Beyond the Margins: Bronx Museum Teens Activate the Permanent Collection
EXHIBITION OPENING:
Friday, October 9, 2026 • 6:00 – 8:00 PM
At The Bronx Museum (1040 Grand Concourse)
Free • For All Ages • Optional RSVP • Learn More>>
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:
Press Release 1>>
Press Release 2>>
The Bronx Museum’s Teen Summer program demonstrates how young people can collaborate with museums to reflect on and challenge the world around them. Tasked with curating an exhibition from the Museum’s permanent collection, the fourteen NYC high school students participating in the Teen Summer 2026 session selected eleven artists across printmaking, photography, painting, and assemblage. The curatorial process brought shared values into focus through three guiding questions: How do artists defy convention? How do artists experiment with materials? How do artists use their work as a form of resistance?
Beyond the Margins explores what it means to defy: not as a singular act of rebellion, but as a sustained practice of surpassing limitations. The exhibition is a provocative collection of artists’ distinct voices, creating an experience centered on how we demonstrate defiance in the face of challenges that are often greater than ourselves. Viewers are invited to consider: what does it mean to push boundaries, and how do we do it every day?
Teen Summer 2026 Cohort: Abigail Perez, Aidan Thompson, Anindita Mandal, Carolyn Todd, Iffat Abidah, Jayden Huang, Jordan Wilson, Luis Garcia, Max Santiago, Meliha Metjahic, Natalia Arrington, Nicole Huerta, Sarah Chen, Tristan Huggins
Educators: Duneska Michel, Jinette Jimenez, Madison Green
Image: Jamel Shabazz; Rush Hour, Brooklyn, New York; 1980; Chromogenic print; 11 × 14 inches (27.9 × 35.6 cm); Gift of the artist, 2013.30.17.
About Teen Programs
Every year, The Bronx Museum invites New York City high school students between the ages of 14–19 to apply for the fall, spring, and/or summer sessions of our exciting youth internship program! Twelve students are accepted into each cycle of the program and are paid to engage in art, culture, creative thinking, and collaboration.
Teen Programs are made possible in part through The Keith Haring Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Image: Students participating in Teen Summer 2026 at The Bronx Museum, Photo by Scott Lynch.
Support
This exhibition was made possible, in part, by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
The Bronx Museum’s operations are generously supported, in part, with public funds from the City of New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, New York City Council, Council Member Althea Stevens and the Bronx Delegation, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, New York State Education Department, New York State Empire State Development, New York State Office of Children and Family Services, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, New York State Senator Luis Sepulveda, and New York State Senator Jose M. Serrano. Additional support is provided by the Americans for the Arts, Booth Ferris Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, Cowles Charitable Trust, Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, The Ford Foundation, Francena Harrison Foundation, Jockey Hollow Foundation, Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund: Culpeper Arts & Culture Program, Scherman Foundation, Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, Individuals and Bronx Museum Board of Trustees.
