On Thursday, February 25, 2021 we held a virtual concert with Betsy Hinkle and Jason Amos, members of the Boston Public Quartet, live streamed from the historic First Parish Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. They performed works on violin and viola (including a violin made by a current Violin Making & Repair student) by living Black composers Adolphus Hailstork and Jessie Montgomery, as well as Mozart and Schubert.

On Thursday, February 11, 2021, we held a conversation with Dr. Tiffany Momon, Founder and Co-Director of Black Craftspeople Digital Archive. She guided us through the work they have been doing to research and map 18th century Black craftspeople, in a future-looking effort to document the origins of crafts and trades in this country. Watch a video of the full conversation here.

As NBSS marks 140 years since our founding, we are also celebrating of the origin stories of those in our creative community. On Thursday, January 28, 2021, we explored the beginnings of a #lifeincraft with six talented craftspeople from a variety of backgrounds. We've heard that it was an especially inspiring conversation for many who attended, as they fondly recalled their own creative beginnings. Watch a video of the full conversation here.

For 140 years, through every challenge, NBSS has adapted and endured. The challenges of 2020 have proven again the ability of our community to adapt, to experiment, and to persevere—and this was just the most recent moment in a long history of nimbleness for an institution that began as a collection of neighborhood social services in Boston's North End in 1881. Join us to take a look back at our long history.

Two musicians pursue their craft—and new livelihoods—as promised by the support of the NBSS community. Discover how the dramatic expansion of our scholarship programs in recent years has helped current students Veronica Vaillancourt VM '21 and Jennifer Chen PT '20, PA '21 thrive in their programs