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Behind VA Shadows Boston

 Yolanda He Yang founded Behind VA Shadows in 2021 while working as a Visitor Assistant (VA) at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. It began, she says, out of “a sentimental need”—a way to preserve the friendships she had found among her colleagues. The name refers to the faint black smudges that accumulate on museum gallery walls: "VA shadows," the traces left by frontline workers leaning through long shifts on the floor. Behind VA Shadows takes its name from these marks, and its mission from what lies behind them: the creative lives of the museum workers who leave them.

During the pandemic, when institutional support fell short, Yolanda and her fellow VAs organized six online exhibitions through internal open calls, creating space for museum workers to make, share, and support one another. What began as a personal project gradually evolved into a collective one, and after a nomadic period of borrowed spaces and improvised gatherings, Behind VA Shadows now runs a gallery space in Harvard Square. Yet, as Yolanda reflects throughout our conversation, the project has never really been about a physical space. It is, above all, about the people who sustain it—and about imagining new forms of care, creativity, and mutual support for those whose labor too often goes unseen.



Yutong Shi, Yolanda He Yang, June 23, 2026

Yutong    

For people unfamiliar with Behind VA Shadows, how would you describe it briefly?

Yolanda    

I want to start with the name “VA Shadows.” It’s the black yet subtle smudge left on gallery walls in the museums—the smudges at shoulder or hip height, where most of the frontline workers lean during long shifts. Over time, each person accumulates a personal shadow. Positioning “behind” as a preposition is meant to give people who don’t know the story an incentive to dig deeper, to understand what’s behind the shadows and what these individuals’ lives are like. The reason why I started this socially-engaged art project is to provide support from the museum workers' perspective and to bring more visibility to frontline museum workers.

Yutong    

That’s really important. How and when did it start?

Yolanda    

Yeah, I started this as my personal project. But if you believe in collaboration, there’s no such thing as a personal project. This is about people. I worked with other VAs who were excited about the ideas, and we formed an informal structure. We did six online exhibitions through an internal open call to the group. These cozy, self-initiated activities mattered so much during the pandemic, when the institutional infrastructure was massively missing —and, honestly, it still isn’t. I think that’s kind of the preface of this project.

Yutong    

Going back a little bit, when Behind VA Shadows was still your personal project, what kinds of activities had you planned?

Yolanda    

The very early stage was me doing all this logistical, behind-the-scenes work while engaging, and for most of the time, explaining to VAs why we do this: talking in the gallery, hanging out after work, hosting workshops where we made things together. It was for artists of a robust practice, but also for people intimidated by calling themselves artists. The norm of “VA Shadows” existed before “Behind VA Shadows.” The whole project concept was built upon the recognized labor dwelling on the surface of the museums’ white walls.
        Recently, I’ve been working with Nemo on the archive because I’m interested in how community materials can be preserved. Back then, I spent a lot of personal time making agendas and crazy calendars to keep everyone on schedule. I took it very seriously and hoped other VAs would feel the same. It was agreed among VAs that this was a way to empower people, to help them believe in their creativity, and know there was a real audience, other than VAs.

Yutong    

It sounds like from the very start, the idea is to create a space and community for people to gather and exchange.

Yolanda    

Yes—to make space for the people I work with. I don’t know all the people who are involved in Behind VA Shadows exhibitions and programming, but the idea is the same: to create relational space, and to create space for people to create for themselves and others.

Yutong    

Can you share some key moments along the way? For example, getting the physical space in Harvard Square? 

Yolanda    

Definitely the first online exhibition Raison D’etre (2022), curated by Patrick Brennan, another VA and dear friend. He and I texted the night we launched our website. We counted down through text, clicked “publish” together, then texted each other, “birthday is today,” and emailed all the VAs at midnight. That was the first key moment. The second key moment was when we had our first in-person group exhibition via (2022) in Downtown Crossing.

Yutong    

I remember that.

Yolanda    

That was really fun. That exhibition involved about 145 artworks by 98 artists, who were working at the museum as Visitor Assistants, plus programming and performances in the basement. The third was our nomadic period: we didn’t know the future, but kept hanging out together and figuring out what was next and went for whatever came up.

Yutong    

Yeah, the nomadic period is fun. It’s uncertain, but it gives you flexibility and opens up possibilities. 

Yolanda    

That’s actually why I didn’t mention the Harvard Square space as a key moment. Behind VA Shadows doesn’t need to be tied to any physical space—anything material is temporary. It’s the people, the community, that matter most. 

Yutong    

What kinds of artists, projects, or conversations are you most interested in supporting? Has that changed over the years?

Yolanda    

We’re still centered on community building, especially for people who work in museums. Our priority is frontline staff—by “frontline,” I mean people who work on the floor and people on short-term contracts, yet are much needed for the operational needs of the institutions.
        A couple of weeks ago, I talked with the Head of Programs at Museums Moving Forward (MMF) about why staff surveys have a hard time reaching contractors and frontline workers. I reflected that it’s because they don’t feel they belong and don’t see why they should contribute to an institution that doesn’t invest in them. They might be socially motivated yet structurally unsupported to let themselves take on another burden.

Yutong    

You mentioned how important it was to create a space during the pandemic. Boston is a major city, but its art ecosystem doesn’t always feel sustainable—so many art schools and talented students, but it’s hard to stay, and major institutions don’t always support local artists. From your perspective, what do you think is missing from Boston’s cultural landscape? What do you hope your project—or other organizations—can help build or support in the future?

Yolanda    

First, I don’t see Behind VA Shadows as an organization. I believe that artist-led-project has more flexibility. We have less access to resources, but since we don’t report to anyone except the community we serve, we can do things freely.
        For the larger Boston ecosystem—compared to somewhere like Philadelphia—I think we need to prioritize resources for pre-emerging artists. There are so many criteria around “emerging” or “established.” But what about people who just graduated, or are still in school? What about people who are in their transitional stage in their lives, and art is the boat for them to wade through the uncertainty? I see Behind VA Shadows as a lab. Since we don’t function like an institution, I can feature artists who structurally aren’t yet supported.

Yutong    

Can you elaborate on that? What possibilities do you think these independent spaces offer that more established institutions often can’t?

Yolanda    

More space to experiment, and more understanding. For example, I don’t think marginalized groups are an attached attribute to their self-agencies—they’re positioned as marginalized through structures and politics. Independent spaces tend to understand this sensitivity in positioning people more clearly, so from the beginning there’s an awareness of that structural condition, and it becomes the foundation of how they work. In that sense, I think alternative spaces offer more empathy, forgiveness, and flexibility toward people structurally positioned as marginalized.

Yutong    

Can you give me a few examples of moments that really show how working independently as an artist-led group allows you to take risks and experiment in ways that would be difficult elsewhere?

Yolanda    

For example, I encourage people to take on roles they’re curious about. Nemo was working with me on exhibitions, but I realized that wasn’t really what she wanted; later, in grad school, she got interested in archives, so I told her to use Behind VA Shadows to develop that. The same with Shelby, our curatorial lead—a painter and incredible artist who also worked at ICA. She’s interested in curatorial work, so I told her that she’s welcome to imagine something and use Behind VA Shadows as a platform. I envision Behind VA Shadows to be a stepping stone for people early in their careers.

Yutong    

Over the past year, you’ve started a few new projects at Behind VA Shadows’s gallery space at Harvard Square. Can you talk about those?

Yolanda    

Earlier this year I kept asking: what’s the future of this project? Am I just keeping it alive administratively? I didn’t want to care about it for a moment after burnout, grant work, and logistics, so I slowed down. And I realized the core is to engage people—but equally, as the Founder, I needed a sense of renewal and excitement toward it. That’s why I shifted toward artistic production.
       One is Field Study of Leaning Bodies/Traces, where I invite curators, writers, scholars, and archivists to work with the gallery space. The idea is that, over time, the wall becomes layered with these accumulated interventions and colors. Another project is The Shelf. I wanted to make this long, narrow space more inhabitable—when people came in, it felt like a storefront window where artists just install work and leave. But what if this space can let them stay since we share the collective imagination here? All of this sits under what I think of as a larger Maintenance Project—maintaining not just the project, but the relationship between me, the space, and the people who pass through.

Yutong    

Speaking about labor and responsibility, what are some less visible forms of labor involved in maintaining Behind VA Shadows?

Yolanda    

Everything besides exhibitions and programming. Social media is invisible labor. So is maintaining relationships in the community, and that’s important to me, not because I solely want their support, but because I want to know their stories and support their visions. I see it as an extension of the project’s life.

Yutong    

How does Behind VA Shadows sustain itself financially?

Yolanda    

When we have money, we do material-based projects. When we don't have money, we do people- and concept-based projects.

Yutong    

What do you mean by material-based projects? Like publications?

Yolanda    

Yeah, publications. I actually front-loaded the money for the publication because I thought it was important to keep the momentum going. That was our fourth year, and I was confident we’d get the Collective Futures Fund. Once we did, I reimbursed costs.

Yutong    

You’ve already touched on this a little, but what have been the biggest challenges in sustaining the project over time? Not just financially, but socially or emotionally as well.

Yolanda    

Honestly, finances aren’t the biggest barrier, though it is essential if we take into account everyone’s voluntary labor. I think projects can survive—and even thrive—with fewer material resources; we rely on in-kind support like the gallery space, which is still a material resource.
        The bigger challenge is emotional. If I don’t pay attention to myself, it’s easy to get exhausted. Same for friends who work on this project with me. A project absorbs as much energy as you give it, but I have other priorities in my life too. I think that’s something people easily overlook.

Yutong    

I really relate. Looking back over the past five years, has Behind VA Shadows become something different from what you initially imagined?

Yolanda    

At the beginning, it felt like a group of kids playing in a backyard, and one of them knew they had to leave at a certain point, so they said, “Why don’t we make something together”—maybe an album or object to remember the moment and take with us. Now, as the project intersects with institutions across Greater Boston, I think of it as a kind of pseudo-supervision tool: institutions know there are people trying to make change. Within the community, it’s become a place where people feel they can connect, where they and their work can be seen.

Yutong    

What kinds of questions do you rarely get asked about Behind VA Shadows that you wish people would ask more?

Yolanda    

Good question. Maybe people don’t ask enough about how I work with volunteers, staff, and artists. People probably imagine we have monthly meetings or two-hour Zoom calls. We don’t. There are other ways to maintain a professional relationship, built on empathy and one-on-one connection.

Yutong    

Can you say more? You mentioned one-on-one check-ins with Nemo and Shelby, and your website lists a team of people with different roles. How do you all stay connected?

Yolanda    

I find formal group meetings stressful, especially since we can’t pay people—I’m not getting paid either. So I ask: how do we preserve people’s motivation and make working together enjoyable? One way is building one-on-one relationships. For larger productions, we come together once or twice a year. Last year, after a big block party, everyone came back to my studio, and we had dinner together. It’s all very informal. I think about how I’d treat a friend and how I maintain relationships with the people who volunteer.

Yutong    

Looking ahead, what projects or directions are you most excited about right now?

Yolanda    

I’ve been in conversation with MMF, and I’m excited to keep learning from their impressive data-driven research. Behind VA Shadows creates space conceptually and physically. But it can also create space structurally, by bringing the experiences and data of frontline workers into conversations like this. MMF’s goal is to build a more just museum sector by 2030—but how, if it excludes contractors or frontline workers traumatized by institutions who don’t feel comfortable speaking up?
        I’m also excited about the visiting lectures I’ll be giving. I want to reach students still in school and tell them graduating isn’t as scary as it can feel. If you don’t feel like there is a community you belong to, sometimes the best thing you can do is to create your own.

Yutong    

Is there any artist-led space that you'd recommend our readers look into?

Yolanda    

I’d recommend The Curated Fridge—Yorgos is great. I also love Shelter in Place, and Catherine’s Burlington Micro Gallery, which she built out of a van—a really beautiful project. 

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