Welcome to the Blackstone Valley Art Association webpage! We have been supporting arts in the Blackstone Valley since 1957. Our main gallery is in Uxbridge; we sponsor numerous shows, events, and workshops throughout the year. This website provides hundreds of pages on local art shows, art events, field trips, workshops, museum visits, and much, much more. We even have a lending library. We are warmly inclusive of all levels, backgrounds, and abilities. Feel free to contact us with any questions!
This Uxbridge gallery is supported in part by BVAA member dues, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and by ValleyCAST. The space use is kindly donated to us by ValleyCast, the community outreach department of Open Sky Community Services. Open Sky uses this space for special-needs client activities during daytime weekdays. They allow the BVAA use of the space – and its gallery walls – on evenings and weekends. We actively support their inclusive mission. All are welcome to all of our events and activities!
Our Tenth Annual BVAA Sunflower Show is the lucky way to enjoy golden beauty! Our Sunflower art show is held at the amazing local bookstore / gift shop / cafe Booklovers’ Gourmet.
Where? The sunflower art show is held at the: Booklovers’ Gourmet 72 E Main Street Webster, MA 01570
About the Show If there ever was a flower which symbolized glorious summertime, the sunflower is the one. Did you know that nearly all of the 70 species of sunflowers are native to North America? They can grow to be up to six feet tall and they even tilt as the sun moves so they always face it!
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is celebrating this sun-shaped delight with a sunflower show throughout the month of August at the Booklovers’ Gourmet in Webster. Come on out to appreciate the artistic visions and explore the shop’s offerings!
Submissions
The JPG email submission deadline for the sunflower show is Sunday, July 26th, 2026. We have limited wall space at the Booklovers’ Gourmet for 18 items sized around 16×20. The art doesn’t have to be exactly that size, but in that general range. Smaller is fine; massive 4′ by 8′ murals will not fit.
What we’ll do is have each member submit one or two JPGs of artwork via email to info@bvaa.org they’d like to include. If we get too many for the available wall space we’ll do a Facebook vote. All submissions will be in the virtual version of the show.
This show is open to all BVAA members and is FREE to participate in. This is not a judged show – it is primarily a visibility and sales opportunity. We pretty much sell artwork every year we hold this show. Please submit sunflowers intended for sale :). The Booklovers’ Gourmet is a book and small gift shop. The art that sells tends to be in the $40-$80 range, not the $300-$500 range. That being said, feel free to enter whatever art you’d like that is sunflower-themed. You never know what will catch a buyer’s eye!
Any sales will include a 30% commission taken by the shop. The BVAA takes no commission on this show. Full BVAA terms: BVAA Show Terms and Conditions
Drop-Off The drop-off for the Sunflower Show is Thu July 30th and Fri July 31st between 10am-5pm. Items should be dropped off directly at the Booklovers’ Gourmet shop. If you can’t make either date, contact Lisa Shea and she’ll arrange something. The Booklovers’ Gourmet shop will take care of hanging and labelling the items. Please make sure that the back of EVERY art piece is labelled with your name, the artwork title, its medium, and price. That way Deb knows what labels go with what pieces.
Public Reception Our sunflower show Artist’s Reception will be on Friday August 21st from 5-7pm. Please plan on attending! Invite family and friends! Share the news!
Pick-Up Pick-up for the show is Saturday August 29th from 12 noon to 5pm. If you can’t make it, let Lisa know and she’ll get your art for you. Please leave your art in the show through Sat Aug 29th. We are doing heavy publicity for this show and want to make sure all art is available wholly through that ending date. Some people wait until the last minute to buy. We’ve had multiple people buy art on the morning of the pickup date! Also, we create a video at the end to promote any unsold art, so people know it’s available.
Theme This show is all about sunflowers! Anything related to sunflowers is fair game. Photography, paintings, drawings, sculptures, mosaics, you name it! Look through the artwork from previous years to see how other artists have tackled this theme.
Here is a great show opportunity for all artists! The Pearle L. Crawford memorial library in Dudley, Massachusetts has a gorgeous meeting room with an easy-to-use hanging system. You can slide the art supports left or right. You can slide the hooks up or down on the hanging support. The system has about 26 hanging units and you can double-stack or triple-stack on them if you need to.
This is a free opportunity. You can have art in the room for one month. You are responsible for all installation and take-down.
This view begins as you look into the room facing the far end. Then it turns to the right in each image, to show you each view in the room.
Here is the same meeting room after Lisa Shea installed her cyanotype art show. Note that Lisa taped her labels to the bottom of her art, so that the labels were NOT attached to the walls. Labels should NOT have prices – people can contact you for more information, and you would handle any sales privately.
The librarians created the posters for the door based on Lisa supplying an artist’s statement.
Here is the view of the room from the hallway. When you first enter the library, this room is immediately to your right.
Be sure to contact the library if you’re interested in showcasing your art in this room!
Summertime is a great time to enjoy art! Come out and participate in our summer Milford TV Art Show! This art show is open to all current BVAA Members and is FREE to participate in. Did you know we held our very first art show reception at Milford TV on January 19th 2013? We’ve been holding shows here for over 13 years!! We love our relationship with Milford TV :).
The Milford TV Station is an active public location which creates a wide variety of cable TV shows. People come and go quite often. Our gallery consists of the walls of their long hallways. This public showcase gives us the opportunity to make numerous social media posts about the art. Milford TV has even done live interviews with our artists, which they share out on YouTube and with other local cable stations. The public can then stop by Milford TV any time they are available to see the art and buy it.
This show is NOT JUDGED. It is a publicity opportunity. This means you can bring in ANY art you want, even if it’s been in a previous BVAA show. This is a great chance to get extra art off your walls, out of your basement, and out on public display.
This is a perfect way to showcase art to build your audience and to make a sale. There is no theme – you can bring in any wall-hanging art you wish! Art must be wired in order to hang on the hanging system.
Drop-Off Our show dropoff will be the week of July 27 – 31, 2026. Milford TV is generally open normal business hours, but call ahead to make sure someone will be there, just in case. Their phone number is 508-488-6445. If you can’t make any of those days / times let our contact Dominique Charest-Ciampa know at Dominique@milfordtv.net and we’ll figure something out.
Note that for security reasons, since the DMV is just a few doors down and gets a lot of foot traffic, the Milford TV station has a doorbell to ring to be let in. There’s a sign on the door instructing you to press the doorbell. Please do that :).
If you still have art at Milford TV from a previous show, please pick it up during this time. We like to cycle old art out to have space for fresh art there. Thanks!
Reception The reception for our August-September 2026 Milford TV Art Show will be held on a Thursday to be determined from 5-7pm. There isn’t an award ceremony for this free show – the show is a creative outlet for our artists and fans. Our Milford TV Art Show receptions are wonderful relax-and-talk-with-snacks events! Open to the public! All are welcome to attend!
Show Details for the Artists The Milford TV Station employees create the labels and perform the hanging for us. There is no need to use the BVAA online submission form to indicate what you’re bringing. Simply be sure to label the back of each piece with its title, your name, contact info, and the price. The Milford TV employees need to be able to look at the back of the artwork to know how to label it.
This show is for BVAA members only and is free to participate in.
The Milford TV station does not take any commission on sales. Neither does the BVAA. This is an ideal sales venue, and we do see sales regularly at this venue.
This is a long hallway – bring up to five pieces to represent your art! The items can be any size or shape – Milford has a great hanging system which can accommodate pretty much anything. If you are working in a smallish size which can vertically stack, you can bring up to 10 pieces.
Pickup Milford TV would like to have this show up through the end of September 2026. They are suggesting a show swap date range of September 28 – October 2, 2026. If you need your art back earlier, we can work that out.
Here’s a video from our current spring 2026 show.
Here are some photos from previous Milford TV Station shows, to give a sense of what the space is like.
We had over 90 entries in our 2026 “Series Show” where each artist puts in two or three artwork items which are related to each other in some way. The judge was Ella Delyanis. She had a very challenging time choosing the winners amongst all of the great entries! Here are the artists who were chosen!
First Place: Beverly Tinklenberg – watercolor portraits
Portrait of Tom / Portrait of Leslie / Portrait of Gerhart by Beverly Tinklenberg
Second Place: Lynne Galluzzo – colored pencil kaleidoscope flowers
Solar System colored pencil art by Lynne Galluzzo
Third Place: Melissa Beyer watercolor boats
Waiting Out The Storm / Moored / Beached watercolor paintings by Melissa Beyer
Honorable Mention: Mike Backunas “Reeds of Dreams” photography
Reeds of Dreams photography by Mike Backunas
Honorable Mention: Merilyn Rocks oil, acrylics, and watercolor cottages
Rose Cottage England oil / Osprey Cottage England acrylic / Marie McGuiness’ Cottage Isle of Sky Scotland Watercolor by Merilyn Rocks
Honorable Mention: David Skillins acrylic tractors
“Left Out in the Cold” / “Ready for Work” acrylic paintings by David Skillins
Blue! What does the word “blue” evoke in your mind? Is it the brilliant blue sky on a summer’s day? Maybe a stretch of gorgeous blue ocean? How about a blue hydrangea, a blue heron, or a blue vase in a window? It could be a feeling of the blues on a misty morning. Let your imagination soar!
This 2026 art show is for all active BVAA members.
When: September 5th to October 17th, 2026
Where: BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery 5 South Main Street Uxbridge, MA 01569
There is a LOT of free parking immediately next to this building. It is fully and easily handicapped accessible.
Entering the Show The theme is on the topic of “BLUE”. You can represent ANYTHING with your art that, to you, calls up the concept of BLUE. Any topic can be addressed as long as it is family-friendly. Artwork can be any size. That being said, please contact us first if you plan on bringing anything over 20″ x 30″ in size. We need to arrange for space for those separately.
All wall-hanging items must be properly wired for hanging. Our hanging system does not work with saw-tooth or triangle hangers. If you are new to preparing artwork for shows, read our page on How to Mat and Frame a Photo. Please also check out our Show Terms and Conditions
Submissions To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The fee to participate is $8 per item or three for $20. The deadline to submit the online form for labels is Saturday September 5th at midnight.
Drop Off of Works Work must be dropped off on Saturday, September 5th between 10am and 3pm. Please only drop off at that specific day and time – it is when BVAA volunteers are at the gallery. All work which is brought in will be displayed in the show (as long as it is family-friendly and, if hanging on a wall, has proper wiring).
Opening Reception The show reception will be Friday, September 11th from 5-7. Invite family and friends – all are welcome! We tend to announce the prize winners at 6pm, right in the middle. We award cash prizes based on the amount of entry-fee money the show brings in. All the money that comes in for the show goes right back out to the people who win awards in that show.
Pick Up Saturday, October 17th, 2026, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, contact us for other arrangements. Please only come to pick up art on that Saturday. The Open Sky staff which handles this space during the week does not want to be responsible for allowing art to be taken away.
To get some inspiration,, here is our “Green” art show from 2025!
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring our eighth annual “Show of Hands” open art show! The public is warmly invited to participate in this art show! The theme is completely open. Your art can represent anything. This show is open to all forms of artistic expression EXCEPT photography / digital art. It is the counterpoint to our photography-only show in January.
We would love to see watercolors, acrylic paintings, oil paintings, sculptures, pottery, mixed media, drawings, pastels, colored pencils, sketches, and other non-photographic / non-digital forms of artwork.
All levels of artists are enthusiastically encouraged to participate. This is a community show. You do not need to be a BVAA member to enter artwork into this show.
We award cash prizes!
When: August 1 to September 5, 2026
Where: BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery 5 South Main Street Uxbridge, MA 01569
There is a LOT of free parking immediately next to this building. It is fully and easily handicapped accessible.
Entering the Show The theme is wide open. You can represent ANYTHING with your art. Any topic can be addressed as long as it is family-friendly and is not photography / digital art. Artwork can be any size. That being said, please contact us first if you plan on bringing anything over 20″ x 30″ in size. We need to arrange for space for those separately.
All wall-hanging items must be properly wired for hanging. Our hanging system does not work with saw-tooth or triangle hangers. If you are new to preparing artwork for shows, read our page on How to Mat and Frame a Photo. Please also check out our Show Terms and Conditions
Submissions To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The fee to participate is $15 for members and $20 for non-members. You can submit up to 2 pieces for that fee. The deadline to submit the online form for labels is Saturday August 1st at midnight.
Drop Off of Works Work must be dropped off on Saturday, August 1st between 10am and 3pm. Please only drop off at that specific day and time – it is when BVAA volunteers are at the gallery. All work which is brought in will be displayed in the show (as long as it is family-friendly and, if hanging on a wall, has proper wiring).
Opening Reception The show reception will be Friday, August 7th from 5-7. Invite family and friends – all are welcome! We tend to announce the prize winners at 6pm, right in the middle, about 6pm. We award cash prizes based on the amount of entry-fee money the show brings in. All the money that comes in for the show goes right back out to the people who win awards in that show.
Pick Up Saturday, September 5th, 2026, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, contact us for other arrangements. Please only come in on Saturday – the Open Sky staff who are there during the week do not want to be responsible for allowing artwork to be taken away.
It’s our eighth annual Carbon Copies show! The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring a delightfully fun art show all about fakes, forgeries, and parodies!
Carbon Copies – Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
This Carbon Copies show is for all BVAA members to participate in. The idea is to find a famous work of art and then duplicate it! You can duplicate it exactly or you can add your own fun twist to it. You can paint a version of a Gertrude Käsebier photo. You can stage a photo which resembles a Monet painting. Maybe you paint Mona Lisa as a dog.
The sky’s the limit!
The submitted artwork doesn’t have to be a painting. You can use digital art to poke fun at a famous photo. You can stage a model to resemble a historical sculpture. You can arrange a photo scene of Legos to mimic a Japanese woodblock. It’s up to you.
Note that the source art needs to be in the public domain. In general that means it needs to have been created before 1930. Art which is under copyright, after 1930, has its rights controlled by that artist (or their estate). You would need to ask that artist (or their estate) for permission to use their work in any exhibit.
When: July 11th to August 1, 2026
Where: BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery 5 South Main Street Uxbridge, MA 01569
There is a TON of free parking immediately next to this building. It is fully and easily handicapped accessible.
Each BVAA member may exhibit up to three artworks.
Entering the Show The entry fee for the Carbon Copies show, open to all styles of artwork, is $8/piece or $20 for three. You can submit up to three pieces.
Artwork can be any size. That being said, please contact us first if you plan on bringing anything over 20″ x 30″ in size. We need to arrange for space for those separately.
All art must be family friendly and properly wired for hanging. Our hanging system does not work with saw-tooth or triangle hangers. If you are new to preparing art for shows, read our page on How to Mat and Frame a Photo. Please also check out our Show Terms and Conditions. This includes all details including the 25% commission for any sales of exhibit artwork in the gallery. You may also choose to have your artwork listed as not for sale.
All art items which are entered are hung. There is no “pre-selection” process where some are accepted and others are rejected. If you submit artwork, and it is family-friendly and wired properly, it will be part of our show.
Submissions To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The deadline to submit is midnight on Saturday, July 11th, 2026. To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. Work must be dropped off on Saturday, July 11th, 2026 between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly). If you have one, please bring along a printout of each of your source artwork items, so we can hang those alongside your artwork. That way visitors can see what you were working with. If you don’t have printouts, let us know the artist & work title and we’ll track down and print those out for you.
Judging We are doing this as a PEOPLE’S CHOICE voting! Once the show is live, be sure to get your votes in!
Please vote on 1st 2nd 3rd place! Your votes choose the winners! Please share the video so more people can vote!
Awards Reception The awards reception is at the Uxbridge gallery on Friday, July 31st, 2026 from 5-7pm. We hold the reception at the end of this show so that everyone has a chance to vote. Please bring a snack or drink to share! All are warmly encouraged to attend! We announce the winners around 6pm.
Pickup The pickup for this show is Saturday August 1st from 10am to 3pm. Please don’t pick up art before that point – Open Sky doesn’t want to be responsible for knowing who is allowed to take art out of the gallery. Thanks!
To see what the Carbon Copies vibe is about, check out these videos from our previous shows!
Ask with any questions! We look forward to seeing your entries!
This Uxbridge gallery is supported in part by BVAA member dues, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and by ValleyCAST. The space use is kindly donated to us by ValleyCAST, the community outreach department of Open Sky Community Services. Open Sky uses this space for special-needs client activities during daytime weekdays. They allow the BVAA use of the space – and its gallery walls – on evenings and weekends. We actively support their inclusive mission. All are welcome to all of our events and activities!
Summertime is a busy time for many of our artists, so we keep our summer workshops light and fun.
The workshop will involve Carol Frieswick’s book and card set “The Artist’s Muse – Unlock the Door to Your Creativity”. There are bunches of cards with all sorts of challenges and prompts to get you thinking out of the box with your art. We’ll have watercolors, paper, and brushes on hand. We’ll have acrylic paint, cyanotype paper, and more! If you have a preferred medium feel free to bring along your own paints, pencils, or camera. We will tackle the creative challenges with whatever we like to work with. Or, heck, if you normally work in one media, try changing over to another to see how it goes!
If you’d like to bring in a few of your works in progress, we’re happy to offer friendly ideas and suggestions on them!
Our summer meetings are casual and drop-in. Come and leave whenever you want, and work on whatever projects you’d like.
Our June 2026 monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 16th from 6:30-8:30pm.
Location: BVAA Uxbridge Community Gallery 5 South Main Street Uxbridge, MA 01569
The space is fully handicapped / disability accessible with no stairs. It is immediately next to a large free parking lot. There is a bathroom.
This meeting and workshop is free and open to the public. No experience is necessary. The fun of our workshops is that we all try new things we’ve never done before.
In general, our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month unless otherwise announced.
All are welcome – this workshop is open to members and non-members. Feel free to bring along a friend! We’d love to see you there to try some new things and explore your creativity!
Ask with any questions!
Our meetings are supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Want to enjoy a delightful afternoon of art, food, and music? Join us on Friday June 19th from 12:30-2:30pm for our photography & urban sketching workshop at the 25th St. Spyridon Greek Festival! All levels of artists, photographers, food enthusiasts, and friends warmly encouraged to participate. This event is open to the public.
Note that because we are holding this month’s activity at the St. Spyridon Greek Festival, YOU MUST SEPARATELY PAY AN ENTRANCE FEE TO THE FESTIVAL. That entrance fee is $2. If you are a individual served by Open Sky, talk with Open Sky about being sponsored for this event. You pay that entry fee directly to the Greek Festival when you arrive.
We will meet at the St. Spyridon Greek Festival, past the entry gates at 12:30pm. Photographer Lisa Shea will provide a brief introductory discussion of ideas for taking photos and sketching in an outdoor setting. Then we will explore the festival from 12:30-2:30pm. You can roam on your own, stay with the group, and ask questions whenever you wish. Feel free to come early or stay late!
Location: St. Spyridon Greek Festival 102 Russell Street Worcester, MA 01609 https://www.gfwoo.com/
Date and Time: Friday June 19th, 2026 12:30-2:30pm
Please be sure to RSVP to join the group. If you’d like camera help, let Lisa know what type of cellphone or camera you plan on bringing. Lisa can then send you a PDF of ideas to get you started. If you don’t have access to any cellphone or camera, we have a few we would be able to lend for the afternoon.
Whether you participate in the field trip or not, please consider then sending in a few of your picnic / food truck / eating outdoors photos to participate in the free ValleyCAST virtual art show. This show has a deadline of Tuesday, June 30th, 2026!
The unofficial mascot of our annual art-poetry pairing is Carole Plante’s amazing surrealistic painting which we have nicknamed “Propeller Girl”! Carole painted this as a fun project. She had her painting materials out while she was talking on the phone with a friend. Without telling her friend what she was doing, Carole asked her friend for two nouns. The friend obliged. Later in the conversation, Carole asked the friend for two more nouns, and so on. Each noun got incorporated into the painting as they went.
Carole’s husband Evan is a well-known local poet. Evan then wrote a poem to go with Carol’s fun painting.
Here are the results!
source artwork:
poetry response:
Propeller Girl
by Evan Plante
Whither goest thou, fair one… with thine colander hat and propeller lavaliere? I know your secrets, vixen… with your faraway look and your winsome gaze. You have captured my soul today.
I get it, by the way… that life is more an explosion than a stream (although both are true). But you… well… you know my truth, too — and that scares me a bit!
But I feel brave today, so slide on over. Let’s touch hips and not let anyone know. Let’s have a secret love… one that steams the place up — one that embarrasses the kids!
But before we run headlong together, know this: Living in the moment is not for the feint hearted! Indeed, it takes courage to live directly every day. But whatever the future holds for us, oh Lady of Whimsey, I vow to be worthy of your colander.
