Inside the bustling South Boston studios of Artists For Humanity, a group of teenagers sit at easels, surrounded by the hum of beat and activity. Upstairs, another group has gathered with Tanya Nixon-Silberg for her workshop “Indigo Black.” On the table, piles of blue fabric hint at the project’s next reveal.
“Indigo Black” isn’t just an art class — it’s an invitation for Black youth to connect with the indigo plant and reclaim a piece of their heritage. Indigo, a plant integral to the history of Black Americans, was grown and used extensively by enslaved people in North America, a fact that was new to many attending the workshop.
Nixon-Silberg, 46, was inspired to develop “Indigo Black” after the 2025 presidential election, with a focus on reclamation — a word that resonated with her young participants. “I love hearing a younger person say this idea of reclamation, because it means that they knew that something was taken away, and then they get to take it back.”
For 18-year-old Lennix Pabon-Velez, the experience was meaningful. “I believe in the fact that energy carries out in life even after death,” said Pabon-Velez. “The fact that the indigo plant still grows to this day means the history is still there and the people have still dealt with the plant.”
At the heart of Nixon-Silberg’s artistic practice is the desire to offer alternative ways of remembering and valuing. She frequently uses found or repurposed materials in her work, a choice that is as much philosophical as it is practical. “When something is broken, we are all in that same materialistic, throwaway type of space. So what does it look like to repair?” she asked.
Nixon-Silberg’s past work has explored the complexities of motherhood and cultural inheritance, especially in communities of color. Drawing on her experiences as a Black mother, Nixon-Silberg created “Mother Tongue” as part of an exhibit at MassArt’s SoWa gallery. In this piece, she interviewed 14 mothers about phrases from their own childhoods as well as the words they today use with their own children, presenting these sayings across three textile panels.
The project examined how mothers of color often navigate, and sometimes replicate, dominant cultural expectations while striving to raise children in racist systems. By hand-embroidering these phrases — “What will people say?” and “Your teacher is right” — and highlighting the emotional weight behind them, Nixon-Silberg revealed both the burdens and the resilience in parenting. “Mother Tongue” sought to encourage grace among mothers and validate the process of forging new, empowering narratives for their children.
Growing up in Dorchester, Nixon-Silberg was always creating with her hands. Over the years, she has led numerous creative workshops and sewing circles, but she only recently embraced the label of “community musician.” For her, repurposing objects is just one layer — the real transformation happens in how we perceive and retell our collective stories. “It’s not just materials that I try to transform. It’s also thinking, it’s the stories that we keep telling ourselves… How do we tell it in a way that’s going to benefit us?”
Nixon-Silberg believes that healing the environment starts with how we treat one another. “If I was to push anything out into the world, it would be to repair something. Pick it up not as a hobby, but as a radical practice of repairing yourself. Repair your community, and heal in some way.”
Back in the studio, a quiet act of reclamation unfolded as Pabon-Velez admired his newly dyed indigo fabric. He plans to keep it for himself and hopes to pass it down to his future children. “Let’s say my grandkids look at it and say, ‘Wow, this was done that long ago. This is the history behind it.’”
Through workshops like “Indigo Black,” Tanya Nixon-Silberg is helping Boston’s young people find power in transformation — one story, and one stitch, at a time.
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