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.
Past Events
Dana C. Chandler Jr. and AAMARP Day: Free Admission
To honor the legacy of Dana C. Chandler Jr. and all the artists who have been a part of AAMARP, the City of Boston is declaring April 7 as Dana C. Chandler Jr. and AAMARP Day. Celebrate at the ICA with FREE admission on April 7, and visit Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now.
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 Coby Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Exhibition Fund, and The Kristen and Kent Lucken Fund for Photography.
The publication is supported by Wagner Foundation.
Public Media Partner
Photo by Lauren Miller
Past Events
Sip and Sea for College Students
Co-planned with undergraduate students in the Emerson Business of Creative Enterprises program
Immerse yourself into the Boston arts scene! Spend the night exploring cutting edge exhibitions and a paint and sip activity overlooking the Seaport.
This is a free event with snacks and beverages available for all students.*
*Mocktails provided while supplies last. Additional drinks available for purchase.
Event Program
Mingle over Mocktails and Snacks | 6–8:30 PM State Street Corporation Lobby, First Floor Meet other Boston-area students and unwind from studying! Activities led by students from Emerson College. Enjoy complimentary snacks and nonalcoholic beverages throughout the night! Additional drinks and snacks available for purchase from the ICA Wine + Coffee Bar.
Meet ICA Professionals | 6:15–7 PM State Street Corporation Lobby, First Floor Exploring career options? Hear from ICA staff across departments during a panel discussion.
Sip and Paint | 6:45–8:30 PM Bank of America Art Lab, First Floor Take inspiration from artworks in To My Best Friend or your own imagination and creativity.
University Members: Reserve your free ticket below!
How do humans control the natural landscape, and what happens when we do?
Join Barbara Lee Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs Ruth Erickson, who will lead a discussion at the ICA Watershed on the United States premieres of Hardpan, a large-scale kinetic sculpture co-commissioned with Barbican Centre, London, and Murderers Bar (2025) a new moving image installation and the third installment of Raven’s trilogy The Drumfire.
Lucy Raven: Rounds is organized by Ruth Erickson, Barbara Lee Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, with Meghan Clare Considine, Curatorial Assistant.
Hardpan is co-commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston and Barbican Centre, London.
This exhibition is supported by Natalie and Jake Lemle and the Jennifer Epstein Fund for Women Artists.
Art by Maya D.
Past Events
Teen Gallery Opening: Sonder
Fri, Apr 10, 6–8 PM
This event takes place in the ICA Seaport Studio. Free. For people of all ages.
Join Teen Exhibitions Program to celebrate the opening ofSonder, an exhibition featuring the work of teens across ICA teen programs.
Sonder refers to the realization that everyone on Earth leads a different, yet equally complex and significant life. The exhibit, created by our Teen Exhibitions Program, explores and encourages this awareness through a diverse body of work by teen artists. Each work serves as a window into someone’s personal circumstances. Through this window, the viewer is given the opportunity to imagine and understand different walks of life.
This exhibition will be on view in the Teen Galleries at the ICA’s Seaport Studio through February 4, 2027.
The opening is free and open to all ages.
Event Schedule
6:00 PM
Art Making
Pizza & Mocktails
6:45 PM
Welcome by Teen Exhibitions Program
Remarks by Artists
7:45 PM
Closing Remarks
Questions or requests for accessibility assistance? Email teens@icaboston.org or text or call (339) 236-3039
By visiting, you grant the ICA and its partners permission to use photographs in which you appear for archival, documentary, publicity, advertising, and promotional purposes.
Lead support for Teen Programs provided by Wagner Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Rowland Foundation, Inc.; Cabot Family Charitable Trust; Dorot Foundation; Mathieu O. Gaulin; William E. Schrafft and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust; American Tower Foundation; Nathaniel Saltonstall Arts Fund; Deborah Munroe Noonan Memorial Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee; Robert Lehman Foundation; MFS Investment Management; BPS Arts Expansion Fund at EdVestors; Rosalie Thorne McKenna Foundation; Bessie Pappas Charitable Foundation, Inc.; and Tiny Tiger Foundation, Inc.
Converse seeks to fuel Creators of the future through movement, play, and connection.
Calling all high school students! Join teen photographers from Special Focus: Photography February Break Intensive for ICA Teens Picture Day. Work with a Special Focus photographer to make a creative portrait of yourself!
Each session will last 20 minutes. Signing up ahead of time is required. We will reach out to you to confirm your timeslot.
Still Here: A Journey of Public Art in Boston features work of our 2024-2025 Photography Collective. By exploring Boston’s ever-changing landscape through a camera lens, members of the Photography Collective developed their photographic skills, learned about the history of different artworks in Boston, and connected with local artists to understand the important role photography can play in preserving history. Join us in reflecting on the Photography Collective’s experience and celebrating the teen photographers hard work.
Light refreshments will be provided. RSVP encouraged. Find out more and RSVP here.
Dana C. Chandler Jr., For the Children We Strive, 1991. Photocopy collage on board. 51 × 36 inches (129.5 × 91.4 cm). Photo by Hakim Raquib.
Past Events
Community Celebration: Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now and To My Best Friend
Join friends, supporters, artists, and community members for the opening celebration for two new exhibitions: Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now and To My Best Friend. Get a first look at Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now and celebrate the artists and community builders behind Boston’s African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program.
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 Coby Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Exhibition Fund, and The Kristen and Kent Lucken Fund for Photography.
The publication is supported by Wagner Foundation.
What can we learn from the current generation of great women artists? Discover never-before-shown works from the ICA’s permanent collection and gain a deeper understanding of To My Best Friend with exhibition curator Erika Umali.
About Erika Umali
Erika Umali is the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston’s first Curator of Collections. She leads strategy around collection development and practices and highlights the ICA’s collection through focused exhibitions and programming. She has contributed to several ICA exhibitions, including Portraits from the ICA Collection, Wordplay, and An Indigenous Present.Previously, she served as the inaugural Assistant Curator of Collections at the Brooklyn Museum where she supported collecting strategies, shepherded thousands of acquisitions, and co-curated Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks. Her work focuses on cross-cultural exchange, accessibility within cultural institutions, engaging local and source communities, and decolonizing practices.
Umali received her B.A. in anthropology from Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, with a focus on the art and material culture of Native North America, and an M.A. in museum studies from New York University.
To My Best Friend is organized by Erika Umali, Curator of Collections
This exhibition is funded, in part, with support from Leadership in Arts Museums, an initiative to create more racial equity in art museum leadership, supported by the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Pilot House Philanthropy, and Alice L. Walton Foundation.
Discover highlights of the ICA’s collection during a tour of To My Best Friend. Guided by an ICA Graduate Student Lecturer, explore selected artworks through conversation and close looking that bring new perspectives to light.
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.
To My Best Friend is organized by Erika Umali, Curator of Collections
This exhibition is funded, in part, with support from Leadership in Arts Museums, an initiative to create more racial equity in art museum leadership, supported by the Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Pilot House Philanthropy, and Alice L. Walton Foundation.
