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Explore the art of Boston’s African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP) during a guided tour of Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now. Led by a Graduate Student Lecturer, deepen your understanding of exhibition themes and select artists through guided close looking and discussion. 

FREE with museum admission or membership; no pre-registration required. Tour meets on 4th floor. 

Are there access accommodations that would be useful to help you fully participate in this program (e.g., assistive listening devices (ALDs), portable gallery stools)? Let us know at accessibility@icaboston.org. 

Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now is organized by Jeffrey De Blois, Mannion Family Curator, with Meghan Clare Considine, Curatorial Assistant.

Support for Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Kristen and Kent Lucken Fund for Photography, and The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Exhibition Fund.

The publication is supported by Wagner Foundation.
Logo for the Terra Foundation for American Art, featuring the word terra in bold, lowercase letters, with Foundation for American Art to the right in a simple sans-serif font—similar in style to AAMARP or ICA Boston branding.
The image displays the words Wagner Foundation in large, bold, black serif font on a light gray background.

Discover the joyful multidisciplinary work of artist Derrick Adams during a guided tour of Derrick Adams: View Master. Led by a Graduate Student Lecturer, deepen your understanding of the artist and exhibition themes through guided close looking and discussion. 

FREE with museum admission or membership; no pre-registration required. Tour meets on 4th floor. 

Are there access accommodations that would be useful to help you fully participate in this program (e.g., assistive listening devices (ALDs), portable gallery stools)? Let us know at accessibility@icaboston.org. 

“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.   

Make the most of your ICA visit! Explore the galleries and visit Say it Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now.  

Accessibility

  • 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.

Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now is organized by Jeffrey De Blois, Mannion Family Curator, with Meghan Clare Considine, Curatorial Assistant.

Support for Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Kristen and Kent Lucken Fund for Photography, and The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Exhibition Fund.

The publication is supported by Wagner Foundation.
Logo for the Terra Foundation for American Art, featuring the word terra in bold, lowercase letters, with Foundation for American Art to the right in a simple sans-serif font—similar in style to AAMARP or ICA Boston branding.
The image displays the words Wagner Foundation in large, bold, black serif font on a light gray background.

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.

Discover the newly released Design History Reader: An Emerging Vision for a New Narrative, a groundbreaking book that challenges who decides what counts as “good design.” Edited by Kristen Coogan and shaped through collaborative research with hundreds of students, this vibrant volume expands the canon beyond Western norms, celebrating cultural authenticity, innovation within tradition, social impact, and historical significance. From Afrofuturist visionaries to Indigenous textile artists, feminist designers, and activist visual culture, each chapter reveals design as a dynamic force of identity, resistance, and creativity. Join Coogan and nationally recognized graphic designer and educator Doug Scott for an evening of conversation on graphic design and the way its history is being told and taught. A book signing will follow this presentation.  

Pair a good book with a glass of wine from the ICA Wine + Coffee Bar during your visit.  

About Kristen Coogan

A woman with shoulder length hair and a sweater smiles against a brick wall

Kristen Coogan is an Associate Professor of Art, and Chair of Graduate Graphic Design at Boston University. Her work has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and Print Magazine. She received a BFA in Art + Design from North Carolina State University, an MA in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College, and an MFA in Graphic Design from California Institute of the Arts. 

About Doug Scott

A headshot of a man holding a magnifying glass.

Doug Scott has been teaching graphic design for over 50 years, including at the Rhode Island School of Design, Northeastern University, and Yale University, among other educational institutions. He has been a visiting critic at over 40 schools and has given over 260 lectures on art and design history and his work. Scott has also designed over 200 books for prominent publishers and has won numerous awards for his work. 

Accessibility

  • 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.

This program has been made possible through generous outreach support from AIGA Boston. 

Join us for a thought-provoking, live online series exploring the artistic contributions of modern and contemporary artists featured in the An Indigenous Present exhibition. Learn from leading artists and historians from the ICA, Harvard University, and an innovative art studio in Alaska over three engaging sessions which offer deeper insight into how and why abstraction has been and continues to be an important artistic device for many artists working today.    

Pre-registration for this online series is required in order to receive web links. Presentations will be live on Zoom and will not be recorded. Registration includes all three live sessions. 

Week 1: February 4 | The Origins of An Indigenous Present

What does it take to bring a landmark traveling exhibition to life? ICA Ellen Matilda Poss Director, Nora Burnett Abrams, will offer her thoughts on the importance of An Indigenous Present to the museum. Exhibition co-curator Jenelle Porter will share behind-the-scenes insights on organizing this ambitious and deeply collaborative initiative.

Week 2: February 11 | Mary Sully and Modernism

Philip J. Deloria, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History at Harvard University, will revisit his great aunt Mary Sully’s (Susan Mabel Deloria) (Yankton Dakota; born 1896 in Standing Rock Reservation, ND; died 1963, Omaha, NE) innovative work as an artist in the early 20th century and his ongoing efforts to preserve it a century later.

Week 3: February 25 | Living and Working in Alaska

Artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs will share how images and materials from her home in Alaska, including organic materials such as animal gut and hair, continue to inspire her creative practice. She will also highlight her efforts to amplify the work of other contemporary artists from the region.

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.

Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera draws from cultural traditions, spiritual practices, and dreams to create lush and layered paintings that Artnews describes as a “triumph”. Visit Zvavahera’s first U.S. museum exhibition with ICA Curatorial Assistant Meghan Clare Considine.

About Meghan Clare Considine

Meghan Clare Considine is curatorial assistant at the ICA/Boston, where she is contributing to projects with Portia Zvavahera: Hidden Battles / Hondo dzakavanzika, Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now, Lucy Raven: Rounds, and others. She has organized previous exhibitions, screenings, and public programs at MASS MoCA, the Weisman Art Museum, and the Clark Art Institute. She holds an M.A. in the History of Art from Williams College.

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.

Join an ICA Graduate Student Lecturer for a tour of An Indigenous Present. Deepen your understanding of the artists and exhibition themes through guided close looking and discussion.  

FREE with museum admission or membership; no pre-registration required. Tour meets on 4th floor. 

Are there access accommodations that would be useful to help you fully participate in this program (e.g., assistive listening devices (ALDs), portable gallery stools)? Let us know at accessibility@icaboston.org. 

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 Curatorial Assistant Max Gruber for a conversation about An Indigenous Present. Learn about the 15 artists featured in the exhibition whose works span 100 years of contemporary Indigenous art. 

About Max Gruber

Max Gruber is Curatorial Assistant at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. He has contributed to several ICA exhibitions, including Tau Lewis: Spirit Level, The Gun Violence Memorial Project, Charles Atlas: About Time, and An Indigenous Present. Before joining the ICA, Gruber contributed to the exhibition and accompanying publication for Humane Ecology: Eight Positions at the Clark Art Institute. He holds an M.A. in the History of Art from Williams College. 

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.