West Acton History Exhibits
EAST WALL: West Acton Village: Apples, Trains, and Churches
WEST WALL: West Acton Villageworks: Planning a 21st Century Village Center
Our buildings are a venue for artists to display their work and gain recognition. Shows rotate regularly at The 537 Gallery, in our wellness center, and in The Gallery at Villageworks -- a meeting and events venue located at the heart of 525 Mass Ave. Come to Villageworks during regular business hours (9am-5pm, M-F) to see our galleries in person!
For purchasing information, please contact leasing@newhabitatpartners.com and we will connect you directly with the exhibiting artist.
Artists interested in being considered for an exhibit may send inquiries and samples to info@wellnessvw.com.
GALLERY HOURS: 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday
EAST WALL: West Acton Village: Apples, Trains, and Churches
WEST WALL: West Acton Villageworks: Planning a 21st Century Village Center
Interior Almanac
Jill Goldman-Callahan
For sales and inquires: windbuddha@verizon.net
Artist Website: jillgoldman-callahanstudio.com
Jill Goldman-Callahan is a contemporary abstract painter interested in mystery and process. She earned a BA in Fine Art and Anthropology from Bennington College and a Masters in Art Therapy from Lesley University. She has worked as an art therapist, art educator and studio artist. Jill’s paintings have been shown in multiple juried and solo shows.
“My aim is not just to depict, but to bestow. I aspire to the voice of an echo, the memory of stone, the secrets of water. ……….People often exhale when they enter my studio. Mood is as important to me as narrative. My calming compositions and peaceful palette offer a meditative invitation. Each painting is an authentic new world, a mirror or portal, a constructed recording of moments of pure responsiveness. Ultimately, I just make paintings that I want to see.” -Artist Jill Goldman-Callahan
Vibrant Life
Helen Rolfe Ham
Rolfe Fine Art
508-826-6067
facebook.com/RolfeFineArt
Helen Rolfe Ham is an intuitive painter who starts each piece with a color theme and then lets the paint take her where it wants to go. Inspired by nature, she paints landscapes, seascapes, trees, and flowers. Her work reflects a balance of color, motion, and energy, and transcends style, crossing impressionism, abstract and modern art. She paints with her love of life and optimism.
Helen works with gouache on watercolor paper, and sanded paper. She also works with oil and cold wax.
Helen's paintings have been juried into shows at the Rockport Art Association, The Mark Twain Library in Redding, Connecticut, and the Randall Library. To contact Helen, call or text the number above or DM via Facebook.com/Rolfe Fine Art.
The 40 Over 40 Portrait Experience is an art exhibit showcasing 40 remarkable women, each over the age of 40, who participated in a transformative photoshoot aimed at celebrating their beauty, their age and inspiring others. As we get older, we all have life stories, filled with both joys and heartaches. These photos are about capturing true beauty that represents each woman where they are today and how they have stepped into their power after 40.
In loving memory of Gerald Lee Foster (1936-2023), an exhibit of his art and design work will be exhibited in The Gallery at Villageworks, June 4th - July 13th. Presented by Mark Foster, Ryan Foster, and Shelby O’Neill.
Infinite Wonder
By: Suzie Mason
“My creativity is inspired by the belief that I am more than one thing, but rather many things simultaneously. I believe we all are.“ -Suzie Mason
Mason Mode
Artist : Suzie Mason
Abstract acrylic
Email : Suzicleq357@gmail.com
Instagram : @mason._.mode
The Acton Boxborough Regional High School Senior Art Exhibit will be on display in The Gallery at Villageworks from Monday April 22nd - Thursday May 23rd. Opening Reception Thursday April 25th from 5 - 7pm
Ahead of its 2024 awards ceremony, MAEA (Massachusetts Art Educators Association) presents artwork by Massachusetts art teachers. Representing school districts throughout the state, the collection is on display in The Gallery at Villageworks through April 17th.
The 537 Gallery features a seasonally rotating exhibit of work by the artists of Acton Open Studios.
Painter Melissa Vance’s realistic and symbolic still-lives now on display in Wellness at Villageworks.
Hailing from Central Illinois, Don Hammontree is a Salem, Massachusetts-based artist, photographer, musician and writer. His colorful paintings, which tend to focus on streetscapes,architecture and vintage automobiles, have been displayed throughout New England and the Midwest.
For more information about Hammontree’s work, email him at LVIV44@YAHOO.COM, call or text him at (508) 615-5808 or visit his Etsy store.
Stop in The Gallery to see the interactive ABRHS Senior Art Exhibit, with QR codes leading to the students’ artist statements. Opening Reception: Thursday May 4th, 5-7pm
GALLERY HOURS: 9am - 5pm, Monday - Friday
Catherine Meeks
catherine-meeks.squarespace.com
“As the youngest of three artist-siblings, I’ve been drawing and painting all my life. Much of my work reflects a lifelong love affair with the landscape, including the New England, mostly rural, vista that is a part of my everyday life.
When traveling, I seek out the local hills, waters, vegetation and early, distinctive or historic architecture.
A recent residency in Orquevaux, France (Pop. 75) is currently playing an important part in my artistic journey. I made connections with painters, writers, sculptors, and musicians from all over the world and of a wide range of ages and stages. After two years of seeing almost no one outside my tiny bubble, this experience informed, and will continue to inform, the work I’m doing in the studio. I returned home feeling refreshed and with a renewed sense of peace.
My aim is to convey a feeling of connection and tranquility.” -Catherine Meeks
“Painting is my “happy place.” I am in continual awe of the God-created beauty that surrounds me in nature. Painting is my way of reacting to the beauty that I see. Whether on a walk, going for a swim, taking a ride in a boat or car, I am continually observing the glorious nature that I feel privileged to be a part of. Watching how light always interacts with the scenery, I am pulled into that world and am filled with inspiration. My mission is to capture a moment in time of an ever-changing world in which the airy weight of a cloud drifts over the landscape, where a wave swells to a crest and then breaks or a tide that floods and recedes effortlessly while time marches on, never to be seen again. “ -David Denyse
David Denyse, Landscape Artist
Instagram: @david_denyse_art
Email: David.denyse7@gmail.com
We are pleased to host the 2022 Senior Visual Arts Graduation Show in the Gallery for this year’s graduating Seniors from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School.
Reception on Thursday May 12th
Landscape Painter Margo Cascella shares a range of her work including landscapes, historic buildings, and farm houses.
“I find inspiration wherever I am. I paint almost every day and with every painting my style and love of painting grows. Viewers have told me my paintings give them a sense of exhilaration and hope. I am drawn to color, shape and movement. When I experience this in nature my paintings reflect these feelings of optimism and promise.” -Margo Cascella
Margo Cascella, Landscape Painter
margocascella.com
instagram.com/margocascella
We are pleased to host the 2021 Senior Visual Arts Graduation Show in the Gallery for this year’s graduating Seniors from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School.
Jess Barnett returns for her second exhibition at Wellness at Villageworks. In her work, Jess Barnett explores the duality of personality within her imagery. Themes include longing, distance in relationships, loss, and remembrance. She often uses painted or drawn words within paintings to emphasize these themes. In her latest pieces, she incorporates hand stitching with colored thread, representing rebirth and redemption. More at jessbarnett.com.
“The work I’ve included in this exhibition is a selection of pieces I’ve made over the last four months that we’ve all been in isolation to some extent. The paintings feel very related to the state of the world, while the drawings are deeply personal. Making these “Isolation Drawings” was a way to reflect and record parts of my experience and feelings during a unique and alien time. Sharing them is a way of communicating the complexities of these experiences as directly and clearly as I can during this globally shared experience.”
-Lauren G. Levine
Lauren G. Levine (b.1973) is an American artist living and working in the Boston area. Visit her website at www.laurenglevineart.com Follow her on Instagram @laurenglevineart
Nature photographs by Terri Ackerman featuring birds, mammals and other wildlife from New England, South America and Africa.
Image: "Lilac-Breasted Roller", from South Africa
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Acton Boxborough Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Celebrate the creativity of the Acton Boxborough Visual Arts (ABVA) Faculty! They've taught our kids art skills and encouraged their creativity. This is a chance for the ABVA Faculty to share their own artwork with our community. Join us for an opening reception on Thursday February 6th 6-7:30pm.
Lavanya Selvaraj is a self-taught Mandala artist who lives with her husband and two kids in North Acton. Selvaraj describes the process of making mandalas as “therapeutic, meditative and addicting.” She states, “the repetitive process involved in making Mandala is truly magical and I am always mesmerized with the result.”
Mandalas always start at a center point and from there radially emerge with various shapes, lines and swirls. Selvaraj takes inspiration from nature and everyday things and visualizes the Mandala design in her mind before transferring it on to the canvas. All her works are created by hand with lots of passion and love.
Lavanya Selvaraj
Mandala Artist | Acton, Massachusetts
lavanya.hemanth@gmail.com
Jess Barnett explores the duality of personality within her imagery. Themes include longing, distance in relationships, loss, and remembrance. She often uses painted or drawn words within paintings to emphasize these themes. In her latest pieces, she incorporates hand stitching with colored thread, representing rebirth and redemption. More at jessbarnett.com.
Presented by Miranda’s Hearth in The Gallery at Villageworks, FIBROUS: A fiber arts exhibition features both innovative and traditional fiber art side-by-side. This combination emphasizes the rich history and dynamic contemporary usage of fiber materials.
Sunanda Sahay grew up in Darbhanga, the heart of the Madhubani region in northern India. The region carries a rich pastel of cultural legacy in art and literature. Artistic interests led Sunanda to seek out practitioners of the art from local villages and learn directly from them. Now she practices and popularizes the art in the U.S.A. This exhibit features several of Sahay's paintings surrounded by the work of her Madhubani Art students (who range in age from second graders to retirees). More at colorofindia.com.
Oil painter Margo Casella’s vibrant landscapes show the artist’s love of nature and seasons, “I am drawn to color, shape and movement. When I experience these in nature my paintings reflect feelings of optimism and promise.”
Margo Casella
margocascella.com
Curated by The Umbrella Community Arts Center
An exhibition of original art, prints, labels and fan art celebrating independent craft breweries’ commitment to supporting creativity.
Reception Friday, May 10, 7:30-9:30pm. Open to the Public.
Tim William Owen is a photographer who has resided in the Acton-Boxborough area for nearly 25 years. Tim’s passion for photography was fueled as a college student, where he used his beloved Nikon FM and a darkroom to capture and share … a ‘spirited’ campus life. Since that time, Tim has fully embraced digital photography and imaging … the result of being immersed in the high technology industry and the start-up world for decades.
Tim’s artistic style is to use natural light as the foundation of a great photograph. He believes “light is Mother Nature’s paintbrush”. His photo expeditions often include rising at 3:30am to ensure he is in the right place as a new day awakens and unveils its glory.
Born and raised in the UK, it was only after Ceri Herd moved to the USA in 2014 that she felt she found her true photographic voice. The Imag[in]e Exhibition is the culmination of her first experiences and interpretations of New England. Her style has become predominantly characterized by in-camera creative techniques that create a dream-like ideal. Whether it is with intentional camera movement, double exposures, shooting through objects or freelensing, there are always extra elements that can be incorporated into an image to transport the viewer to the moment or place in a unique way. In October 2018 Ceri and her family were unexpectedly ordered to leave the USA. Imag[in]e is a unique and finite interpretation of what she left behind.
hello@ceriherd.com | www.ceriherd.com
“These paintings express my love for all living things, past and present, and finding peace in a world where your imagination knows no bounds. I appreciate all things in nature, humbled by the design. I also admire Chinese brush painting, and the skill and artistry involved in that. My goal is to combine these two together in my own style.” — Artist Rick Lowe
aquabonsai@yahoo.com
978.944.4297
aquabonsai.etsy.com
Instagram: @aquabonsai
"The natural forms found in the landscape have always uplifted me, even in uneasy times. The beauty of nature is generous and and humbling. There is an irresistible urge to capture and paint particles of its endless combinations and wonder. I have enjoyed mixing abstract designs with flowers. It creates a different sensibility. My aim is to give a bit of joy to the viewer."
The artwork shown in this exhibition is divided into two groups. CITYSCAPES features panoramas of New York and other cities. AERIAL VIEWS is a series impressionistic landscapes based on locations real and imagined. Although two groups of works may appear to differ stylistically, all of the pieces emphasize lines, colors, and patterns that coalesce into images that are recognizable to varying degrees. My approach to making art is not about choosing realism or abstraction. Both sensibilities operate in tandem and inform all my works. I rely on solid observation of actual places to depict light and space. Delineating the abstract qualities of an image frees me to create new techniques and designs. Please join Anna for a reception celebrating her exhibit on Sunday July 8th, 4:30pm-6:00pm. The event is FREE and open to the public. Contact Anna Herrick via email aherrick63@comcast.net. For more information, please visit annaherrick.com.