“Art is not separate from life. Art is not something to be added to the people. Art is the guts of the people.”

–ELMA LEWIS, FOUNDER OF THE NATIONAL CENTER OF AFRO-AMERICAN ARTISTS

Welcome to Boston Cast Parties

A CELEBRATION OF ART AND COMMUNITY.

Instead of making cast parties an exclusive/exclusionary event, ArtsEmerson has reinvented them as inspirational, inclusive gatherings.

ArtsEmerson’s visiting artists from around the country and the world are welcomed to Boston with special performances by local poets, vocalists, dancers, actors and entertainers before sharing a sneak peek of their own work.

Rooted in the  tradition of visionary arts leader, humanist, Roxbury native, and Emerson college alumna Ms. Elma Lewis, the cast parties are co-hosted by neighborhood organizations around the city.

Welcome to Boston Cast Parties are free with RSVP. Please arrive early to guarantee a seat as seating is on a first come, first served basis.

“To walk into a space that has a long practice in not only holding their community, but welcoming and holding others that they don’t even know, based on artistic offering, is significant, is so powerful, and is limitless in terms of its expression of love.”

— TOSHI REAGON, AWARD-WINNING ARTIST

“You can’t actually connect communities unless you’re in the community, in relationship with community, knowing the people in the community and connecting their stories with other stories.”

— DAVID HOWSE, ARTSEMERSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR