Join The Makanda Project and sparc! the ArtMobile for an afternoon of live music and live painting in a welcoming outdoor setting. Whether you're picking up a paintbrush for the first time or you're a seasoned artist, everyone is invited to create, connect, and enjoy the rhythm of community.

All ages are welcome, art supplies are provided, and no experience is needed—just bring your curiosity, creativity and love for the arts!

Featuring LIVE Painting of MassArt’s sparc! the ArtMobile 2.0 by community artist Super Sobek, live jazz with The Makanda Project, and DJ Kitzner’s R&B and Old School Hip Hop.

RSVP Here

Now in its eighth year, artist Ekua Holmes’ Roxbury Sunflower Project is a multi-site public artwork consisting of sunflower installations growing throughout the City of Boston. What began through the Now + There Artist Accelerator Fellowship has blossomed into a citywide artwork, with sunflowers transforming public spaces throughout the historically Black Boston neighborhood where Holmes has called home since childhood.

Like sunflowers that follow the sun’s path across the sky, Holmes believes communities can turn toward the light, grow strong, and remain deeply rooted in history and tradition. She envisioned these values blossoming in a once-vacant lot in Grove Hall at Warren and Crawford Streets, now a joyful gathering place for neighbors and passersby.

In June 2023, Madison Park Development Corporation acquired the lot and continues to support its use for the Roxbury Sunflower Project while exploring future development of affordable housing and retail.

Original collaborators include United Neighbors of Lower Roxbury, Friends of Martins Park, The Greenway, Freedom House, Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library, Speak for the Trees, and MassArt’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships.

Welcome back MassArt and all! Following a summer of fun, slide into the semester with MAAM and friends during our annual Fall Party! Enjoy a special DJ set with featured artists Nicholas Galanin and Benjamin Verdoes. Mix it up with hands-on artmaking in the studio, complimentary beverages and small bites, and unexpected encounters with works of art.

This event is FREE with advance registration!

The Office of Justice, Equity, & Transformation (JET) and Studio Foundation are honored to welcome Venerable Tenzin Yignyen back to MassArt for his 18th Sand Mandala Creation. Over four days, he will construct a mandala from millions of grains of colorful sand—a powerful tool in Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

The mandala will then be ceremonially dismantled, offering a teaching on compassion and the impermanence of life. 

Find the full schedule of events HERE, and reach out to jet@massart.edu with any questions.

sparc! the ArtMobile is excited to join the Grove Hall Stop & Shop Wellness Event with a hands-on journal decorating activity focused on themes of health and wellness. This creative pop-up invites participants of all ages to reflect, express, and connect through art. In addition to sparc!’s making studio, the event will feature music, food, kids activities, wellness resources, giveaways, and free health screenings provided by the Harvard Family Van and Dana Farber. Come celebrate wellness and community with us!

Photo by: CACP Staff

Fern Cunningham-Terry was a beloved and widely respected artist known for her powerful bronze sculptures honoring the lives of families and children—particularly those in Boston’s communities of color, including Roxbury, the South End, and Mattapan. She passed away in August 2020, and that same year, August 20th was officially declared Fern Day in the City of Boston.

Each year, family, friends, and admirers gather to celebrate Fern’s remarkable life and the legacy she left behind. Children were at the heart of her work, and her passion for nurturing creativity and connection through art lives on in every sculpture, lesson, and moment she shared.

This year’s Fern Family Day will include arts activities, musical performances, public speakers, and, of course, plenty of delicious food. sparc! the ArtMobile will be there with colorful and expressive, hands-on artmaking experiences for all ages.

Join us on Sunday, August 24th, 2025 @ 12 - 5 PM, at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, 300 Walnut Ave, Roxbury, MA, as we honor one of Boston’s true arts icons. Please spread the word and come celebrate!

If you find yourself in Martha's Vineyard in the coming month, please check out CACP's Ekua Holmes solo exhibition at Cousen Rose Gallery (CRG) in Oak Bluffs!

Artist’s Reception:

Saturday, August 16, 2025 @ 6 - 8 PM

Tea Time at CRG with Ekua Holmes:

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 @ 4 - 5 PM

Gallery Hours

Weekdays: 10 AM - 5 PM

Saturdays: 10 AM - 8 PM

Sunday: 11 AM - 5 PM

Artwork: 

Morning Swim, Highland Beach, Ekua Holmes, Collage on Paper

The Roxbury Sunflower Project seed Give Away has begun! 

Now in its eighth year, sparc! the ArtMobile Director and CACP's own Ekua Holmes’ Roxbury Sunflower Project is a multi-site public artwork consisting of large-scale sunflower installations growing throughout the City of Boston from May to September. This project began as a vision of sunflowers employed to spread beauty and hope throughout Roxbury, the historically Black Boston neighborhood where the artist has lived since childhood.

Plant by June 30th for best results! Tag and upload your process photos to social media (#roxburysunflowerproject) and follow us at www.tumblr.com/roxburysunflowerproject

Roxbury Open Studios is returning this fall, featuring artists exhibiting at multiple sites across the Roxbury neighborhood, including home studios, artist spaces, cultural venues, and the Bolling Building! 

Apply Here: Application Link

Deadline to Apply: June 1st (Early Bird) and July 31st (Final)

Roxbury Open Studio's goal is to bring together 100 artists across disciplines, mediums, and stages of their creative journeys to highlight the incredible talent and vibrancy rooted in Roxbury and Greater Boston.

They are also launching a ROSC Membership Program, an exciting step toward building a stronger, more sustainable collaborative. Membership benefits include increased visibility, discounted participation fees, exclusive professional development opportunities, and even more ways to stay engaged throughout the year.

If you are a creative with ties to Roxbury—or know someone who should be part of this vibrant celebration—we encourage you to apply and spread the word!

Join friends and community on select Thursday evenings for upbeat twilight vibes, mocktails, and unexpected encounters with works of art on view at the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM). 

Register Here!

Due to the forecast, Back Against the Wall has been postponed. A new date for celebration of art and community will soon be announced!

In the meantime, artists will be working on the new mural and invite you to come watch their new creation take shape on Saturday afternoon, May 10th and Sunday, May 11th. It may be a little damp and overcast but the mural will fill our neighborhood with color and warmth. 

Join us and our own Ekua Holmes at Opening Day for this years Roxbury Sunflower Project! 

The Roxbury Sunflower Project is a multi-site public artwork consisting of large-scale sunflower installations growing throughout the City of Boston from May to September. This project began as a vision of sunflowers employed to spread beauty and hope throughout the historically Black Boston neighborhood where Ekua has lived since childhood and has deep roots. All are welcome!

For Ekua, sunflowers represent resilience, inner beauty, self-determination and the ability for a community to evolve and emerge while staying deeply grounded in its history and traditions. “Sunflowers have a radiance that sustains us by inviting us to turn toward the light in all things,” she shares. Sunflowers are heliotropic plants, which means they shift and turn to follow the movement and light of the sun throughout the sky each day. Other themes of the project are planting seeds, deep roots, resilience, radiance, beauty and transformation. Learn more about the powerful meaning behind her initiative, visit The Roxbury Sunflower Project blog!

This year’s opening celebration will feature free sunflower seeds, live seedlings, artmaking with MassArt’s sparc! The ArtMobile, community resource tables, locally-sourced refreshments, and a Children’s book give-away.  Partners include MassArt’s Center for Art and Community Partnerships, and Madison Park Development Corporation. Save the Date!

MassArt's Artward Bound is currently recruiting rising 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students for its free, year-round visual arts program beginning this July. This four-year program supports creative high school students through art classes (with all materials provided), individualized academic tutoring, stipends, and the opportunity to earn high school and college credit.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until June, with the most availability for rising 9th and 10th grade students. 

Questions? contact Greg Linse, Recruitment Coordinator (617) 879-7183.

Register Here!

Celebrate the strength of Greater Boston’s arts community with Boston Public Art Triennial, Wagner Foundation, and MassArt Art Museum (MAAM). Come toast more—increased arts access, greater recognition of mid-career artists, and stronger connections across our creative communities.

Register Here!

sparc! the ArtMobile's Creative Spaces is excited to host another artist talk this month with incredible local artist Silvia López Chavez (‘00)! Silvia has brought so much beauty to community spaces in Boston and throughout Massachusetts. Her murals and artwork speak to and honor the experiences of people who call these places home. 

Join us on Tuesday, April 8th at the Grove Hall Public Library to hear how she strives to create art that brings new positive experiences, builds dialogue, and creates a deeper sense of belonging within the spaces communities share.

RSVP here!

Join MassArt for Connected Legacies: The Making of Children’s Books! 

Come for a sparc! led activity, refreshments, and conversation at the reception in MassArt's DMC Atrium at 5 PM. From 5-5:30 there will be refreshments, children's books displays, activities for families, and other resources for children's literature.

We'll then gather in Tower Auditorium for a presentation and conversation between Ekua Holmes, artist, illustrator, and Director of CACP's sparc! the ArtMobile, and Autumn Allen (Simmons College graduate), award-winning children's book author, editor, and educator. The program celebrates the legacies, memories, and collaborations that make possible the production of inspired books for children. There will be refreshments, children's books display, activities for families, and President Grant will deliver the introductory remarks. 

This evening is part of the Hellerstein Literary Reading & Lecture Series at MassArt. Established in honor of Professor Marjorie Hellerstein (1924–2005), a longtime MassArt faculty member, the Hellerstein Series engages our community in conversation with the finest living authors, poets, and literary critics.

Brought to you by MassArt Humanities, Creative Writing Minor, sparc! the ArtMobile, the Godine Library, Office of Institutional Advancement, Center for Art and Community Partnerships (CACP), and the President’s Office.

RSVP here!

Comics in Color is back! Boston’s first and only comic arts festival dedicated to celebrating stories by and about people of color, Comics in Color Festival is a vibrant, intergenerational, and family-friendly event. The festival features an exciting lineup, including renowned headliners, special guest speakers, and engaging panel discussions with professional artists and writers. Attendees can enjoy hands-on workshops, live art demonstrations, and explore the Artist Alley, where comic creators showcase and sell their books, artwork, and creative materials. 

sparc! the ArtMobile will be hosting an artmaking workshop where all are welcome to join in a making experience. Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate and create with us!

This year’s sneak peak is a guest appearance by former MassArt professor, Joel Christian Gill. Joel Christian Gill is a cartoonist and historian who speaks nationally on the importance of sharing stories. He is the author of the acclaimed memoir Fights: One Boy’s Triumph Over Violence, cited as one of the best graphic novels of 2020 by The New York Times and for which he was awarded the 2021 Cartoonist Studio Prize.

Get your tickets today!

MAAM presents comedian Shruti Datari, producer of Half a Mind Comedy series, and featured comics for an evening of stand-up and laughs offered in connection with MAAM's current exhibition, Future Fossils. Join for complimentary mocktails, mingling, and making, stay for laughs with Datari and other featured comedians at 7 PM. 

Celebrating Ceci at MassArt (selfie by Ceci!)

Elena Belle White

Director, Center for Art and Community Partnerships

Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Join sparc! the ArtMobile for the upcoming artist talk with Magda Léon (MFA ’24). Magda’s artwork is featured in this season's Chain Link Gallery exhibitions, displayed on Columbus Avenue in Roxbury and Geneva Avenue in Dorchester. 

Known for her powerful use of printmaking, installation, and social practice, Magda’s art explores themes of bicultural identity, drawing deeply from her Guatemalan-American heritage and illuminating the immigrant experience.

Join us Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 5:30pm - 7pm at the Grove Hall Public Library. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear Magda discuss her creative process, the themes behind her work, and the ways in which her art fosters connection and understanding within the community.

RSVP here!

It was a busy month for sparc! the ArtMobile, full of creativity, warmth and connection!

Intergenerational Knitting

The sparc! team wrapped up a second round of Intergenerational Knitting Workshops At the Grove Hall Public Library. Novice and experienced knitters came together to create scarves and much needed winter gear for the library’s Giving Cupboard. These colorful handmade items were swiftly taken by community members for warmth and beauty. 

A huge thank you to all who participated and to our incredible sparc! team—Maya, Lila, Jenna, Owen, Ammy and Eleni—for leading these workshops with skill and heart.

Art2Go

sparc! also spread love to the community for Black History Month and Valentine’s Day by delivering Art2Go kits to the Roxbury Public Library! Each box was packed by the sparc! team with art supplies and craft materials— journals, markers, glue sticks, coloring sheets, writing prompts and more—all designed to celebrate love and Black history. Everything needed to make something cool. The first come, first served boxes were gone in 24 hours!

Happy Making from sparc! the ArtMobile! 

Join MAAM for a special edition of Twilight at MAAM curated by MassArt Museums Attendants — MassArt students take over the museum for an evening of art and community featuring hands-on fun, a signature mocktail, and more! 

Register Here!

It’s Souper Bowl Season!

Join us for Souper Bowl 17, a beloved “empty bowls”-style event that supports Haley House’s vital food and housing justice programs. This annual tradition celebrates a meaningful 15-year partnership between MassArt and Haley House, bringing together art, community, and a shared commitment to social justice.

MassArt’s Clay for Change, a student-led organization, plays a central role in this collaboration by creating over 300 unique ceramic bowls each year. In preparation for the event, CACP brings together Haley House partners and MassArt folks to make, connect, and share with one another. 

At the Souper Bowl 17, you can select a one-of-a-kind hand-crafted bowl and enjoy delicious soups prepared by local chefs.

Purchase Tickets Here!

Last fall, sparc! had an incredible turnout for a series of intergenerational knitting workshops. Now, the sparc! team is back with two more sessions! Participants will make scarves and other items to donate. These will go to the Giving Cupboard at Grove Hall Public Library. The Giving Cupboard is a free resource outside the library. Beginners are welcome! 

Register Here!

Calling all emerging young artists! Registration for Spring and Summer Youth Programs is now open! Join these courses online or in person. Available programs serve students in grades 7-12. Join a community of creative problem solvers and experience MassArt before college. Scholarships are available on a first come, first serve basis and are awarded based on financial need.

Registration Windows

Saturday Studios Now - February 14

After-School Studios Now - February 16

Spring Break February 10 - April 4

Summer Intensives Now - June 1

Creative Studios Now - June 1

Pre-College Summer Now - May 31

Studios 

You’re invited to MAAM’s 5th birthday party — join MAAM for beverages, beats, and birthday cake! Enjoy festive surprises, hands-on activities, and wish  MAAM well with a birthday message for the future. 

Free! Advance tickets required.

Since its inception, sparc! has proudly supported the Grove Hall Library’s Giving Cupboard, a free community resource providing essential items to the Grove Hall neighborhood.

This summer, sparc! hosted an inspiring intergenerational event where community members came together to create a vibrant mural on the cupboard. In the fall, our sparc! student team joined forces with knitters of all ages and skill levels to craft beautiful, hand-knitted scarves for the cupboard, blending creativity and care for our communities. 

The most needed items this season are essentials like: toothpaste, shampoo, and feminine hygiene products. To donate, please see the full list of accepted donations on our blog. Thank you! 

CACP’s sparc! the ArtMobile partnered with local artist and current MassArt MFA candidate Magda Léon for the first Chain Link Gallery installation of the season! Her work “The In-Between World: The Art of Magda Leon” was recently installed on Columbus Avenue near Roxbury Community College. Léon’s printmaking, installation, and social practice art, centers on her bicultural heritage as a Guatemalan-American. These works and poetic expressions illuminate the immigrant experience.

Keep an eye out for the next Chain Link Gallery installation in the neighborhood, featuring Silvia López Chavez. 

Future Fossils presents a possible future view of the present, a moment frozen in time and culture. The artworks—imagined relics—come from artists based in North America, Latin America, and Europe. While each artist explores different paths and issues, together, their works suggest the remains of an apocalypse. Offering a snapshot of how we live today, Future Fossils reveals aspects of our lives left behind for later generations to decode.

Register Here!