BOSTON, MA – April 24, 2025 – The Boston Public Library is proud to announce the 2025 Lowell Lecture Series, highlighting artists and changemakers whose work exemplifies this year’s theme of Revolutionary Art: Art and Social Change. Through performance, design, activism, and storytelling, these four speakers challenge conventions and use their creative platforms to inspire social change. All Lowell Lectures are free and open to the public.
The Lowell Lecture Series is made possible through the generosity of the Lowell Institute, and is produced in partnership with the GBH Forum Network. Each year, the BPL partners with the Lowell Institute to present thought-provoking programs from leading voices in the arts, sciences, and humanities.
2025 Lowell Lecture Series Lineup:
Sasha Velour
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Sasha Velour is an internationally acclaimed drag artist, author, and co-host of HBO’s We’re Here. Known for her genderfluid aesthetic, multimedia performances, and visual artistry, she won RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9 and created the long-running NYC revue NightGowns. Her solo show Smoke & Mirrors toured globally, and her bestselling book The Big Reveal explores the history and philosophy of drag. Velour will be joined in conversation by Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive. A booksigning will follow the program, presented in partnership with Trident Booksellers & Café.
Learn more and register here.
Dread Scott
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Dread Scott creates art that illuminates the lived experience of African Americans, the legacy of slavery, and the ongoing struggle for justice. His bold, often participatory works—such as Slave Rebellion Reenactment—have been exhibited at major institutions including the Whitney Museum and MoMA PS1. A 2019 Soros Equality Fellow, Scott challenges audiences to confront history through a lens of resistance and possibility. Scott will be joined in conversation by Associate Professor & Graduate Program Director of Theatre Education & Applied Theatre at Emerson College, Dr. Lizzy Cooper Davis.
Check back soon for event and registration details.
Paola Mendoza
Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Paola Mendoza is a filmmaker, author, and activist whose work explores themes of resilience, immigration, and social transformation. She was a co-founder and Artistic Director of the Women’s March in 2017 and has been widely recognized for her storytelling, including the award-winning film Entre Nos and her novel Sanctuary, which imagines a dystopian future shaped by immigration injustice.
Check back soon for event and registration details.
Ruth E. Carter
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Ruth E. Carter is a trailblazing costume designer and the first Black woman to win two Academy Awards in Costume Design—for Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Over a four-decade career, she has brought history and Afrofuturism to life on screen through iconic collaborations with filmmakers like Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay. Her work on films such as Malcolm X, Selma, and Amistad has cemented her legacy as a master of visual storytelling. Carter will be in conversation with BPL President, David Leonard.
Check back soon for event and registration details.
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ABOUT THE LOWELL LECTURE SERIES
Since its founding in 1836, the Lowell Institute has sponsored free public lectures and other educational programs throughout the Boston area. The Lowell Institute was conceived of and funded by Boston businessman John Lowell, Jr., who upon his death left a substantial portion of his estate to a charitable trust dedicated to “the maintenance and support of public lectures for the promotion of moral and intellectual and physical instruction or education of the citizens of said city of Boston.” Lectures were to be free and open to all citizens regardless of gender or race.
ABOUT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Established in 1848, the Boston Public Library is a pioneer of public library service in America. It was the first large, free municipal library in the United States; the first public library to lend books; the first to have a branch library; and the first to have a children’s room.
The Boston Public Library of today is a robust system that includes the Central Library in Copley Square, 25 neighborhood branches, the Norman B. Leventhal Map and Education Center, the Kirstein Business Library and Innovation Center, and an archival center, offering public access to world-class special collections of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, and prints, along with rich digital content and online services.
The Boston Public Library serves nearly 4 million visitors per year and millions more online. All its programs and exhibitions are free to all and open to the public. The Boston Public Library is a department of the City of Boston, under the leadership of Mayor Michelle Wu. To learn more, visit bpl.org.