“ShowUp’s rich tapestry of creative expression engages the audience with art in a way that transcends traditional boundaries, inviting them to see the world through the eyes of others…”
— Colleen Hall, South End Resident and Author of Jamoji, Essays Of Life And Play In Jamaica
About ShowUp
ShowUp is a 501(c)(3)-designated art activism-focused nonprofit exhibition space in Boston’s South End. Founded in 2019 as a sister nonprofit to Beacon Gallery, it has taken over the gallery’s mission and programming. It continues to refine the social impact work started in 2017. ShowUp strives to foster art, education, and empowerment through proven models for success. ShowUp supports underpresented artists, with a focus on social impact through its “Three Es": Exhibitions, Education, and Engagement.
Our Mission
ShowUp is a contemporary art activism-focused exhibition, education, and community-building space, creating an innovative environment for underrepresented artists' voices and visions.
Our mission is to
CONNECT artists to local communities and beyond
AMPLIFY artists and their voices
PROVIDE artists tools for self-sufficiency
EMPOWER artists and curators to experiment, learn, and have meaningful exchanges
Our Flagship Programs
Who We Serve
ShowUp is a nonprofit devoted to serving artists, the art community, and as a connector between the location-based communities radiating out from the gallery’s space in Boston’s South End. We offer concentric rings of impact: we are dedicated to serving our local artist community in Boston and its environs, but imagine our reach to be as far as New England, the region, and wherever the internet may take our message.
We seek to exhibit artists whose work might not easily be found in commercial galleries. Such an omission may be for a variety of reasons: either because the work is not considered commercially viable (but we believe it has artistic merit and deserves to be seen), the artist might come from a traditionally underrepresented community, or the artist may have rarely or never exhibited before.
How We Work
Through our “Three Es”": Exhibitions, Education, and Engagement, we work to serve the amazingly talented artists around us. These three pillars are put into practice through our curated rotating Exhibitions, our regular Educational workshops such as the BrushUp series, and opportunities for Engagement: gatherings within the artist community and for a general audience. ShowUp seeks to be a place of community to gather, connect with other artists, art lovers and supporters, and meet new people. It should also be a venue to learn and grow, to present and exchange ideas, and to experiment artistically.
How You Can Get Involved
ShowUp welcomes everyone into its community. There are so many ways to get involved as either an artist or an art lover! ShowUp as a growing artistic experiment and community has the opportunity to thrive with the love and assistance of those willing to support us, and to receive back support in kind. Here are some ways to get involved:
Join our mailing list If you’re an artist looking to stay up to date with what we’re doing, please make sure you’re receiving our emails!
Follow us on Instagram. We list our own opportunities, events and workshops. In addition, in our stories, opportunities from other venues. So, make sure to follow us, and engage (like, comment, save) so that our content comes up in your feed and you don’t miss a thing!
Offer to volunteer (we are seeking individuals to help support grant writing, fundraising, education and event planning and execution, and more. Email us if you’re interested.)
Spread the word Tell people about our exhibiting artists, about ShowUp and our goal of supporting artists and examples of how we are fulfilling our mission (our exhibitions, openings and events, the BrushUp series). Word of Mouth is the best and most trustworthy marketing of all, and we appreciate any that you’re willing to do for us!
Make a connection for us. Think you have a friend who might want to support us? Or are you part of a company that might consider being a sponsor? Know about the perfect grant? Every connection counts! We’d love to hear from you.
Donate to our cause At the end of the day, we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and are working towards W.A.G.E. certification. We have both operational and exhibition/artist costs to cover. If you believe in our cause, please consider what you might be willing to give. You could offer to donate services, an in-kind donation, (for the first, two, please email Executive Director Christine O’Donnell) or a financial contribution (all amounts gratefully received). Give today.
Whatever way you are able to engage with or support ShowUp, we are grateful! Reach out today to start a conversation about getting involved.
Our mission is to
-
CONNECT
artists to local communities and beyond
-
AMPLIFY
artists and their voices
-
PROVIDE
artists tools for self-sufficiency
-
EMPOWER
artists and curators to experiment, learn, and have meaningful exchanges
Meet our Board
Christine O’Donnell (she/her)
Founder, Board Chair & Executive Director | LinkedIn
Christine O’Donnell is the founder and Executive Director of ShowUp, a nonprofit contemporary art space in Boston, MA. She is also a curator, art writer, consultant and lifelong educator. To all she does, O’Donnell brings her knowledge of the commercial art world (having been the founder and director of Boston’s Beacon Gallery), as well as her decade spent as an educator, her time working in advertising/marketing, and her 12 years living in France, Hong Kong and Singapore.
-
A graduate of College of the Holy Cross, with a B.A in French, O’Donnell speaks fluent French and conversational Spanish. Additionally, she holds an M.A. in Teaching from Tufts University, and an M.A. in Art History from the U.K.’s Open University. Her Master’s thesis focused on artists’ grassroots organizations and American museum critique in the late 1960s and early 1970s. O’Donnell’s skills as an art management consultant are sought out from as near as the New England Sculptors Association and Temple Gallery NYC, and as far away as ArtsActivism Papua New Guinea and galleries in Melbourne, Australia.
As part of O’Donnell’s international scope, she is a partner at Very Private Gallery in Madrid, Spain. She is also a member of the Advisory Board at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (ICA), the Association of Women’s Art Dealers (AWAD), and Boston Art Dealers Association (BADA). Additionally, she trained as an appraiser with the International Society of Appraisers. O’Donnell balances her career with an active family life in the Boston area, with her husband and two school-aged children.
—
Christine has been honored to be featured on the following podcasts:
Catherine Orer's The Artist Entrepreneur, September 21, 2022, Building Strong Relationships with Galleries
Fine Art Insights with Michael Rose, Sept 29, 2021 A conversation with Beacon Gallery owner Christine O’Donnell (feature below)
Jennifer Condensa-Garcia (she/her)
Treasurer
LinkedIn
Jennifer Condensa-Garcia has over 15 years of financial experience and specializes in non-profit and grant accounting. Jennifer is the Sponsored Programs Finance Administrator at Wellesley College with prior financial experience at MIT, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
She is a California native who earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from The University of Texas at Austin...
-
ShowUp affords the unique opportunity for Jennifer to leverage a career of financial experience to support our local Boston community through art, social impact and equity initiatives.
Ibrahim Ali-Salaam
Director
LinkedIn
A Boston native and graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Ibrahim Ali-Salaam has been a professional artist for over 20 years. He works mainly in oil painting and charcoal; mediums that allow him to explore themes that range from studies of the human figure to the influences of hip-hop on American culture. Ali-Salaam’s work often seeks to portray a lived…
-
reality in a culture that tirelessly seeks to classify and categorize identity.
Ibrahim Ali-Salaam’s oeuvre has been exhibited in galleries across the country and around the Boston area, where he continues to live and work today. In addition to being an artist, Ali-Salaam is the proud owner of an art handling company, Nova Art Handling. To keep up with Ali-Salaam’s work, you can find him at his artist website, his art handling website, or on Instagram.
Jameel Radcliffe
Director
Website
Jameel Radcliffe is a Boston-based painter whose work intricately weaves together personal introspection and the vibrant energy of his community. A graduate of Montserrat College of Art with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, Radcliffe has developed a distinctive voice in contemporary art, marked by a compelling interplay between figurative and…
-
abstract forms. Radcliffe's artistic journey has been showcased in a diverse range of exhibitions. Notable recent solo shows include "Kids From the Stars" at ShowUp in Boston (2024) and "Obsessed With" at The Flowering Rock (2020). His group exhibitions include "Bird Stories" at Concord Art (2024), "Black Futures: How to See in Total Darkness" at Hallspace Gallery (2023), and "XTENSION" at Beacon St Gallery (2022). He has also exhibited in significant two-person shows, such as "Fragmented Experiences" at Laisun Keane (2022) and "Whistling in the Dark" at Kingston Gallery (2021).
Radcliffe's contributions to the art community have been recognized through various honors, including the George Gabin Prize and the Gilbert Award in 2017, the Excellence in Painting Award at Montserrat College of Art, the Saint Botolph Club Emerging Artist Award (2024) and he has been honored as one of the 2024 WBUR Makers. His work has been featured in prominent publications such as the Boston Globe and Art New England, and he has participated in the Boston Center for the Arts Residency Program from 2022 to 2024.
His art is represented in several esteemed permanent collections, including those of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Google LLC, and MIT. Radcliffe continues to explore the boundaries of artistic expression, drawing inspiration from his Boston roots and the dynamic interplay of identity and community.
Interested in getting involved with the board? Send us an email.
Meet our Staff
Elizabeth Alejandro (she/her)
Marketing Coordinator
LinkedIn | Artist Page
Lizzy Alejandro is a visual artist from The Bronx. She received her MFA in Digital Media from Lehman College in 2019.
Her work explores themes of identity and challenges notions of the status quo. Alejandro’s work has been exhibited at Fordham University, Taller Boricua Gallery, Lehman College Art Gallery, BronxArtSpace, Andrew Freedman…
-
Home, Lincoln Hospital, the Galleries at Krasdale Foods, the Bronx Latin American Art Biennial, Empty Set Gallery, Longwood Art Gallery, El Barrio’s Artspace PS109, River Front Art Gallery, Bethany Arts Community, the Photoville 11th Annual Festival, Hopkinton Center for the Arts, and Piano Craft Gallery.
She has been included in publications such as Hunts Point Express, Mott Haven Herald, M.I.A Magazine, The Bronx Artist Documentary Project and in the Nueva Luz Photographic Journal 2016, Volume 20, “Living Latina: The Bronx Women’s Photo Collective”.
Delia Harrington (they/them)
Delia Harrington is an arts & culture writer focused on issues of identity and equity in contemporary art, such as LGBTQ issues and accessibility in arts spaces. Their work has appeared in ARTnews, Artnet, Art Duesseldorf Magazine, Boston Art Review, DAME Magazine, Paste, Polygon and Xtra, among others. They also bring over 15 years' experience in nonprofit…
-
communications, working with Amnesty International, Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Accion International, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, State Senator Becca Rausch, and more. They have a BA in International Affairs (2007) and a Master's in Media Advocacy (2021), both from Northeastern University, the latter program jointly housed at NU School of Law and School of Journalism.
Talia Scurlock (she/they)
Director of Giving
LinkedIn
Originally from Columbus, Talia Scurlock moved to Boston in 2020. With a background in both aviation and nonprofit development, she brings a wealth of experience to her role at ShowUp. As a novice writer, Talia enjoys the inspiration from the depth and diversity of Boston’s art scene.
Lu Valena (they/them)
Exhibitions & Events Manager
LinkedIn | Artist Page
Lu Valena is a person of many interests exploring themes of expansion, the space in between, and what it means to put more power into the hands of creative people. A multi-disciplinary artist, writer and educator, Valena holds a BA in Studio Art from Hampshire College (2007) and a Masters in Gastronomy/Food Studies from Boston University (2016).
-
Valena serves as executive director of the call-and-response art publication Bait/Switch, and is the former owner/operator of the coffeehouse and gallery Voltage Coffee & Art. Their artwork has been featured at several venues across the US, including the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Shelter In Place Gallery, Level99, Webster Arts, and Worcester State University. They research the intersection of food and art, with a recent focus in hyperrealistic cake decorating and sugar sculpture as cultural phenomena.
Social Impact & 2022-2023 Featured Exhibitions
Our Sponsors
ShowUp, is sponsored by Mass Cultural Council and the Teuber Family Foundation. Our audiovisual sponsor is Everla$t Entertainment. We are so grateful for everyone’s support.
Please reach out if you wish to donate and support our nonprofit programming. Read ShowUp’s Land, Neighborhood, and Art Community Acknowledgement.
Audiovisual Sponsor:
