Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Expanding the Walls

For a quarter of a century, Expanding the Walls, envisioned by Sandra Jackson-Dumont in 2000, has fostered critical thinking, artistic expression, and community engagement among its teen participants. By blending photography with history, culture, and personal reflection, Expanding the Walls teaches young people to see the world through the lens of a camera and encourages them to understand their role in shaping the world around them. In the words of Jackson-Dumont, “When I think about why teen programs are important to the future of museums, I go back to why teens are important. They matter because they’re human beings . . . it is truly about our society and young people developing skills. A byproduct of that work is that they end up being shepherds of the places that make them who they are.”

At its core, Expanding the Walls is about building a community of thinkers. For teens, it provides an opportunity to step back and examine the complexities of their lives and relationships to their community. By making connections between the art of photography and the history of Harlem, teens learn to interpret and make sense of their experiences. The program cultivates both individual voices and a shared sense of belonging. Through this work, the young people begin to see themselves not as passive observers of the world but as active participants in shaping their own narratives, as evidenced by exhibition titles such as Adjusting the Lens (2003), Shift in Focus (2007), Vantage Point (2014), and Developing Intention (2018), just to name a few.

Expanding the Walls uses a person-centered approach, which prioritizes the unique needs and experiences of each teen. The program recognizes the diverse backgrounds, aspirations, and challenges that each participant brings. Whether a teen is grappling with identity, family, or community issues, the program ensures that their voices are heard and respected. The intimate, supportive environment encourages teens to take creative risks, question societal norms, and explore new ways of seeing and thinking. In turn, they develop as artists and as people prepared to navigate the complexities of the world around them with confidence.

The emphasis on the individual extends to how Expanding the Walls builds relationships between young people and their mentors. Throughout the program, teens engage with artists and community leaders, forging lasting connections that often extend far beyond the duration of the program itself. These intergenerational exchanges provide young people with valuable insights into the worlds of art, history, and activism, and encourage them to understand the ways in which their own stories are intertwined with those of others. Through these relationships, teens are empowered to explore their full potential—not justas artists but as advocates, change makers, and leaders in their communities. For decades, the Expanding theWalls teens have worked with local Harlem senior centers such as SAGE Harlem, building relationships through imagery and storytelling. In addition, visits with artists, such as Derrick Adams, Tyler Mitchell,Jamel Shabazz, and Lorna Simpson, provide moments of inspiration and reflections on what it means to be an artist.

In addition to its educational component, the program also focuses on community building. The teen photographers are not isolated in their individual work; rather, they are encouraged to collaborate, support each other, and create as a collective. This happens among the teens as they bond and support one another, and through their interactions with Museum staff—from meeting with the Curatorial Department for critiques to learning from the Communications Department how to express themselves within an institution. In the words of former School & Family Programs Coordinator Jonell Jamie, “By offering the participating youth behind-the-scenes access to the Studio Museum, and creating opportunities, for real relationships with staff, seniors, and artists. Expanding the Walls has been able to challenge young people’s perceptions of what a museum is and does.”

This sense of camaraderie builds a lasting bond between participants, many of whom remain connected long after their time in the program. Ivan Forde, a 2008 alum and a practicing artist, supports teens today in the program with artist visits and workshops. This collaborative spirit extends into the broader Harlem community, where Expanding the Walls serves as a bridge between generations. The program’s intergenerational nature ensures that the history and culture of Harlem are passed down, while also creating space for new voices to shape the narrative.

For example, one of the signature elements of the program is its focus on Harlem’s rich history and the legacy of artists such as James Van Der Zee, whose photographic work continues to inspire generations of young people. By studying Van Der Zee’s iconic portraits of Harlem’s Black community in the early twentieth century, teens gain a deeper understanding of the historical context that shaped their community and how photography can be a powerful tool for documenting cultural identity. This historical engagement helps teens connect the dots between their personal histories and the larger cultural narratives of Harlem, New York City, and beyond.

Expanding the Walls does more than look back at the past though; it actively encourages teens to use their artistic voices to shape the future. With their cameras, they explore themes of identity, belonging, resistance, and hope. The photographs they create are both a reflection of their lives and a powerful statement about who they are and what they stand for. These works challenge the status quo and encourage others to reconsider how they view the world. All of this culminates in a celebration of their work in an exhibition at the Studio Museum. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Studio Museum created a digital exhibition of the teens’ work, a collaboration between the teens and the Studio Museum’s Communications, Curatorial, and Learning & Engagement departments.

In a world where young people are often marginalized or overlooked, Expanding the Walls proves that teens are not only capable of engaging with complex ideas—they are leading the charge. These teens, over four hundred over the years, are telling stories that matter, questioning the world as they see it, and charting a course toward a future shaped by empathy, collaboration, and creative expression.

As we celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Expanding the Walls, we honor the accomplishments of the past and the limitless potential of the young people who have participated in the program. They are the artists, thinkers, and leaders who will continue to shape our world in powerful ways. The legacy of this program is not just in the photographs captured over the years but in the lives it has touched, the community it has built, and the change it continues to inspire.