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!
In this amazing workshop with Sue Dion, artists of all styles can learn more about color hue and chroma. This knowledge elevates watercolors, acrylics, oil paintings, colored pencils, pastels, and more. Understanding how your personal set of colors work and how to mix / blend them can be critical to creating a cohesive final painting. In addition, learning how to ‘dull’ your colors with their complements can be the key to creating rich depth in your images.
To begin with, you’ll want to trace / draw two templates onto whatever type of paper or canvas you use for your medium.
First, trace or draw this color wheel. It doesn’t need to be “exact”. It just needs to have these general wedge areas.
Next, draw out these trios of squares on your chosen type of paper / canvas. Again, the squares don’t need to be any specific size or shape. It’s just about making places to put your colors together.
You’ll be guided through how to use these templates in the video workshop.
Here’s the color wheel Sue shows in the video:
Here is the hour-long workshop, supported in part by the Uxbridge Cultural Council.
For Primary Yellow, Sue suggests using something close to: cadmium yellow light / hansa yellow / lemon yellow
Here are some of the items that Sue recommends during her workshop:
Talented artist Bonnie Frederico offers small-class art classes in the comfort of her Grafton studio! Bonnie is offering classes in oil painting, pastels, and colored pencil. She provides hands-on advice and mentoring!
Here are just a few of her paintings to show her style. Click on any image for the full-proportion version.
One of Bonnie’s popular paintings is of a gorgeous bluebird –
Bonnie has done a number of step-by-step video workshops on painting for the BVAA over the years. This one is of the Grafton Gazebo in winter –
Bonnie also did a video workshop on painting a rural Grafton barway (fence gate)-
Scott Nelson is an incredibly talented artist based in Millbury, Massachusetts. He has published a number of children’s books and teaches classes in illustrating and publishing children’s books. He also is well known for his beautiful watercolor and acrylic paintings.
As of 2023, Scott’s latest classes at the Worcester Art Museum have a registration date of May 19th, 2023 for the upcoming session.
He is teaching classes in:
Beginner/Intermediate Drawing
Pen and Ink-Colored Pencil-Watercolor
Watercolor
Studio Invitational (Only open to students who have taken other classes with him.).
Scott highly recommends the drawing class to everyone, to create a foundation for their projects.
Libia Goncalves is an incredibly talented artist. She has chosen to focus her creative energies on mentoring the next generation of artists. From her Milford studio, she offers art classes for small groups of students, helping them learn skills in drawing, painting, composition, color, and more.
Libia offers her classes in both English and Spanish. Her studio’s name is DColorex.
Here are just a few of the talented students Libia works with:
A few of Libia’s own works:
Here’s a video Libia created of how to create a crayon-resist watercolor castle:
It’s our fifth 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 Roger Fenton photo. You can stage a photo which resembles a Vermeer painting. Maybe you paint Mona Lisa as a cat.
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 1927. Art which is under copyright, after 1927, has its rights controlled by that artist. You would need to ask that artist for permission to use their work in any exhibit.
When: July 8th to August 5th, 2023
Where: BVAA Alternatives 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 8th, 2023. To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. Work must be dropped off on Saturday, July 8th, 2023 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 Judge to be announced
Opening Reception The opening reception is at the Uxbridge gallery on Friday, July 14th, 2023 from 5-7pm. Please bring a snack or drink to share! All are warmly encouraged to attend!
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!
We have a private room reserved for our group. This year we will have round tables, which should help with mingling and conversation. Also, we will be assigned 2-3 experienced servers so the process moves smoothly.
Each person can order whatever they want and will get their own bill, so it is wholly up to you what you want to eat or drink from that menu. If you want to save money, it’s fine to come, have some soda, and just hang out with us. There’s no up-front payments.
Please let us know if you are thinking about coming, so we have a rough headcount for the restaurant. You’re welcome to bring someone with you.
We would love to see you on May 16th.
There will not be any event in the Uxbridge gallery on Tue May 16th. We will only be at the Grill 122.
Ask if you have any questions, and have a great weekend!
Monochrome beauty is being celebrated for our May-June 2023 Show! Monochrome doesn’t have to be black and white. It can be an image done in shades of pink. In lush green. The featured color you choose is up to you!
This date is also the take-down for the existing “Spring Joy” show. If you’re not able to make it for this pickup date, please wait until after the reception to stop by and retrieve your art. That way the show is up for its full publicized period. I.e. don’t swing in before April 27th.
Note that we want ALL FORMS OF ART!! Sketches can be monochrome. Paintings can be monochrome! And of course photography can be monochrome. Just focus on one hue! This is a monochrome painting by Whistler.
All BVAA members are encouraged to participate!
Drop-Off (and previous show pick-up) Thursday, April 27th, 2023 6-8pm The public is warmly welcome and encouraged to attend the drop-off, to chat with the artists. Many artists hang out to chat during this period. Artists – please bring food or drink to share!
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. 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.
Most artists bring in three to four items but if you have more which match the current theme that’s great! The items can be any size or shape – Milford has a great hanging system which can accommodate pretty much anything.
