Indigo Arts Alliance

60 Cove Street, Portland Maine 04101 Join Indigo Arts Alliance June Artists in Residence, Minoo Emami and Kifah Abdulla, in a participatory lecture about how they used art as a tool for activism. Shaped by her life in post-revolutionary Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, including enduring eight years of city bombings, Minoo Emami’s artwork captures the resilience and challenges of women navigating such environments. Kifah Abdulla is a multidisciplinary artist, who uses painting, installation, sculp

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Intertwining difficult conversations and hard truths with compassion and togetherness are the pillar upon which Deconstructing the Boundaries: Tending to Communities stands. As people of the global majority, Black, Brown and Indigenous communities have been historically disenfranchised, culturally erased and forced to be resilient. As concerned citizens of the world, we bear witness to social shifts and remain steady through political opposition, economic strife a

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 You’re invited to hop on a mic, grab a seat, fill up your cup, add a song to the queue, or load up your plate with this dynamic pairing of storytellers and truth sayers. A fusion of rhythm + rhyme + reason + resonance, SIGNATURESOUL is on a mission to raise the collective consciousness one soul at a time. Antonio Rocha’s (pronounced haw-sha), unique and award winning solo fusion of mime and storytelling with mesmerizing voices and sound effect

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 “Your life is already artful — waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art.” –Toni Morrison The impact of Toni Morrison’s authorship can be felt throughout cinema, visual art, literature, theater and dance. Her dedication to telling Black stories and giving voice to under-represented communities, reminds us that no matter your background, we all have a story to share. Join us for a conversation between IAA Artist Director, Daniel Minter and

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 Athena Lynch and Stephen Hamilton will close out the month of September with an open house. Through the lens of painting, sculpture, video, performance, installation and community organizing, these mixed media artists both reimagine African Diasporic storytelling through the lens of recorded history, cultural memory and lived experience. This event is free and open to all.

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 As metalsmiths and jewelers, both Aina Sullivan and Funlola Coker’s sculptures and design work are rooted in their ancestral heritage, delving into the intangible nature of memory and intuitive exploration of material. Get a look into their respective practices with this immersive Open Studio. This event is free and open to all.

Workshop: Bead Embroidery Workshop with Jay Katelansky Indigo Arts Alliance — 60 Cove Street Join us on Saturday, October 19th from 12pm – 3pm for a beading workshop with Indigo’s final Artist-in-Residence of 2024, Jay Katelansky! Katelansky’s work questions how Black bodies, including their own, navigate space in the United States. Addressing questions such as: What does safe mean? How does it feel safe? Is safety a place? Is it a person? Is safety an unattainable condition? Who gets to be safe

Workshop: Excavating the Personal Archive: Preserving Memory Through Zinemaking and Collage with Julia Arrendondo Indigo Arts Alliance — 60 Cove Street Join us on Sunday, October 20th from 12 to 3pm, in a workshop guided by Indigo Arts Alliance October artist in residence, Julia Arrendondo. In this three-hour workshop, participants will explore the tools and processes of zine-making and collage in a hands-on, cut-and-paste style. Rooted in DIY aesthetics and an intuitive approach to image-making

Victoria Mansion, 109 Danforth St. Portland , ME 04101 Since 2021, Victoria Mansion has been researching and sharing the stories of the individuals enslaved by the Morses in New Orleans, and how their unpaid labor provided the funds to build this beautiful summer home. In partnership with Indigo Arts Alliance, Victoria Mansion has been working with Carl Joe Williams ’21 to produce a piece of art to bring the stories of the Unwilling Architects Initiative to life. This event is free and open to a

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 Samuel James and Carl Joe Williams will kick off our November programming with an Open Studio exploring a fusion of art and music steeped in the rich cultural and creative contributions of the African American South. This event is free and open to all.

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 25’ David C. Driskell Fellow Benjamin Spalding will lead participants through a hands-on DJ workshop exploring music throughout various genres, and identify the ways in which DJing is culturally and politically rooted in community, resistance, and joy. This event is free and open to all.

Maine Maritime Museum, 243 Washington St, Bath, ME 04530 Re|Sounding stems from the maritime process of “sounding,” or measuring depth beneath a vessel as a form of navigation. With this exhibit, the Maine Maritime Museum is dedicated to re-measuring their institutional understanding of Maine’s maritime history by centering Indigenous and Black perspectives. Directed by a group of humanities scholars and community leaders like our Executive Director Jordia Benjamin, alongside museum curators, th

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 Open to all communities of all ages, attendees should expect to create a personal resistance flag using pre-carved blocks. No prior printmaking experience is needed! Presented in partnership withTender Table, Brazen Bandits, Pickwick Independent Press and Running With Scissors Art Studios, this workshop is a part of the national coalition “Fall of Freedom” of organizations and institutions that present an urgent call to the arts community to u

Willow’s Apothecary: A Post Pardon Performance Mechanics’ Hall, 519 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101 Willow’s Apothecary’ is a powerful performance brought to life by Arisa White and choreographer Laurel Jenkins. Blending poetry, dance, and live music to explore intergenerational healing, this rendition will feature The Dance Company of Middlebury College, live electronic music by Mclean Macionis, and cello by Robin Lane. Co-presented with Mechanics’ Hall in partnership with Middlebury College &

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 Gather for a Writing & Movement workshop led by choreographer, Laurel Jenkins, poet, Arisa White and cellist, Robin Lane. Together we will warm up your bodies and imaginations and explore the guiding principles of healing held within the rich mythological world of Post Pardon: The Opera. This event is free and open to adults of all levels and will be located at Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME. REGISTER HERE

Portland Ovations, 120 Exchange Street, Portland 04101 We can’t wait to see you at Haint Blue, featuring Samuel James and Michael Kebede. To start the evening, we invite you to an informal pre-concert gathering where you can enjoy community, artmaking, and a delicious meal. This event is presented in partnership with Indigo Arts Alliance. Participate in an interactive art installation and community art making activity led by Maine Artist, Raquel P. Miller, and partake in a catered meal by our fr

Indigo Arts Alliance, 60 Cove St. Portland, ME 04101 Join us for the premiere of “I Come From Away: An Immigrant in Maine (Part II)”. From documentary filmmaker, immigration activist, refugee, Nyamuon “Moon” Nguany Machar, This film focuses on the extraordinary effort made by the city of Sanford, Maine to accommodate hundreds of asylum seekers who showed up unexpectedly one day in the spring of 2023. Machar was Artist-in-Residence with Indigo Arts Alliance in 2020. We had the honor of premiering

Virtual Featuring our 2024-25 David C. Driskell Fellows: Rikiesha Metzger, Esper Gaspardi and Lokotah Sanborn, Voices + Visions is an ongoing series of artist talks focused on the creative intersections and distinct voices of IAA’s alumni artists-in-residence. Moderated by our inaugural David C. Driskell Fellow, Veronica A. Perez, Rikiesha, Esper, and Lokotah will discuss their experiences as IAA residents and beyond, exploring the driving forces behind their individual artistic practices. This

Online via Zoom Join SOIL Gallery and Indigo Arts Alliance for a special Zoom event: Voices + Visions: An Artist Conversation with Rosalba Breazeale, Hector Nevarez Magaña, and Raquel P Miller. This engaging virtual dialogue is a centerpiece of our Seeds in the SOIL exhibition, offering a unique opportunity to delve into the creative intersections and shared narratives of the distinguished artists from IAA’s Black Seed Residency program. Event Details: * Date: Thursday, February 22, 2024 * Time:

60 Cove St, Portland, ME 04101, and online Co-presented by Indigo Arts Alliance and Surf Point.⁠ ⁠ On the heels of recent travels throughout a combined 11 countries in Africa, speakers will discuss the importance of the Art of the African Diaspora, also referred to as the Black Diaspora, whose global impact on culture and society around the world can no longer be denied. You are invited to listen in as our three scholars share observations about both traditional and contemporary art in Africa –

Art In The Wake II: Repairing, Healing, and Memory Museu da História e da Cultura Afro-Brasileira (MUHCAB) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Art in the Wake II: Repairing, Healing and Memory examines art not only as a critical record of the past, but as a living, generative force shaping the architecture of future possibilities. The symposium will be held at the Museu da História e da Cultura Afro-Brasileira (MUHCAB) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Feb. 28, 2026. Presented as part of an ongoing collaborat