get tickets

Advance tickets are now available for visits through September 1. Book now

This week, we feature a bilingual Friday Art Note, written and recorded in Spanish and English.
 

When I first saw Sterling Ruby’s Basin Theology/​La Brea 2, ​its disharmonious appearance prevented me from engaging with it further. But after a second look and learning some background, my feelings towards this piece changed.

It turns out that La Brea is considered one of the most important paleontological sites in the world due to the quantity and variety of fossils found there. This unusual site, located in urban Los Angeles, was once a tar pit and worked as a sort of time capsule, preserving an entire ecosystem for over 50,000 years. Findings range from big mammals such as mammoths or small animals such as rodents to plant remains.

When I became aware of this history, and the fact that Ruby’s ​Basin Theology/​La Brea 2 ​is filled with the remnants of previous ceramic work attempts which he calls Basin Theology, I had a newfound interest in the piece. Indeed, basin theology makes reference to the basin that Jesus used to wash the feet of the apostles during the last supper. In addition, Ruby’s studio can be conceived as an artistic paleontological site as well, because he keeps all his previous work scraps for long periods of time, looking for just the right moment to reuse them in future works.

All this information gave me a different perspective with which to look at this piece and be able to engage with it. ​Basin Theology/​La Brea 2 m​akes me think of a tar pit with its predominantly black color and harsh texture. I can imagine myself as a paleontologist, digging into what was formerly a geological time capsule, and finding Ruby’s previous ceramic work attempts. I feel they have a story about the process of making art. They are not futile efforts anymore; instead they remain timeless like fossils and hold new meaning and purpose in the basin. At the same time, the bright red and orange bring me the sensation of a still active site waiting to trap you.

Sergio Salicio is a visitor assistant from Barcelona, Spain. He holds degrees in sociology and social studies education. He is passionate about how history, sociocultural issues, and politics influence and shape the artistic world. 
 

Cuando vi por primera vez Basin Theology/​La Brea 2 de Sterling Ruby, su apariencia desarmonizada me impidió conectar con ella. Pero después de observarla con detenimiento por segunda vez y darle contexto, mis sentimientos hacia esta obra cambiaron.

La Brea está considerado uno de los yacimientos paleontológicos más importantes del mundo debido a la cantidad y variedad de fósiles localizados. Esta inusual ubicación, en la urbana Los Angeles, era un pozo de alquitrán y se le considera una especie de cápsula del tiempo, ya que preserva un ecosistema completo durante un periodo de más de 50,000 años. Los hallazgos arqueológicos van desde grandes mamíferos como mamuts o pequeños animales como roedores a restos de plantas.

Cuando conocí la historia y el hecho de que Basin Theology/​La Brea 2 tiene restos de previos trabajos de cerámica a la que él llama Basin Theology, tuve un renovado interés por la obra . De hecho, Basin Theology hace referencia a la vasija que Jesús utilizó para lavar los pies a sus apóstoles durante la última cena. Además, el estudio de Ruby puede concebirse como un lugar artístico pero también paleontológico pues mantiene todos los restos de trabajos previos que salieron mal durante largos períodos de tiempo hasta encontrar el momento adecuado para reutilizarlos en nuevos proyectos artísticos.

Toda esta información me dio una perspectiva diferente con la que mirar esta pieza y poder así conectar con ella. Basin Theology/​La Brea 2 me hace pensar en una cápsula del tiempo en forma de pozo de alquitrán por su color predominantemente negro y textura ruda. Me imagino a mí mismo como paleontólogo, investigando el pozo y descubriendo los trozos de cerámica de sus descartes. Siento que estas piezas transmiten una historia sobre el proceso de crear arte. Ya no son restos inútiles, sino que permanecen atemporales como los fósiles y tienen un nuevo significado y propósito en la vasija. Al mismo tiempo, estos colores brillantes rojos y naranjas me dan la sensación de un lugar aún activo esperando para atraparte.

Sergio Salicio es originario de Barcelona, España y trabaja como asistente del visitante en el ICA. Tiene estudios superiores en sociología y educación, en la especialidad de ciencias sociales. Le apasiona la historia, los eventos sociales y la política, y como todos ellos influencian y dan forma al mundo artístico. 

 

Friday Art Notes are personal reflections on works of art shown or in the permanent collection of the ICA, written by ICA staff, volunteers, and supporters. Read more

The upside of prolonged self-isolation – besides flattening the curve, of course – is catching up art, podcasts, films, videos, and more you’ve been meaning to check out, or having sufficient to let yourself really go down the rabbit hole to new discoveries. 

Here’s a steadily growing list of how ICA staff have been occupying, educating, and distracting ourselves, from brushing up on the Tudors to exploring audio technology to discovering art and artists anew. 
 

Listen

Album cover for Beverly Glenn-Copeland's Keyboard Fantasies, featuring the silhouetted head of an African American man within an abstract stained glass image.

The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland
I first came upon the music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland last June during Pride, and his music resonates even more in this current moment. Glenn-Copeland is a singer, composer, and transgender activist based in Canada who had a long career writing music for children’s public television programs including Sesame Street. Throughout his career he quietly released his own solo works, and 30 years after the release of his awe-inspiring masterpiece, Keyboard Fantasies, he found new success when the album fell into the hands of a Japanese record store owner and was reissued, introducing his music to a new generation around the world. Now, at the age of 76, Glenn-Copeland is receiving critical acclaim and just performed for the first time in the United States this past December at MoMA PS1; this summer he was to tour around the globe. Glenn-Copeland’s uplifting music transcends time and categorization, is healing to the soul, and radiates positivity. I recommend starting with Keyboard Fantasies, and if you are feeling generous, you can support him by purchasing his music via Bandcamp on the first Friday of June or July, when 100% of the proceeds from all purchases go directly to the artists on the platform. I also recommend the lovely documentary Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story, if you would like to learn more about this icon in the LGBT community. —Chris Hoodlet, Membership Manager
Explore Glenn-Copeland’s music

 

May 4
Watch

The Oedipus Project
In moments of crisis, I look to the past to comprehend the present. So often, playwrights help us make meaning out of situations that seem impossible, no more so than the ancient Greeks. On May 7 at 7 PM, I’ll be watching scenes from Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex, featuring an incredible cast of actors including Frances McDormand, Oscar Isaac, Jeffrey Wright, and David Strathairn. The play offers prescient parallels to our current moment and reminds us that in extraordinary circumstances, wisdom from the past can help us find our way forward.
Watch the Oedipus Project
 

The text

A headshot of choreographer Netta Yerushalmy. She has dark curly hair pulled back and an open orange hoodie over a leopard-print top.

Netta Yerushalmy, Paramodernities Live
When Pam Tanowitz and Simone Dinnerstein performed their phenomenal New Work for Goldberg Variations at the ICA in 2017, I was enthralled with one of the dancers in particular, Netta Yerushalmy, who combined electric physicality with conscientious precision. As it happens, Yerushalmy is an accomplished choreographer in her own right, creator of the celebrated Paramodernities, a “hybrid of academic conference, dance performance, and town hall gathering” in which 20 dancers and scholars deconstruct and contextualize iconic modern dance works. A dance nerd’s dream! I’d been hoping to catch it in person, but now, Yerushalmy is presenting the piece online in daily installments from May 4 to 9, each followed by a 20-minute discussion. And it’s all FREE (but please support the company with a donation if you can). — Kris Wilton, Director of Creative Content and Digital Engagement
Watch Paramodernities Live 

 

The text

National Gallery
National Gallery by Fred Wiseman is a documentary about the National Gallery in London. The New York Times writes, “If you miss visiting museums – the crowds, the docents, even the chatter of audio guides – you won’t find a better substitute than this.” If you haven’t seen a Wiseman film, this is typical of his work.  After my ICA VA experience, I especially appreciate the work of the docents in the film. I watched it on Kanopy, which anybody with a library card has access to.  —  Gregg Handorff, Visitor Assistant  
Watch National Gallery 

 

Headshot of an African boy against a blue sky. Text reads

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
We watched this film with our 6-year-old son and loved it. It is based on a true story about a 13-year-boy in Africa who designs a windmill to save his family and village in times of need. It makes for great conversation about climate change and reinforces love for family, perseverance, science, and thankfulness. It really is a joy to watch and shot and directed beautifully! — Ami Pourana, Creative Director
Watch The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind 

 

 Visit 

Logo for

THIS LONG CENTURY
THIS LONG CENTURY is one of my favorite websites. Founded in 2008 and edited by filmmaker Jason Evans, THIS LONG CENTURY is an “ever-evolving collection of personal insights from artists, authors, filmmakers, musicians and cultural icons,” including many artists from the ICA’s collection, such as Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Liz Deschenes, Sanya Kantarovsky, Senga Nengudi, and Collier Schorr, among others. For the month of April, THIS LONG CENTURY is screening a series of amazing film and video works from past contributors as part of two programs: OUTSIDE and INSIDE. The filmmakers have donated their work, so should you partake, please donate to one or more of the selected US-based Non-Profits and Relief Funds to help people in need right now. — Jeffrey De Blois, Assistant Curator
Visit THIS LONG CENTURY 

The Retreat Space
Three weeks ago, I launched an online community for those seeking refuge, healing, art, play, growth, and connection. I’m rallying amazing artists and healers who are offering free online retreats you can join at home, on a variety of topics (yoga, feng shui, painting, etc.). We are also developing a library of recorded meditations, interviews, and guidance from contributors all around the world. I’m just getting started, and would love for the ICA community to contribute and join us for a retreat! Sign up for email updates for new event info. — Quinn Papazian, Watershed Project Manager
Visit The Retreat Space 
 

Graphic with

LIMA Online
This archive/database of video, performance, and motion-based art. has a lot of artists I love, and the gallery that runs it served me cookies and coffee (excellent, by the way). Some videos are only available at De Appel, but a lot are available online. They also run screenings, lectures, and other educational programming! I look at it a lot for my own practice, and to find other artists. — Alan Vincent, Visitor Assistant
Visit LIMA Online 

Kadist 
Kadist is an interdisciplinary art platform with an international collection that reinforces art’s relevance today and its contribution to key issues of our time. Their innovative program not only focuses on onsite exhibitions but initiates connections and collaborations around the world. Deep dive into their collection online as well as their current online exhibition, “AP: Assembled Personalities.”  — Mehtap Yagci, Executive Assistant
Visit Kadist 

 

Listen

Logo for

The Lonely Palette
The Lonely Palette is my personal favorite art history podcast, with each episode exploring a single artwork in depth. Tamar Avishai, the creator and host, masterfully combines museum visitor impressions with historical and social context and lots of fun anecdotes along the way. — Amy Briggs Kemeza, Tour Programs Manager 
Staff Accountant Meg Curley agrees: “the host gives a wonderful audio experience of a painting (usually in a Boston museum) along with some context in a very inviting and charming way. It’s great because it’s already tackled the challenge of how to talk about art that you can’t go see in person. — Meg Curley, Staff Accountant
Listen to The Lonely Palette

 

Read

Book cover for Building and Sustaining a Creative Life

Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists
This book by Sharon Louden is a great read and offers advice to working artists and individuals graduating from art school (like me) entering the art world and the realities of being a working artist and how to support yourself through many different paths in life. — Nina Miller, Visitor Assistant
Read Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists

Hito Steyerl, “If You Don’t Have Bread, Eat Art!: Contemporary Art and Derivative Fascisms”
I revisit Hito Steyerl’s legendary essay on art as a refuge for capital in times of social upheaval every time we veer into some new catastrophe. I really wish it would start getting less relevant, not more. — Amelia Menzel, Retail Operations Coordinator
Read Hito Steyerl

 

Play

An still from an animated scene with trees and a structure resembling a space station.

The Outer Wilds 
I’ve been messing around with The Outer Wilds, a cute, quirky video game about exploring a small solar system that gets wiped out and then reset by a supernova every 22 minutes. Each location seems to contain a clue about what’s happening, left behind by a prior civilization. The hope here is that you can find something to break the time loop, stop the supernova, and save all the happy aliens you meet, but it feels like there’s going to be more to it than that. It’s winning awards left and right for its writing and presentation. Not all video games are art, but this one definitely ticks off all the necessary boxes. — Scott Colby, Associate Director of Data Systems and Web Development
Check out The Outer Wilds

 

Drawing of a monster with 5 eyes, mouths, noses, and legs.

Monster by Betsy Gibbons

Roll a Monster
There is a fun drawing game I have been playing over video calls with some of the little people in my life. You draw any shape to be a body shape and then one person rolls a die to determine how many of the following to add:

  • Eyes
  • Ears
  • Noses
  • Mouth
  • Hairs (or sections of hair)
  • Legs
  • Arms
  • Tails
  • Horns

 

>It is fun and interactive. You get to see and hear each other on the video call and also have time to focus on your own drawing and share it at the end. There are lots of printable versions of this online, but I have found that all you need is blank paper or cardboard or whatever to draw on and pencils/paper/markers to draw with. — Betsy Gibbons, Director of Teen Programs

 

 

April 15

Listen

Logo for

Logo for

Museum Confidential / Museopunks
From the Philbrook Museum of Art, this podcast focuses on issues relevant to museums and takes you behind the scenes for discussions with museum workers about the most relevant topics of the day. I love that the voices of museum staff are heard, as well as those of artists, archivists, authors, and others who live within the larger scope of the museum field. Similarly, Museopunks explore some of the sector’s most stimulating questions and ideas – and features a local voice from the Peabody Essex Museum, Ed Rodley. —Carrie Van Horn, Associate Registrar
Listen to Museum Confidential
Listen to Museopunks

 

Logo for

The Distance: Coronavirus Dispatches
In a shameless plug, I am listening to The Distance: Coronavirus Dispatches. They are 3-to-5-minutes first-person audio “postcards” on Spotify of stories from around the globe about how people are coping with this crisis, and my daughter is one of the producers. —Jill Medvedow, Ellen Matilda Poss Director
Listen to The Distance

 

Logo for

Recording Artists

I’ve been listening to Recording Artists, a podcast using archival interviews with artists from the Getty Archives. The first season is dedicated to women artists, including Eva Hesse, Alice Neel, and Betye Saar, which resonates with me, given the ICA’s collection strength in art by women. The podcast is hosted by Helen Molesworth (an ICA alum), who invites living artists to respond to the archival interviews.  It’s fascinating to hear voices from the past with voices of today. —Eva Respini, Barbara Lee Chief Curator
Listen to Recording Artists 

 

Logo graphic for

Sugar Calling: “Everything Is Always Keep Changing”
While not explicitly about visual art, this debut episode of author Cheryl Strayed’s new podcast Sugar Calling, in which she speaks with the brilliant and deeply humanitarian author George Saunders, offers inspiration to artists of all kinds during this incomparable time. —Kris Wilton, Director of Creative Content and Digital Engagement
Listen to Sugar Calling

 

Look

Instagram image of a hand placing miniature furniture in a realistic-looking gallery space

Shelter In Place Gallery (SIP)​
Local artist Eben Haines has used his time indoors to construct a light-filled, free-standing gallery – in his living room. The Shelter in Place Gallery, built at 1:12 scale, is currently showing a “massive” (22” x 14”) canvas by Wilhelm Neusser. If not for the intrusion of a seemingly enormous hand in certain images, one would have a hard time believing you won’t be able to visit this space, regardless of a quarantine. —Shane Silverstein, Performing and Media Arts Coordinator
Visit Shelter In Place

 

Logo for

How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This
How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This? is an online exhibition and platform for the exchange of ideas at this time of crisis, co-curated by Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen. Subscribers (it’s free) receive a daily account about a different artist, a sort of art appetizer to the day. Through this channel, artists are invited to respond to the times through their works and words, each with a different voice and form of expression that resonates during the current crisis. One featured artist is ICA Artist Advisory Council member Mickalene Thomas. —Grace Baljon, Leadership Giving Officer 
Visit How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This

 

Cover of a book titled

Birgit Jürgenssen
Searching for a chair led me to discover my new muse, Birgit Jürgenssen, a Viennese photographer, painter, and sculptor. She would have been 71 this month, though she died of pancreatic cancer in 2003 at the age of 54. Questioning women’s roles in society, her work revolved around the female body and its transformation. Her self-portraits and surrealist shoes are exquisite! —Liz Adrian, Director of Retail
Learn more about Birgit Jürgenssen

 

Learn

 

Logo for

MoMA Online Course: What Is Contemporary Art?
The news can be so cumbersome, and the volume of online art resources so overwhelming in this complex time with everyone rushing to publish virtual content. MoMA’s online course What Is Contemporary Art? (available for free through Coursera) allows us to go back to the basics and enjoy a refresher in the contemporary art we love so deeply. Through articles, analysis of art works, videos by artists in their studios and neighborhoods, and more, I’m excited to keep learning and looking at art. —Grace Baljon, Leadership Giving Officer
Check out What Is Contemporary Art?

Logo for

The Great Courses Plus 
I have been listening to history lectures (making great use of the free trial). I’m currently an expert on Tudor/Stuart England and European History, and working on ancient Egypt. There are also some art history courses and lots of other instructional videos that make me feel productive while I listen to/watch them in the background.
Check out Great Courses Plus 

My other distraction has been audio books through Libby (free loans with a library card). Having an audio book playing in the background helps me focus, and keeps my mind from straying into anxiety-producing territory! —Brittany Eckstrom, Assistant Manager of Visitor Services
Visit Libby

 

Watch

A building reading

The Abbey Road Mic Collection with Sylvia Massey
This is a video about microphones and recording technology that I found fascinating. It is a great example of how meticulous care and precision shape the music we love. Also, Club Passim in Cambridge is streaming concerts pretty much every day. —Daniel Abbugattas, Production Manager, Audio
Watch The Abbey Road Mic Collection

 

A woman standing behind dozens of boxes of Cheez-Its in a large commercial kitchen

Gourmet Makes
Have you ever wondered what it takes to make your favorite snack foods? In Bon Appétit’s YouTube series Gourmet Makes, professional pastry chef (and Harvard alum) Claire Saffitz creates “gourmet” versions of popular treats. Savory and sweet, there’s an episode for everyone (having trouble picking one to start with? Vulture has ranked every episode). While this isn’t directly relevant to my work in contemporary art, as an artist and an educator, I am finding inspiration in Saffitz’s process of reverse engineering. Even more so, I think her embrace of both her successes and her failures is an important lesson for all of us. —Lenny Schnier, Education Department Coordinator
Watch Gourmet Makes

 

Wrestlemania 36’s Firefly Funhouse
But the biggest artistic achievement of the entire month was Wrestlemania 36’s Firefly Funhouse match between Bray Wyatt and John Cena. Wyatt, a Pee-Wee Herman-ish children’s show host who turns into a demonic clown, pulled Cena into his funhouse universe and forced John to confront and then fall victim to his own hubris through vignettes layered with symbolism, deep insider references, and a scathing comparison to a previous face of the company who’s become vilified as a negative influence on the sport overall despite his success. The growing popularity of this creative, cinematic approach to match construction is quickly reshaping the idea of what a professional wrestling show can be. —Scott Colby, Associate Director of Data Systems and Web Development

 


Undammed/Desbloqueada is a subtle piece of art which currently hangs in a gallery corner. A crucial element within the piece, though easily overlooked, is a copper IUD belonging to the artist. The work is the result of an introspection to find the dams in Carolina Caycedo’s personal life and to reveal infrastructure on a human scale. Removing the IUD, for Caycedo, is an act of decolonization that eliminates the damming within her body and restores the natural rhythms of it.  

The work teases out a parallel between water and women, highlighting a gender dichotomy. Both are subjugated to the intrusion of artificial objects; dams and IUDs are infrastructures built to seek control over the bodies, of water and of women. Operating within the context of Western, capitalist systems, the subjugation, oppression, and exploitation of the bodies of water and women reveal the governing patriarchy.

Undammed/Desbloqueada feels especially timely in the midst of the current pandemic, as the needs and rights of women have been unsurprisingly disregarded. We’ve heard news ranging from the initial exclusion of sanitary products from essential medical supplies for the frontline in China, to the denial of abortion services as essential medical procedures in some parts of the United States. Undammed/Desbloqueada perfectly reiterates the feminist slogan “The personal is political.” It is a reminder that under patriarchy, we, the women, constantly need to fight for control over our own bodies. 
 

Nemo Xu, a Visitor Assistant at the ICA, is a Chinese international student and a recent graduate in Art History and Sociology. She is passionate about exploring the social impact of art and culture. During this time, her diasporic situation has prompted her to look into postcolonial and Orientalist discourse in the handling of COVID-19.

Friday Art Notes are personal reflections on works of art shown or in the permanent collection of the ICA, written by ICA staff, volunteers, and supporters. Read more

A bouquet of roses, a can of sweetened condensed milk, a travel-sized tube of hair gel. There is this game I loved to play on my morning subway ride to school, where my classmate would pick someone who was exiting the train and I would guess their last in-store purchases. We took a quick look as the doors were closing, seeing them fall out of our periphery as the train left the station, and I would still be in a half-thought about a last minute drugstore buy. Our public selves make momentary assumptions about others, and are also subject to that focus.  

Ol’ Bay is from Tschabalala Self’s 2017 project, Bodega Run, encompassing the people, products, and everyday activities that make up the ubiquitous urban corner store. Each figure is set in these hallmarks of colored metropolitan life in New York, sites for social and political interpretation. Often operated by people of color to serve their communities, bodegas are microcosms of multicultural exchange. They are celebrated for camaraderie, late-night service, and unwavering commitment to the neighborhoods’ necessities. The avatars in Self’s series are based on characters you may pass in these places or encounter in the world. In Ol’ Bay, we are faced with familiar items and a larger-than-life personality.  

I was fortunate enough to engage a group of museum goers in a Friday night pop-up talk about Ol’ Bay. While the paintings were arranged in the galleries to evoke a walk down the street, we were able to slow down and identify what materials are used, discern the cans behind the figure, and reflect on immediate feelings about the painting. Some comments included “It looks like someone just called her name from the door. Maybe she is well known there,” “I put on lipstick to go to the store too,” and “Who is out of frame?” We confronted the scale of the piece and all of the assumptions that can be made about who this person is.  

Tschabalala Self informs each of these figures as composites of interactions of the body in the social world, interacting with objects, spaces, and others. We take the time to regard the difference between who this subject is intimately, what they put forward, what is recognized through social engagement, and ultimately, what is lost.   

Kelly Chen started at the ICA in Fall 2019 as a Visitor Assistant, and is a film student and arts community organizer. She is particularly interested in surveillance media, found footage, and public domain video. She is also a short fiction writer and printmaker whose work explores community, labor history, and kitsch.  

Friday Art Notes are personal reflections on works of art shown or in the permanent collection of the ICA, written by ICA staff, volunteers, and supporters. Read more

A young woman in a blue and white striped blouse stands in front of a wall of windows in the ICA's Founders Gallery. She smiles slightly and her arms are relaxed at her sides.

Jessie Magyar is the School and Family Programs Manager at the ICA, responsible for planning and carrying out programs including monthly Play Dates, artist installations in the Bank of America Art Lab, school vacation week workshops, gallery games, and weekly drop-in art-making activities.

While the ICA is closed, Jessie’s attention has shifted toward bringing art-making into the home, including weekly activities families can do on their own time with easily available materials, virtual Play Dates with real-time art instruction, and a community-based virtual “quilt.”

These virtual programs have become some of the ICA’s most accessed content, demonstrating how much these online activities are appreciated by families as they take on the role of teachers at home. 

Here Jessie talks about the challenges and unexpected rewards of pivoting family programs from hands-on to online.

Jessie, first of all, can you describe the Virtual Quilt project and how it came about?

The Virtual Quilt project came out of the Threads of Connection Art Lab installation, a collaboration with artist Merill Comeau. As a part of the project, we invited visitors to create a quilt square in the Art Lab with the option of donating their finished piece to our community quilt. We wanted to keep the project going during the ICA’s temporary closure and so we are now asking folks to create one at home using any materials on hand and sharing it with us digitally.

Was this project always meant to have a digital component?

The digital component was only developed after the ICA decided to temporarily close due to the threat of COVID-19. However, by going virtual, we are finding that we now have an extraordinary opportunity to reach new audiences and to engage with our current audiences in a new way. It allows us to stay connected through art, even when we are apart.

One obvious change has been that people now supply their own materials as opposed to using the materials we provided in the Art Lab. This has actually resulted in really interesting, creative pieces, and I think will ultimately provide a unique reflection of the current moment.

What are some of your chief goals or hopes as you move other programming online?

Our primary goals are to stay connected with our families and to continue to provide opportunities for creativity, community, and reflection. We want to provide opportunities for families to stay active and find joy through art making, but also to help make meaning during these unprecedented times. By engaging in our online programs, we hope families feel more connected to themselves, to each other, and to the greater community.

Any silver linings in working in this new way?

It’s interesting because when I started managing family programs in July 2019, one of my primary goals was to develop an engagement plan for family audiences. Prior to the closure, we focused on in-person experiences at the ICA for families. However, in developing digital resources, I’ve now realized how important they can be in establishing family engagement. By providing resources online, we’re able to cast a greater net of opportunities. It provides flexibility and convenience (so important for families!) and opens the door for deeper engagement.

What’s the most challenging part of doing your work remotely?

The most difficult part by far, and I think many families will relate to this, is balancing and creating boundaries between home life and work life. But I also miss making art with all the visitors at the ICA! In my role, I have the unique opportunity to work on programs for teens, school groups, kids, and families, and a large portion of my work is still dedicated to facilitating classes and workshops.

Lastly, how have you been keeping busy and inspired during the quarantine?

My child certainly keeps me busy! At 18 months, it’s been really special to see him develop into a toddler. He helps me keep things in perspective and find joy in the smallest details.

Check out the Virtual Quilt and other hands-on art-making projects

 

ICA Kids and Family programs are supported, in part, by Vivien and Alan Hassenfeld, the Hassenfeld Family Foundation, the Willow Tree Fund, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Raymond T. & Ann T. Mancini Family Foundation.

Alexion logo