, African American Master Artists folder.
“AAMARP artists should be seen and heard of everywhere, especially if we wish AAMARP to exist long past our own personal participation.” —Dana Chandler, Artist, Educator, and AAMARP Founder
For nearly 50 years, the African American Master Artists-in-Residency Program (AAMARP), the first and only in-residence program for Black artists in the United States, has cultivated a thriving intergenerational community of artists in Boston. Highlighted in the ICA exhibition Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now, AAMARP artists have helped shape the city’s creative landscape as educators, muralists, community activists, and more. Join L’Merchie Frazier, Reginald L. Jackson, and Shea Justice—three artists featured in the exhibition—as they share insight into their creative process, the history of AAMARP, and the program’s ongoing impact and legacy. The ICA’s Mannion Family Curator Jeffrey De Blois will lead this important conversation.
A celebratory reception will follow The Artist’s Voice—come connect, celebrate, and continue the conversation with our thriving community of artists from throughout the Boston area.
Accessible seating is available first-come first-served and may be selected upon theater entry. Please contact our Visitor Services team at visitorservices@icaboston.org or 617-478-3100 for more information.
Assistive listening devices are available for all theater programs at the theater entrance.
A link to live captioning will be shared by the day of the event and will be available in the theater.
ASL interpretation is available by advance request; please contact our Visitors Services team at 617-478-3100 or visitorservices@icaboston.org to make a request.
Are there other access accommodations that would be useful to help you fully participate in this program? Let us know at accessibility@icaboston.org or learn more about Accessibility at the ICA at icaboston.org/accessibility.
Shop limited-edition artist-created goods and creative offbeat gifts from the ICA Store.
Toast the night with treats for purchase from the Wine + Coffee Bar.
Explore a century of Indigenous art and creativity in An Indigenous Present, called “unequivocally beautiful” by The Boston Globe and a “must-see museum show” by Boston Art Review.
Sip a drink from the ICA Wine + Coffee Bar and relax with live music by some of Boston’s most talented musicians! Get in the festive spirit and shop limited-edition artist-created goods and creative offbeat gifts from the ICA store.
Want more art? Visit the ICA galleries* to explore a century of Indigenous art and creativity in An Indigenous Present, called “unequivocally beautiful” by The Boston Globe and a “must-see museum show” by Boston Art Review.
Join us to hang out, eat snacks, and be creative. We will have art making supplies, digital cameras, music production equipment, and more. Feel free to bring a sketch pad, digital photos you want to learn to edit, homework, or nothing at all. Everything is free!
HAPPENINGS
Snacks
Music Production Demos and Experimentation
Photography Demos and Experimentation
Sketching in the Teen Galleries
Tote Bag Decorating
More
Questions or requests for accessibility assistance? Email teens@icaboston.org or text or call (339) 236-3039.
Calling all teens! Join us at the Shaw-Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library to learn basic photographic skills such as using a DSLR camera. It’s free! You will explore the iconic Faces of Dudley mural before spending time capturing the neighborhood through provided DSLR cameras.
Participants only need to bring themselves and a positive attitude. DSLR camera & equipment, as well as snacks, will be provided. Limited cameras available. Find out more and register here.
Join us for a night of amplifying teen voices and celebrating this creative community. Experience new and exciting work by young people through a photography exhibition, film screenings, a music production showcase, and more! Immerse yourself in art-making and other creative experiences, connect with other people, and enjoy light food and drinks.
This event will celebrate and showcase the work of members of the Photography Collective, Fast Forward, AMP: Music Production Intensive, Special Focus: Photography Intensive, Teen Arts Council, and Teen Exhibitions Program.
Everyone dreams under the moonlight. The moon’s shape and light changes as the nights go on. Teen Arts Council invites you to a night filled with creativity, performances, and a fashion show inspired by the exhibitions An Indigenous Present and Portia Zvavahera: Hidden Battles / Hondo dzakavanzika. How will you change under the moonlight?
Costumes are encouraged. No masks, no weapons, and no large props. First 50 people through the door choose a free pair of Converse.
Questions or requests for accessibility assistance? Email teens@icaboston.org or text or call (339) 236-3039.
*Boston Caribbean Fashion Week is a multi-day diverse series of festive fashion events founded and produced by Althea Blackford.
Lead support for Teen Programs provided by Wagner Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Rowland Foundation, Inc.; the Mabel Louise Riley Foundation; the Dorot Foundation; Mathieu O. Gaulin; the American Tower Foundation; the William E. Schrafft and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust; the Mass Cultural Council; Northeastern University and the Boston Research Center; the Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee; the Robert Lehman Foundation; BPS Arts Expansion Fund at EdVestors; the Rosalie Thorne McKenna Foundation; the Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation, Inc; the Tiny Tiger Foundation; and the Red Sox Foundation.
Converse seeks to fuel Creators of the future through movement, play, and connection.
FREE with museum admission / Limited capacity; first come, first served
Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera engages printmaking processes to create distinct and otherworldly paintings, bridging Indigenous Shona and African Pentecostal imagery with the intimacy of dreams. ZZ Packer, author of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere (2003) and contributor to The New Yorker and Granta, will interview Zvavahera in her first U.S. museum exhibition.
Make the most of your ICA visit! Enjoy a drink and light bite in the waterfront Wine + Coffee Bar.
Portia Zvavahera: Hidden Battles / Hondo dzakavanzika is organized by Ruth Erickson, Barbara Lee Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, with Meghan Clare Considine, Curatorial Assistant.
This program is presented in partnership with Transition Magazine from Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.
Tickets will be available 1/14 for ICA members and 1/21 for nonmembers.
Jeffrey Gibson has reshaped contemporary art. First exhibited at the ICA in 2013, Gibson’s impact has only grown—culminating in his groundbreaking representation of the United States at the 2024 Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most prestigious cultural exhibitions. Gibson’s creative contributions have extended beyond his studio, co-editing the 400+ page anthology An Indigenous Present (2023), and now co-organizing the ICA’s ambitious travelling exhibition of the same name with independent curator Jenelle Porter. Join Gibson as he reflects on his journey as artist, curator, and leader for these monumental projects and initiatives. He will be joined by the ICA’s new Ellen Matilda Poss Director, Nora Burnett Abrams, who will moderate this conversation, marking her debut public program since joining the museum in 2025.
Make the most of your ICA visit! Explore the galleries and visit the ICA’s featured exhibition: An Indigenous Present. Enjoy a drink and light bite in the waterfront Wine + Coffee Bar.
An Indigenous Present is organized by Jeffrey Gibson and Jenelle Porter, guest curators, with Erika Umali, Curator of Collections, and Max Gruber, Curatorial Assistant.
This exhibition is supported in part by Mathieu O. Gaulin, the Leonard and Ruth Horwich Family Foundation, Peggy J. Koenig, Kim Sinatra, the Fotene Demoulas Fund for Curatorial Research and Publications, and an anonymous donor.
With warmest thanks, we gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the ICA’s Avant Guardian Society in making this exhibition possible.
Join ICA Assistant Curator Tessa Bachi Haas for a final walkthrough of the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prizeexhibition, closing January 19. Learn about Haas’s process organizing the exhibition and the four local artists featured in it.
About Tessa Bachi Haas
Tessa Bachi Haas is Assistant Curator at the ICA, where she has organized and supported over a dozen exhibitions since 2022. Haas is committed to supporting local arts ecologies and fostering an expansive, global exhibition program. Her recent projects include Christian Marclay: Doors, the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize, and the first museum survey of Derrick Adams. She has previously held curatorial positions in Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., and has contributed to over thirty exhibitions and catalogues in these cities. Tessa is a Ph.D Candidate in History of Art at Bryn Mawr College, where she earned her MA in 2019.
