‘Tis the season to celebrate local art and artists! Enjoy live performances by the innovative artists recognized by WBUR’s annual series, “The Makers,” dance to disco beats from Saucy Lady, and explore work by area artists in the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition. Holiday style encouraged—sparkle or stay cozy!

*Subject to availability

If your company is a corporate member or sponsor, you may receive additional First Friday benefits. Please contact corporatepartners@icaboston.org for more information.   

This 21+ event does sell out; advance tickets are highly recommended. Discounted rates are available for packages of 10 or more. University members are not eligible for free admission to this event. Please contact Visitor Services at visitorservices@icaboston.org or 617-478-3100 during open hours for more information. The museum will not be open to visitors outside of the First Fridays event. Discounts, promotions, and admission vouchers do not apply toward First Fridays admission. Galleries close at 9 PM. Bars and doors close at 9:30 PM. Food and drink will be available for purchase at our cashless bars—we accept all major credit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.  

First Friday Program

DJ Saucy Lady | 6–10 PM
State Street Corporation Lobby, First Floor

Installations by WBUR the Makers

First Floor, Second Floor, + Poss Family Mediatheque (Fourth Floor)
Hanging sculptures by Jo Nanajian
Video works by crystal bi
Installation by Lani Asuncion
Mobile Kitchen Cart by Justin Brazierand EquiTable
Musical installation by Skooby Laposky
Video screening by Homa Sarabi

Exquisite Corpse Art Activity by Tanya Nixon-Silberg | 6–9:30 PM

Common Room, First Floor

Film + Performance by Lani Asuncion | 7:30 PM

Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater, Second Floor

ICA Store | 6–7 PM

First Floor

ICA Galleries | 6–9 PM

Fourth Floor, Food + Drink Not Permitted
Explore more work by Boston artists in the 2025 James and Audrey Foster Prize exhibition.

Sips + Snacks | 6–9:30 PM

Bars on First + Second Floor Food on First Floor
Food + Drinks for purchase

About the Installations

First Floor

Tanya Nixon-Silberg
Join WBUR Maker Tanya Nixon-Silberg for a collaborative Exquisite Corpse activity that invites us to create in the spirit of water—moving together, shaping together, dreaming together. Through shared drawing and collage, we’ll explore how ideas ripple between us, how imagination gathers like currents, and how collective making can guide us toward the futures we long for. Come fold, pass, and unfold new worlds built in community.

Second Floor

Justin Brazier
The Mobile Kitchen Unit, 2025
The Mobile Kitchen Unit is a roaming, wheel-mounted cooking and gathering platform designed to test how small pieces of infrastructure can reshape public life. Built with a full working stove, a sink connected to on-site water service, and a flexible footprint, the kitchen travels to places where food, care, and collective imagination are already active. It operates as a piece of architecture scaled to the body, something between appliance, furniture, and public space, capable of slipping into gardens, sidewalks, cultural events, and neighborhood experiments. Join us for a night of tea blending, cultural soundscapes, and activities on food justice and systems.


crystal bi
Perfect Memory, 2025
Featured videos: Float at Carson Beach by Aikhoje Media and Does the Ocean Miss Us While We’re Away? Filmed by Rene Dongo and edited by crystal bi. Soundscape by Dzidzor Azaglo featuring a quote by Bayyinah Bello
What if the core of our desires is ancient? This video documents the creation of a floating installation that was brought to the ocean at Carson Beach. This installation stems from the artist’s desire to collaborate with the ocean as a space to connect with grief and family across oceans. After creating the first iteration, crystal learned about the Ghost Festival in Taiwan, which floats water lanterns as a practice to honor ancestors during ghost month. In this way, Float felt part of an ancient messaging from her own ancestors in Taiwan. The video shows the creation of the work and its launch as part of a ritual to honor and give gratitude to activists of the 1975 protests at Carson Beach—past and living Boston ancestors—that fought to free the beach for all to equitably relax, play, and just be. The title is inspired by the quote by Toni Morrison “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.”

Jo Nanajian
Zahra, 2025
Wire, plaster, urethane, nylon, and dye on wood
Jo Nanajian’s largest piece to date, Zahra (which translates to “flower”), demands attention with its vibrant red shades and giant petals that seem to engulf the viewer. Each petal is meticulously infused into the wooden panel, with layers of plaster gauze applied to build volume and depth. The surface is then painted with a mixture of urethane and dye, creating a spectrum of tones from deep, shadowy bases to luminous tips. Zahra reflects on lost relationships, with dried roses serving as a tribute to past people and places.

Lani Asunción
WAI Water Warning | Sirena Song, 2025
Performance, 7:30 PM
The performance WAI Water Warning | Sirena Song is a call to action, emerging as a warning of environmental change, echoing amidst the accelerating climate crisis. As our earth undergoes rapidtransformation, this work stands as a stark reminder of the profound shifts reshaping the coastline of the city of Boston, sung across the Harbor like a beacon of light.
The Sirena is a Filipinx siren or merfolk, non-binary gender expansive being that aims to protect the mind, body, and spirit against violence and destruction. They are beings of decolonization efforts who warn of a future rooted in environmental racism. This performance is part of SONG/LAND/SEA: WAI Water Warning (2024-2025) series recently exhibited
and commissioned work by the Greenway Conservancy.

Fourth Floor

Skooby Laposky
LISTENING2LISTENING (George Milstein Remix), 2025
Biodata sonification system, turntable, Music to Grow Plants LP, Bromeliad and Dracaena plants, transducers, wireless headphones Special thanks to U-Turn Audio for the Orbit 2 turntable


Casey Carter + Homa Sarabi
Crystal Lake, 2025
16mm film and projectors
Enveloped by an affluent Massachusetts suburb, the enchanting and serene Crystal Lake is a public sanctuary revered by residents across the commonwealth, entwining the lives of locals and visitors across generations in a centuries-long struggle over public vs. private interests and access to the waterfront.