Five decades of Black artistic resistance, community and cultural memory come alive at ICA Boston.
2 June 2026
At a moment when the histories of Black cultural production continue to demand renewed visibility, ‘Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now’ arrives at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, as both an exhibition and an act of remembrance. Celebrating nearly fifty years of the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP), the landmark survey traces the enduring legacy of one of the United States’ longest-running residency programmes dedicated to Black artists.
Founded in 1977 by artist, educator and activist Dana C. Chandler Jr., AAMARP emerged from the energy of Boston’s Black Arts Movement, creating a vital space where artistic practice and political consciousness could meet. More than a residency, it became a cultural ecosystem shaped by exhibitions, performances, workshops and collective dialogue.
Bringing together more than 50 works by 39 artists across generations, ‘Say It Loud’ unfolds as a living archive of Black creativity. Painting, collage, photography, textiles, murals and sculpture reveal a rich constellation of voices engaging questions of identity, liberation, diaspora and belonging.
Rather than looking back with nostalgia, the exhibition foregrounds continuity, illuminating how AAMARP remains a dynamic force in contemporary art and a powerful testament to collective imagination, resilience and self-determination.
This exhibition is on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston until 2 August 2026.
