Something in the Water: Expanding the Walls 2024 features photography by the sixteen artists in the 2024 cohort of the Studio Museum in Harlem's signature teen program, Expanding the Walls: Making Connections Between Photography, History, and Community. This year's exhibition marks the program's twenty-fourth anniversary.

This year, Expanding the Walls welcomed students who live across Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens, and whose educational backgrounds range from homeschooling to attendance at prep and public schools. The 2024 participants are Celestia Altalune, Johnna Bagley, Fiona Chen, Isabella de la Cruz, Zenab Fofana, Simeon Glance, Minna Guerrero, Amunet Jones, Keila Merette, Kevin Minchala, Sofia Montesdeoca, Zemi Moreno-Billingsley, Nancy Nivillac, Diego Pacheco, Ian Veras, and Sarawar Zahan.

In Something in the Water, the artists call out to the city as if it is an old friend they have not seen or spoken to in some time. Their photographs lend a new perspective to the flux that is emblematic of the cyclical nature of cities. With a camera in hand, each of these photographers recounts, reconsiders, and reckons with the city’s transformation by capturing the fleeting moments of their adolescence and their shifting relationship to place.

This online exhibition is available at expandingthewalls.studiomuseum.org.

Something in the Water: Expanding the Walls 2024 is organized by Jayson Overby, Assistant Curator, Studio Museum in Harlem; with Ally Caple, Expanding the Walls Coordinator, Studio Museum in Harlem; and the Expanding the Walls 2024 participants.

Founded in 2001, Expanding the Walls supports the photographic practices of teenage artists based in New York City through workshops, gallery visits, and discussions led by contemporary artists. For over twenty years, the archive of renowned Harlem photographer James Van Der Zee (1886–1983) has been the program’s central inspiration. Over the course of the free eight-month program, the young artists also engage with the work of photographers such as Dawoud Bey, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Texas Isaiah, Ming Smith, and Carrie Mae Weems. These artists, alongside Van Der Zee, provide a rich intergenerational dialogue in which the teens can situate their work and practices.

Expanding the Walls and youth programs are made possible with support from the Keith Haring Foundation Education Fund; Joy of Giving Something; Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation; Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation; Hearst Endowment Fund; and by the Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Trust. The Studio Museum in Harlem’s Learning and Engagement programs are supported by the Thompson Foundation Education Fund; Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation; May and Samuel Rudin Family Foundation. Additional support provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts. The Studio Museum in Harlem is deeply grateful for Donna Van Der Zee’s continued support of Expanding the Walls.