Free First Thursday

June 2026

Thursday
June 4, 2026
3 - 9 pm
Throughout the Museum

On June's Free First Thursday, we invite you to partake in art of all forms, just as our founder intended. From a dance performance in the Courtyard to a 12th-century art-making practice to a final chance to view Picturing Isabella, we promise an engaging evening you won’t want to miss.

Program

Suminagashi Paper Marbling
5–8 pm, Bertucci Education Studio
Partake in a centuries-old artform and explore the Japanese technique of paper marbling, Suminagashi. A tradition that began in 12th-century Japan, this meditative practice pairs water and floating ink to create circular, repeating patterns and is the oldest known form of paper marbling.

DJ sets by Saint Paolo
5–6 pm & 7:30–8 pm, Courtyard
Enjoy a curated selection of ambient, jazz, and dub, interwoven with music from the Philippines.

Gabi sa Gubat/Night Jungle Ballet Performance
6 pm & 7 pm, Courtyard and Calderwood Hall*
Enjoy a moving performance by the Asian American Ballet Project. Gabi sa Gubat/Night Jungle imagines a Philippine forest and the fantastical creatures said to roam after dark, reflecting on the magnetism of shared cultural mythologies and how they capture the human psyche.

The performance will begin in the Courtyard, traveling through the hallways and up the New Wing staircase, to conclude in Calderwood Hall.

Please join us in Calderwood Hall at 6:10 pm after the first performance for a talk back with AABP Artistic Director Beth Mochizuki and choreographer Alexa Capareda.

Tickets are required for this free event.

Artist Bios

A white man with curly hair placing headphones over his ears

Two dancers on a dim stage. The dancer in front wears a black dress, the dancer behind wears a white robe. The dancers are posed to create an X shape with their bodies.

Image courtesy of Saint Paolo

Saint Paolo plays music that transcends borders, from every corner of the globe. A lover of world music and hidden gems, his sets range from 60s Ghanaian highlife to UK jungle, and everything in between, with some familiar favorites as well. He has a deep passion for vinyl, spending endless hours crate-digging, curating each track with care. Listen in for a musical world tour.

Image courtesy of Olivia Moon

Beth Mochizuki, Gardner Neighborhood Salon Luminary, founded the Asian American Ballet Project (AABP) in 2022. AABP is the first ever Asian American ballet company. They commission works from local and international Asian American choreographers whose repertoires span classical to contemporary ballet. The Boston-based professional company of 7 dancers performs an annual summer concert; past performances have been held at Arrow Street Arts, Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, and Multicultural Arts Center. Their next concert, Once Upon Our Time, will take place at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts on June 27–28, 2026. AABP's mission is to present Asian American dancers on stage together in all Asian American productions. They aim to tell stories from their unique perspectives and transform how audiences see Asian Americans in performance, from unexpected to accepted.

Image courtesy of Sarah Annie Navarrete

Alexa Capareda engages in virtuosity, versatility, the earnest, and the playful. She trained in her native Philippines, Austin, and Montreal before joining Balet Bratislava in Slovakia. Her choreography has been commissioned by SALT Dance, Ballet Austin, tbd. dance collective, Houston Contemporary, Columbia Repertory Ballet, and ZACH Theatre. She has presented work at Big Medium, Austin Dance Festival, Barnstorm Dance Festival, and Fusebox Festival. She is Rehearsal Director of Ballet Austin TWO, Assistant Director with Performa/Dance, and has made work with BLiPSWiTCH, Frank Wo/Men, Salvage Vanguard Theater, ARCOS, Magdalena Jarkowiec, Jennifer Sherburn, Austin Camerata, and LOLA Austin. She has collaborated with sound artists Steve Parker, Brent Baldwin, VAMP, and Henna Chou, and visual artists Essentials Creative, Tom Suhler, and Susan Scafati. She was a prizewinner at the 2013 Festival of Choreographic Miniatures in Serbia and recipient of the 2017 Austin Critics Table Award for Excellence as Dancer. She has a BA in English and a minor in Theater and Dance from UT-Austin.

alexacapareda.wixsite.com/dance
IG @acapareda

Free days are supported in part by the Wallace Minot Leonard Foundation, the Board of Advisors 2022 Fund for Access, and Thomas G. Stemberg Charitable Foundation.

Education and community programs receive support from the Vertex Foundation, the Rowland Foundation, Liberty Mutual Foundation, The Beker Foundation, The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation, Thomas Anthony Pappas Charitable Foundation, and Janet Burke Mann Foundation.

Studio activities are generously sponsored by the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust.

The Neighborhood Salon is supported in part by the Anne Hawley Fund for Programs, the Polly Thayer Starr Charitable Trust, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

The Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which is supported by the state of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.