About Jason Talbot

Jason Talbot is a co-founder and alumnus of Artists For Humanity (AFH), a Boston area non-profit organization that combines art and entrepreneurship to address today’s most challenging social, economic and racial issues. The largest employer of Boston teens, AFH provides some of the city’s most under-resourced youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in the arts. Currently serving as the Director of Fine Art Entrepreneurship and member of AFH’s Board of Directors, Jason has dedicated the last 32 years of his life ensuring that Boston’s young people are guided towards a successful life by encouraging their self-expression through art. Jason’s reach in the Boston area extends beyond the walls of AFH. In 2012, Jason was chosen as one of Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders, the following year he received the Mentor of the Year Award from Youth Design. Jason is a member of WGBH’s Board of Advisors, and in 2021, he attended the Arts & Cultural Organization Management course at Harvard Business School. Jason is also still producing his own brand of visionary street art.

Jason’s Be the Change Piece

Our Family Tree

As a young man, I grew to be 6 feet tall. Being a big black man in Boston, my father worried about me because of his own experiences with the police. He was right to worry. I was targeted, harassed, assaulted, detained, and ultimately thoroughly traumatized. The worst part for me was that I was a pretty good kid trying my best to avoid the gangs and drugs surrounding me. I was working towards a bright future but was punished by the police for my appearance. It appeared I was on a one-way street leading toward incarceration. It was hard to stay optimistic when I was being targeted by both criminals and the police.

Be The Change: Jewishly Inspired Public Art Movement

Be the Change is a 2022-2023 art and activism initiative that is inspired by the Jewish tenet of justice and drawing from the ritualistic Jewish Tzedakah box. Taking place in Boston, Cincinnati, L.A., and online, Be the Change will help viewers connect to issues of injustice and empower them to become agents of change.

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Related Events & Content

City Talk | Be the Change

Trans Equality for BIPOC Youth & Domestic Violence | Be the Change

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