Communities of Color Reunite to Celebrate Nature and Arts this Autumn at the Arnold Arboretum
Co-producers Castle of our Skins, multidisciplinary artist and designer Daniel Callahan, and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, join forces again for MassQ Ball 2025: Color—a large-scale celebration of ritual, performance, and cross-cultural artistry of Boston’s communities of color. Last held in the Arnold Arboretum landscape in 2022, this free and family-friendly event will take place on Saturday, October 4, 2025 from 10:00 to 4:00pm in the Arboretum’s majestic conifer collection.
“MassQ Ball 2025: Color picks up from where we left off in 2022,” shares Ashleigh Gordon, Artistic Director of Castle of our Skins. “Our previous Ball at the Arboretum included a host of smaller panels and workshops in addition to the large-scale outdoor celebration that brought more than 1,500 attendees and over 120 artists together for joy, healing, creative expression, and cultural celebration. For 2025, we’re bringing even more artists, more audience, and more art-making together for a truly unforgettable experience.”
The much-anticipated event will include a curated lineup of musicians, dancers, culture bearers, and visual artists from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds including: Anjali Nath (Classical North Indian Kathak Dance); Danza Orgánica (Social Justice Dance); Floor Lords (HipHop Dance); Hyde Square Task Force Ambassadors (Afro Latin Youth Music, Dance, and Theatre); Jean Appolon Expressions (Haitian Dance Ensemble); Gund Kwok (Chinese Lion Dance); Isaura Oliveira & Power of Skirts (Afro-Brazilian Indigenous Performance Ritual); Cornell Coley (African Drum Circle); Steph Davis (Ghanaian Gyli); Dis N’ Dat Band (Trinidad & Tobago Steel Pan); Christopher Robinson (ASL Spoken Word Artist Griot); Teen Empowerment (Spoken Word Artist Griots); Ifé Franklin (African American Ring Shout); Shaw Pong Liu (Chinese American Installation Artist); Andre StrongBearHeart Gaines, Jr. (Nipmuc Installation Artist); Crystal Bi (Taiwanese-American Installation Artist); Lilly Manycolors (Installation Artist); and Naoe Suzuki (Japanese American Installation Artist).
At its center is Daniel Callahan’s painterly practice of MassQing (MASS-king), which uses the human face as a canvas to create living works of art. “MassQing is derived from traditions of body decoration found all over the world,” Callahan explains. “Its universality provides a natural platform for connecting seemingly disparate cultures and peoples together.”
“For over 150 years, the Arnold Arboretum landscape has provided a free and open environment to connect the diverse people of Boston to the wonders and restorative power of nature,” said Arboretum Director William (Ned) Friedman. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Castle of our Skins and remarkable artists like Daniel Callahan to craft unique experiences that make the Arboretum more welcoming and inspiring for everyone.”
“We are pleased to partner with community movements, such as MassQ Ball, that share the Arnold Arboretum’s values of education and environmental equity in the landscape,” said Jessica B. Pederson, head of public programs at the Arboretum. “These growing relationships support our continuing efforts to engage all people of Boston and to offer innovative public programs that engage people with plants and one another.”
MassQ Ball 2025: Color is supported, in part, by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University; a Neighborhood and Downtown Activation grant from the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture; The Celebrity Series of Boston; and Create & Record LLC. Visit the MassQ Ball 2025 website to learn more.