Say It Loud: AAMARP to Now

Founded in 1977 by influential artist, educator, and activist Dana C. Chandler, Jr., the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program (AAMARP) at Northeastern University is the first and only in-residence program for Black artists in the United States. For nearly five decades, AAMARP has stood at the intersection of art, activism, and community. A vital outgrowth of the Black Arts Movement in Boston, AAMARP was envisioned as both an artistic haven and a cultural force—it provided what its founder called a “living focus” on “the diverse dynamics of African American aesthetics.”

Conceived as a Black artist-run alternative art space, AAMARP offered more than free studio space—it nurtured a thriving hub for exhibitions, poetry readings, dance performances, lectures, films, workshops, and public gatherings. From its earliest days, AAMARP and generations of associated artists have championed themes of racial justice, Black self-determination, and Pan-Africanism. Today, the program is still supported by Northeastern University and operates as a vibrant, intergenerational collective of thirteen artists. Their work spans figurative painting, historically conscious collage, fine woodworking, experimental textile art, street photography, public murals, and more—together offering a rich and varied reflection of the arts of Africa and its diaspora.

This exhibition presents a dynamic, chronological survey of AAMARP-affiliated artists and their artwork from 1977 to the present. Tracing the evolution of AAMARP through the artists’ voices, their engagement with global artistic and political movements, and their deep-rooted sense of community, the exhibition illuminates a living archive of creative resistance, cultural memory, and Black artistic excellence.