Emerson Contemporary

In Conversation: Julia Krupa and Eileen Ryan
2026-03-26 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Thursday, March 26, 12–1 PM

Join us for a conversation with artists Julia Krupa and Eileen Ryan as they discuss their work in A Sentient Land: Aesthetic Alliances with Forests, Beetles, Salt, and Air.

Krupa and Ryan will explore their innovative artistic practices that blur the boundaries between creator and material. Through methods, including oral history and specimen collection, forge collaborative relationships with natural elements—inviting beetles and herbs to become active participants in the creative process.

This conversation delves into the intersections of science, aesthetics, and spirituality that shape their work. Together, these artists, who created immersive installations in A Sentient Land, address questions central to the exhibition: How do we translate on behalf of non-human materials? What role do speculation and anthropomorphism play in fostering interspecies connections? How can artistic practice generate greater empathy and hope for our shared future?

View the event here:

A Sentient Land: Aesthetic Alliances with Forests, Beetles, Salt, and Air is on view through March 28, 2026, at Emerson Contemporary, 25 Avery Street, Boston.

Artist Presention and Mindfulness Exercise with Julia Krupa
2026-03-26 17:30 - 19:15 | Emerson Contemporary
Julia Krupa, Herstory Paintings, installation view.

Artist Julia Krupa creates large-scale paintings with herbs and other plants she forages from rural Poland, where she is based. She is visiting Boston as one of the four artists in A Sentient Land: Artistic Alliances with Forests, Beetles, Salt, and Air. Learn how Julia makes dyes with plants, along with her doctoral research informing this process. A fascinating part of her process involves interviewing elder herbalists based in the Carpathian region of Southern Poland. Her field work and research evolve into paintings and innovative, panoramic video documentation, both of which are on view in the space where the workshop takes place.

No prior skills or materials required to attend.

Student Lightning Talks for "GATHER"
2026-04-03 12:00 - 13:00 | Huret/Spector Gallery
Join us for this unique opportunity to hear student-curators deliver short talks about the artists of GATHER!

GATHER was curated by upper-level Emerson undergraduate students (listed below) as part of the seminar VM415 “Curating Contemporary Art,” taught and led by Leslie K. Brown, PhD. As a part of the class and the exhibition, students are responsible for all aspects of the exhibition, encompassing graphic designs, loan agreements, object checklists, educational didactics, social media assets, and press materials.

Emerging student-curators of GATHER: Abigail Andrews, Anjali Bakhru, Dylan Boyd, Sophie Dodd, Claire English, Julia Giammarco, Lang Han, Ruyi Huang, Kitty Lei, Daniel Petrylka, Arlo Rader, Jie Sun, Bianca Todini, Maya Wang. The students in Emerson Curatorial Practices represent majors from Media Arts Production (SOF), Writing, Literature & Publishing (WLP), and Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS), with minors as diverse as Art History, Curatorial Practice & Visual Culture, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, and Science.

RSVP for the Lightning Talks

Image: Beth D’Elia, 45 objects/Mum, 2025, from the series “Holding,” 10 x 8 inch cyanotypes on paper, 50 x 72 inches, courtesy of the artist

Opening Reception for the student-curated exhibition, GATHER
2026-04-03 17:00 - 19:00 | Huret & Spector Gallery; Tufte Building
Lisa Tang Liu, Analog Girl In A Digital World, 2023, from the series “Self-Reconstructed,” cyanotype print woven with inkjet print, 14 x 14 inches, courtesy of the artist

This opening reception celebrates the fourteen artists of GATHER, a photography exhibition curated by students of a seminar, Curating Contemporary Art,” taught by Dr. Leslie Brown.

In the pieces selected for GATHER, new themes emerge, including communities and collection, identity and queerness, nostalgia and nature — all with an overall meditative and hopeful tone. In addition, the chosen artists represent a wide geographical range, gathering together artists from across Great Boston and New England. GATHER aims to weave these various threads together to make a larger whole and make a difference.

* Please note: The Huret and Spector Gallery is located on the 6th Floor of the Tufte Building. Please enter through the doors at 10 Boylston Place Alleyway. Visitor registration and ID are required for visitors without an Emerson ID. Emerson Community need not RSVP. Contact mailto:contemporary@emerson.edu contemporary@emerson.edu for help registering before your visit. Hours are Monday through Friday, 12-5 pm.

RSVP for the Opening Reception

Public Art Walking Tour with artists Elisa Hamilton and Clareese Hill, in Collaboration with MAAH
2026-04-18 13:00 - 15:00
Join artists Elisa Hamilton and Clareese Hill on a special artist-led walking tour of their two public art projects, Glimpses of Glapion and The Black Boston Dream Oracle in the Beacon Hill neighborhood.

Meeting Point: Boston Common Visitor’s Center

Join artists Elisa Hamilton and Clareese Hill on a special artist-led walking tour of their two public art projects Glimpses of Glapion and The Black Boston Dream Oracle, followed by a reception and Q&A with the artists at The Museum of African American History at 46 Joy Street, Boston. The walking tour will begin at Boston Common Visitors Center at 139 Tremont St, Boston, at 1:00pm, with the reception and Q&A at The Museum of African American History beginning at 2:15pm.Emerson Contemporary is thrilled to collaborate with the Museum of African American History (MAAH) for this program. After the walk, an artist Q&A session will take place at the African Meeting House at 46 Joy Street, Boston, MA.

Elisa Hamilton’s project Glimpses of Glapion will present a series of digital vignettes honoring the life and legacy of Louis Glapion. Glapion was a French, biracial hairdresser and barber who, together with his friend George Middleton, built and owned what is now considered the oldest extant house in Beacon Hill, located at 5 Pinckney Street. While more is known about Middleton, the artist’s research has uncovered glimpses of Glapion that speak to an interesting and noteworthy life based in Beacon Hill. Hamilton seeks to honor Glapion and enliven curiosity about his lived experiences in our city. The AR experience will be available on Hoverlay and accompanied by a research document designed for educational purposes.

Clareese Hill’s The Black Boston Dream Oracle is a speculative reimagining of The Complete Fortune Teller and Dream Book written by Chloe Russel, a 19th-century Black woman from Massachusetts. By blending historical wisdom with future-focused fabulations, the Black Boston Dream Oracle will provide a unique space for reflection, healing, and imagining new possibilities for liberation and collective well-being through early Black feminist thought. The Oracle will be presented as an Extended Reality (XR) experience available on the Hoverlay application, accompanied by a web-based research document designed for educational purposes.
