Upcoming Events
Carson Beach Dream + Rest Activation - August 10, 2026
We invite you to join us on August 10th, 2026, for a special public installation and community gathering to honor the 51st anniversary of the historic Carson Beach protest.
For the past 4 years, we’ve returned to the beach to honor the Black Bostonians who imagined what it means for everyone to have access to the public beach. This year, we return in reflection of Toni Morrison’s words, “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was” reminding us how water holds our histories and is a portal for reflection and gratitude.
Dzidzor will be returning with a beautiful and ethereal live soundscape. crystal bi will debut and launch a new public art project that floats on the ocean. This art project is an offering of gratitude to the ancestors and the spirits in the water.
Event Details:
Date: Monday, August 10, 2026
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Location: Carson Beach, Boston, MA (near the bathhouse and the Public Beach Volley Ball Courts)
Featuring: Live soundscape, poetry, collective dreaming, art installations, and offerings of stillness
Past Events
Department of Public Imagination Pop-Up Installation
Date: July 25th, 2025 - August 10th, 2025
Office Hours: Mondays/Tuesdays/Thursdays | 4–7pm
Location: 545 Columbia Rd. Boston, MA 02125
Free and open to all. RSVP here!
Events Lineup:
- Friday, July 25th (7-11pm) - Black Cotton Club Jam Session + Soft Opening
- Monday, July 28th (6-8:30pm) - Opening Event + Panel on Community Imagination
- Tuesday, July 29th (6-8pm) - Herbal Tea Workshop for Collective Imagining during Challenging Times with Taína Vargas-Sosa
- Sunday, Aug 3rd (11-12:30pm) - New Roots Church
- Sunday, Aug 3rd (3:30-5pm) - Branch Out with C1: “Preserving the Past, Imagining the Future: A Hands-On Archiving Workshop”
- Wednesday, Aug 6th (6-8:30pm) - Jenny Oliver Movement Inquiry Workshop
- Sunday, Aug 10th (4-7pm) - Carson Beach Rest Activation with Live Performances and Public Installation
Carson Beach Rest Activation
We invite you to join us on August 10th, 2025, for a special public installation and community gathering to honor the 50th anniversary of the historic Carson Beach protest.
Fifty years ago, Black Bostonians gathered in peaceful protest at Carson Beach, demanding dignity, safety, and the right to exist freely in public space. Their courage reverberated across the city, and their legacy continues to shape Boston’s cultural and spatial history.
This year, we return to that shoreline for the third Carson Beach Rest Activation, not only to remember but to reclaim rest as a radical act of resistance. Through live soundscapes, storytelling, spiritual reflection, and community altar-making, we invite you to join us in listening deeply—to the water, to our elders, to our own bodies.
Event Details:
Date: Sunday, August 10, 2025
Time: 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: Carson Beach, Boston, MA
Featuring: Live soundscape, poetry, collective dreaming, and offerings of stillness
Free and open to the public. RSVP here!
July 2023 Reimagining the Neighborhood with DS4SI
Aug 2023 Multicultural Festival
Aug 2023 Rest Activation at Carson Beach
Oct 2023 Rest Activation with Ujima
Apr 2024 Dream Space Activation at HGSE
Jun 2024 - Rest + Dream Activation at Isabella Stewart Gardner
Aug11, 2024, 5:30-7:30p - Rest + Dream Activation at Carson Beach