About Teen Programs

At the ICA, we believe that robust arts education—including learning by doing—is critical to building future artists, audiences, and engaged citizens. It is our goal to create a more equitable education for young people in and around the Boston area. We work with thousands of area youths annually, at no cost to teens.

Teens should not have to choose between getting a job and having art in their lives. Participants in our out-of-school time programs receive compensation. They complete projects that have a positive impact on the community of young people in Boston and beyond. In addition, Boston Public School students from participating high schools can earn school credit for participating in these programs.

Through our programs, we aim to:

• Provide teens with opportunities for creativity, self-expression, and social and emotional development
• Support teens in exploring career pathways/possibilities for the future
• Empower teens to develop their sense of purpose
• Invite teens to play an active role in a community that centers inclusivity and belonging

See a full list of our different types of programming below. Programs and events take place out of school time unless otherwise noted.

Want to get involved? Email teens@icaboston.org

What happens when teens throw an event in a contemporary art museum? Or organize an exhibition? Come find out! Teens take over the museum to host a variety of events all year long. Join us on the dance floor at a teen night, discuss art in our gallery, create with artists, and more! See upcoming events

Teen Arts Council (TAC) is a group of teens from the Boston area that serve other teens. It is a paid creative leadership development program. TAC focuses on introducing teens to the ICA and art in general, and provides a structure in which teens develop concrete skills in project management, community engagement, and innovative thinking. Composed of  12 Boston area teens, TAC organizes events throughout the year to connect with other teens. Three times a year, TAC designs a Teen Night and invites hundreds of Boston-area teens take over the ICA. These events are free for teens and include teen performances, art-making, gallery experiences, and dance parties. Other programs and events TAC plans include The Current, an art-centered event that focuses on urgent social issues that affect teens in Boston and takes on different formats. TAC also co-produces Artist Interviews each year as a resource for their peers.

Teen Exhibitions Program (TEP) is a group of paid teens from the Boston area that work together to curate, interpret, and install artwork in the Teen Gallery located at the ICA’s Seaport Studio. Teens in this creative leadership program organize two exhibitions a year to amplify teen art and invite the community of Boston and beyond to engage with the artwork. TEP works with staff across the ICA to design exhibitions, install artwork, and create happenings to engage the community with the work.

Fast Forward is a paid program that equips teens with video production and storytelling skills. In this program, teens draw on their unique interests and experiences to tell compelling stories through video. With ICA staff and professional teaching artists, participants gain experience with filmmaking, lighting, and sound. Teens learn how to use video as a medium to tell compelling stories and explore documentary filmmaking over the course of the program. Working with industry standard equipment and software, teens also get the opportunity to meet and work with professional filmmakers, artists, and community leaders. Teens in Fast Forward complete collaborative projects that connect with larger issues impacting our city that foster strong connections with the Boston community.

Teen Digital Cooperative (TDC) is a paid program for teens in the Boston area that offers opportunities for young people to creatively share, honor, and amplify meaningful stories from the communities they belong to and connect with. Each summer, TDC works with staff across the ICA to engage other teens and the broader Boston community with themes and stories raised by work on view at the ICA.

Photography Collective is a paid program that teaches teens photography, editing, design, and storytelling skills. Teens work alongside teaching artists and staff to learn principles of photography and create unique, well-composed images. Teens learn to analyze, discuss, and critique works of art, photographic works, and media.  In this program, teens also learn how to effectively use industry standard equipment and editing software, as well as use these skills to create a story via the images they capture within their respective neighborhoods. This program allows teens to explore history, community, and photography through independent and collaborative projects and deeply connect with our city and its’ communities.

AMP is the ICA’s paid music production program for teens that provides training and equipment for youth to make the music they want to hear, and then share it with the world. Teens in this weeklong intensive program learn from some of Boston’s best musicians and DJs to develop technical skills in music production. Utilizing industry-level software, teens approach music as a form of expression and a connection to our larger communities. They explore topics and themes that are important to our AMP members.

Special Focus is a paid program that introduces young people to specific themes, styles, and techniques of photography. As a weeklong intensive, teens will explore projects while building technical skills such as photography, lighting, photo editing, and more. In this program, teens learn how to effectively create well composed images and use industry standard technology to complete projects that connect our Special Focus members with our larger Boston community.

An in-school multi-disciplinary arts engagement program for 8th to 12th grade students that encourages close observation, open discussion, and creative thinking. WallTalk encourages teens to make individual connections to contemporary art through writing, visual art, and performance. For most students who participate in WallTalk, it is their first time ever in a museum. WallTalk consists of multiple museum and classroom visits over a school year in which young people observe, question, interpret, and respond creatively to the art of our time. Students work closely with teaching artists to guide their critical analysis, creative thinking, and own art making process. The WallTalk program aims to introduce and increase students’ comfort levels with the ICA, allow young people to develop community with their peers, and promote self-confidence and arts engagement in a new, exciting environment. The WallTalk Reading Jam is a culminating event that celebrates the students’ year-long experience. Hosted at the ICA, the event provides students with a public forum and live audience to share their work and build a community among their peers and beyond.

Questions about WallTalk? Email us at walltalk@icaboston.org.

Through thoughtfully crafted gallery lessons that offer opportunities for reflection, close looking, and critical thinking, K-12 guided visits to the ICA nurture student agency, honor student curiosity, and embrace the diversity of thought and experience that students bring to the ICA. Gallery teachers for K-12 groups develop and teach thematic, multimodal gallery lessons based on ICA exhibitions that incorporate guided discussion and activities.

K-12 groups may opt to augment their Guided Visit with a hands-on art-making workshop. In the galleries, students participate in thematic, multimodal lessons. In the Bank of America Art Lab, students will engage with the current Art Lab installation and experiment with different art making techniques. Or, groups can opt to self-guide instead for a self-paced, unfacilitated experience. Learn more

The ICA is committed to its network of talented alumni. Teen Programs Alumni are often sought for paid opportunities like museum-wide internships, media-based projects through our group of Fast Forward Alumni Media, and teaching positions that support current teen programs such as WallTalk or Teen Nights. The Teen Programs Alumni meet on an annual basis.

The ICA is dedicated to growing and cultivating a robust national dialogue around teen arts education. Building on the work begun with the 2009 launch of the Teen Convening, the goal of the Teen Arts Education Hub is to serve as a central resource and network for teen arts education professionals in museums and beyond.

The ICA is committed to making its digital platforms accessible to all users. The ICA Teens website takes as its accessibility standard the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Level AA and we are working to ensure that all content is accessible. If you encounter an issue with a specific page or section, please contact us at teens@icaboston.org so that we can make updates and/or provide information as needed.

The ICA welcomes and endeavors to provide a positive, engaging, and inclusive experience for all visitors. Learn more about Accessibility at the ICA and Accessibility at Seaport Studio. These efforts are ongoing and the ICA welcomes questions and feedback about current accommodations and ongoing initiatives at accessibility@icaboston.org or 617-478-3100.