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!
The holidays are a great time for gift-buying! Come out and participate in our holiday 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 November 16-20, 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 Milford TV Art Show will be held on Wednesday, December 2nd. 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 Pickup will probably be in January 2027.
Here’s a video from our spring 2026 show.
Here are some photos from previous Milford TV Station shows, to give a sense of what the space is like.
Come join us at the historic Ammidon Inn in Mendon, Massachusetts on Wednesday November 4th 2026 from 10am to noon! All are welcome as we set up on site and paint a painting of the Ammidon Inn building, built in 1672! If you’d like to create your own masterpiece, you can take photos, sketch, watercolor paint, draw, or whatever you’d like. You could watch talented artist Deb Bottomley as she paints plein air on site, showcasing the beauty of this historic location.
You can bring your own cameras, sketchbooks, and painting supplies if you wish. For those who don’t have supplies, we’ll have loaner sketching supplies, painting supplies, and cameras on hand for those who want to participate hands on. Note that this isn’t a “paint along” workshop where Deb stops to wait for you to follow along. Deb will be painting and talking about what she’s doing as she goes. You’re welcome to sit and watch her, or you can also paint / photograph / sketch at your own pace.
You’re welcome to simply pop in and watch for a while!
This event is fully open to ALL people of all levels, ages, and abilities. We encourage community members to stop in and learn more about creating art! FREE!
Our featured artist is the talented Deb Bottomley:
Location: Ammidon Inn 4 Main Street Mendon Massachusetts
If you specifically would like to try your hand at painting on location – known as plein air – here’s a workshop Dianne Panarelli Miller did for us, giving ideas how to prepare for plein air painting. Take a look!
Here’s a written list of items to bring with you when you do your own plein air painting. Note that at the this Mendon event we’ll have supplies on hand for this community event, if you’d like to borrow ours to give this a try. So you don’t need to bring supplies to Mendon. Still, if you’d like to build up your own travel bag of items, this page will get you started.
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is showcasing a delightful selection of photography, watercolors, acrylic paintings, oil paintings, jewelry, and more for the month of December 2026. Be sure to stop by and see what we have available! Perfect for gift giving!
When: November 14th 2026 to January 2, 2027
Where: BVAA 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.
Entering the Show This FREE show is open to BVAA members only. The theme is wide open. 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.
This show is NOT judged (no ribbons, no prizes) – it is primarily about providing visibility and sales for artists during the holiday season. For that reason, you can enter pieces that have been in previous shows. We suggest you enter pieces you think will catch a buyer’s eye and serve well as a gift.
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. This show is free to participate in. Each artist may submit up to five items under 11×17 or up to three items if they’re 11×17 or larger.
Drop Off of Works Drop off your works on Saturday, November 14th from 10am – 3pm.
All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).
Opening Reception The opening reception will be on Friday, November 27th from 5-7pm. This is Black Friday!
Pick Up The pick-up for the Great Gifts show will be on Saturday, January 2nd 2027 from 10am – 3pm.
The BVAA Uxbridge SketchFest is back for its ninth year! Grab your pads of paper, pencils, and pens, for it’s SketchFest time!
Here’s the plan.
Sometime between November 1st and November 30th 2026, head out to your favorite locations in Uxbridge. Make sketches of whatever catches your eye. Send them into us at info@bvaa.org. Each person can send us up to five sketches. Please have the last JPGs in to us by midnight on November 30th 2026. Participation is completely FREE!
If you can also send a photo of what you were sketching, or its location, that would be lovely. That way people can tour Uxbridge and see the locations of the artwork.
We will make a virtual gallery of the sketches and also a YouTube virtual presentation! We’ll share all the beautiful artworks for the entire community to enjoy!
All ages and abilities are warmly encouraged to participate. This is open to the public!
What Is A Sketch?
Just what is a sketch? We’re glad you asked!
For the sake of our SketchFest, a sketch is a quick representation of a scene done with pen or pencil on paper. It can then be colored in with colored pencil or watercolors. Here’s a beautiful example done by Pamela Siderewicz of a lawyers’ office building on Uxbridge Common.
Pamela Siderewicz – Uxbridge Common Building
How Do I Sketch?
Ready to try sketching? Here’s an Intro to Urban Sketching we held in 2025 with Diane Mulligan, to get you started.
Our 2023 Uxbridge SketchFest session featured the talented Howie Green leading a sketching session on the Uxbridge Town Common. The video provides a wealth of advice on how to sketch scenes.
In 2024, this session by Brandi Van Roo covered all the basics – equipment, techniques, and brainstorming, done at the River Bend Farm in Uxbridge:
Yetti Frenkel led the 2025 workshop where we discussed, amongst other things, incorporating people into sketches. We then sketched at the Uxbridge cemetery and the antique store.
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Sketching Inspiration
Here is a map of wonderful locations in Uxbridge. Click on it to get a larger version. This is a starting point. You can make your sketches anywhere in Uxbridge.
To get some inspiration, here are sketches from the 2023 SketchFest:
Here’s images from the 2021 Uxbridge SketchFest:
If you can’t get out to a site in Uxbridge in person, here are photos of locations that our BVAA members have allowed you to use as a basis for a sketch!
Ask with any questions, and we look forward to seeing your artwork!
Come join us in beautiful Millbury, Massachusetts on Thursday October 15th 2026 from 3:30-5:30pm! All are welcome as we set up on site and paint a painting of a historic stone wall along a stunning Millbury hiking / biking path! If you’d like to create your own masterpiece, you can take photos, sketch, watercolor paint, draw, or whatever you’d like. You could watch talented artist Scott Nelson as he paints plein air on site, showcasing the beauty of autumnal New England.
Note that our chosen spot is about 1/2 mile in, along an unpaved path, from the power lines / Rayburn Drive junction. You can meet us at the power lines at 3:15-3:30pm and we’ll head on the trail at 3:30pm. If you want to arrive later, just head in to find us. If you are intending to come later, please RSVP to Lisa Shea ahead of time so she can give you her phone number. That way you can call/text us when you arrive if you’d like guidance.
You can bring your own cameras, sketchbooks, and painting supplies if you wish. For those who don’t have supplies, we’ll have loaner sketching supplies, painting supplies, and cameras on hand for those who want to participate hands on. Note that this isn’t a “paint along” workshop where Scott stops to wait for you to follow along. Scott will be painting and talking about what he’s doing as he goes. You’re welcome to sit and watch him, or you can also paint / photograph / sketch at your own pace.
You’re welcome to simply pop in and watch for a while!
This event is fully open to ALL people of all levels, ages, and abilities. We encourage community members to stop in and learn more about creating art! FREE!
Our featured artist is the talented Scott Nelson, who is co-founder of the Two Bridges Art Academy:
Please check out his courses. Scott offers commissions for paintings of houses, people portraits, and pet portraits!
Location: Trail is beneath the power lines immediately next to 14 Rayburn Drive Millbury, MA Please park by the power lines, not by the house. The house is just listed for your GPS to get you to the power lines.
If you specifically would like to try your hand at painting on location – known as plein air – here’s a workshop Dianne Panarelli Miller did for us, giving ideas how to prepare for plein air painting. Take a look!
Here’s a written list of items to bring with you when you do your own plein air painting. Note that at the this Millbury event we’ll have supplies on hand for this community event, if you’d like to borrow ours to give this a try. So you don’t need to bring supplies to Millbury. Still, if you’d like to build up your own travel bag of items, this page will get you started.
Come join us at the historic Sutton Common in Sutton, Massachusetts on Wednesday October 14th 2026 from 11am to 1pm! All are welcome as we set up on site and paint a painting of the Polly’s Antiques building, built in 1839! If you’d like to create your own masterpiece, you can take photos, sketch, watercolor paint, draw, or whatever you’d like. You could watch talented artist Dianne Panarelli Miller as she paints plein air on site, showcasing the beauty of this historic location.
You can bring your own cameras, sketchbooks, and painting supplies if you wish. For those who don’t have supplies, we’ll have loaner sketching supplies, painting supplies, and cameras on hand for those who want to participate hands on. Note that this isn’t a “paint along” workshop where Dianne stops to wait for you to follow along. Dianne will be painting and talking about what she’s doing as she goes. You’re welcome to sit and watch her, or you can also paint / photograph / sketch at your own pace.
You’re welcome to simply pop in and watch for a while!
This event is fully open to ALL people of all levels, ages, and abilities. We encourage community members to stop in and learn more about creating art! FREE!
Our featured artist is the talented Dianne Panarelli Miller:
Location: Sutton Common 314 Boston Rd Sutton, MA 01590
If you specifically would like to try your hand at painting on location – known as plein air – here’s a workshop Dianne Panarelli Miller did for us, giving ideas how to prepare for plein air painting. Take a look!
Here’s a written list of items to bring with you when you do your own plein air painting. Note that at the this Sutton event we’ll have supplies on hand for this community event, if you’d like to borrow ours to give this a try. So you don’t need to bring supplies to Sutton. Still, if you’d like to build up your own travel bag of items, this page will get you started.
Here’s a workshop Dianne did previously for us in Auburn, to show her painting style:
Dianne’s biography:
Dianne Panarelli Miller is a world reknown artist painting in Canada, Bermuda, and Europe. She is an award winning Boston-based “Plein Air Painter” of color and light and is a signature member of the New England Plein Air Painters and is a “Copley Master”. Her approach combines the classic atelier training of the “Boston School”, with a mastery of technique of her own personal style expressed through the harmony of color and design. The original Boston School way of painting seeks to combine the truth of impressionist color with good drawing, sound composition and skillful paint handling. Its leading exponents included Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson, William Paxton, Joseph Decamp, Philip Hale, R.H. Ives Gammell. Gammell was a turn of the century Boston Museum School pupil of the first three men and later consulted with Paxton. Robert Douglas Hunter and Robert Cormier (with whom Miller studied ) were students of Gammell. David Lowery and Robert Moore, also students of Gammell rounded off her studies.
Enter her website to see her versatile style which allows her to capture her subjects with sensitivity and detail. Her work can be seen all over the country.
Come join us at the famous Udor Tower in Millville, Massachusetts on Friday October 9th 2026 from 1pm to 3pm! All are welcome as we set up on site and paint an oil painting of the classic stone tower from 1882! If you’d like to create your own masterpiece, you can take photos, sketch, watercolor paint, draw, or whatever you’d like. You could watch talented artist Verne Thayer as he paints plein air on site, showcasing the beauty of this historic location.
You can bring your own cameras, sketchbooks, and painting supplies if you wish. For those who don’t have supplies, we’ll have loaner sketching supplies, painting supplies, and cameras on hand for those who want to participate hands on. Note that this isn’t a “paint along” workshop where Verne stops to wait for you to follow along. Verne will be painting and talking about what he’s doing as he goes. You’re welcome to sit and watch him, or you can also paint / photograph / sketch at your own pace.
You’re welcome to simply pop in and watch for a while!
This event is fully open to ALL people of all levels, ages, and abilities. We encourage community members to stop in and learn more about creating art! FREE!
Location: Udor Tower 8 Central Street Millville MA
Here’s information on the Udor Tower from a previous BVAA visit:
Here’s the info sign for the Udor Tower:
If you specifically would like to try your hand at painting on location – known as plein air – here’s a workshop Dianne Panarelli Miller did for us, giving ideas how to prepare for plein air painting. Take a look!
Here’s a written list of items to bring with you when you do your own plein air painting. Note that at the this Millville event we’ll have supplies on hand for this community event, if you’d like to borrow ours to give this a try. So you don’t need to bring supplies to Millville. Still, if you’d like to build up your own travel bag of items, this page will get you started.
The Millville historic canal lock is right next door, so you could visit that before or after Verne’s session! Here’s a previous workshop we did on the rail trail, with talented artist Laura Cenedella.
This event is supported by a grant from the Millville Cultural Council, which is part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Here is the proposed schedule for the BVAA Uxbridge Art Gallery for the calendar year 2027. Please note that this schedule could adjust or shift based on weather issues or other issues. Please always look for a show’s specific page to get its final details. Those detail pages are set up as we get close to a show.
The public / private notation indicates who is able to enter art into a given show. Membership is only $25/year! All receptions are always open to the public.
“Anything Goes” Community (photography) :- PUBLIC Drop-off Sat Jan 9 Reception Fri Jan 15 Pickup Sat Feb 20
“Local Beauty” Community (local scenes) :- PUBLIC Drop-off Sat Feb 20 Reception Fri Mar 26 (voter’s choice) Pickup Sat Mar 27
“Spring Show” (open theme) :- Members-Only Drop-off Sat Mar 27 Reception Fri Apr 2 Pickup Sat May 22
“Series Show” (duo/trio) :- Members-Only Drop-off Sat May 22 Reception Fri May 28 Pickup Sat June 26
“Carbon Copies Show” (forgeries) :- Members-Only Drop-off Sat June 26 Reception Fri July 30 (voter’s choice) Pickup Sat July 31
“Show of Hands” Community (anything-but-photography) :- PUBLIC Drop-off Sat July 31 Reception Fri Aug 6 Pickup Sat Sept 4
“?????” Art Show :- Members-Only Drop-off Sat Sept 4 Reception Fri Sept 10 Pickup Sat Oct 16
Community Art Show (open theme) :- PUBLIC Drop-off Sat Oct 16 Reception Fri Oct 29 (Halloween party) Pickup Sat Nov 13
“Great Gifts” (smallish size) :- Members-Only Drop-off Sat Nov 13 Reception Fri Nov 19 Pickup Sat Jan 8
……
notes about other 2027 show plans at other locations:
Choco l’Art Show at Charlton Library – CONFIRMED month of February 2027
Art-Poetry show at Blackstone library – confirming with Lisa C month of April 2027
Worcester Center for Crafts?? Drop-off Sun June Reception at Hot Night in the City Fri July
Fall Exhibit at Whitin Mill / ValleyCAST Open Sky?? Artwork Drop-off: August
Sunflower art show in Booklovers’ Gourmet Webster MA – CONFIRMED full month of August
October – Uxbridge SketchFest virtual show in person free sketching workshop plus video how-tos.
Inktober is a global art challenge which takes place every year in the month of October. Hundreds of thousands of artists from around the world create art on a daily basis, often based on the one main set of prompts. The prompt list for October 2026 is this:
You are certainly free to simply make art every day without sharing it, on whatever topic you want, and have fun knowing that many artists around the world are creating daily art, too.
If you’re on social media, though, and want to build your audience, Inktober is a fantastic way to do that. Because, as long as you tag your postings with #inktober or #inktober2026, you’re guaranteed that a large number of artists around the world will see your art. All of these artists tend to post each day and to look around each day to see how everyone else interpreted that same prompt. That can easily turn into many, many new followers for you.
For example, day 3 is “Miniature” as the theme. I created this drawing for the daily theme.
People who searched that day for #inktober2026 to see what other artists had created found me. I then gained new followers.
You don’t have to post every day. Some people just post when they happen to hit a word they are inspired by.
You don’t have to use pen and ink as your technique. Some people use colored pencils, some people use watercolors, some people create digital art, and that’s fine.
If you don’t want to post at all, it’s still fun to look at Instagram and other sites each day to see how wildly differently the various artists are in the ways they interpret the prompts. It is a great insight into creativity.
We have a wonderful workshop for our October 2026 BVAA monthly meeting! This is open to the public – all levels of interest are warmly encouraged to attend!
We are holding this workshop in the **SINGH PERFORMANCE CENTER IN WHITINSVILLE**. We ran out of space when we held this workshop in 2025, in the Uxbridge gallery. For 2026 we are holding it in the larger space in Whitinsville. In this workshop, George will step us through how to approach drawing a human figure. We will start with a few quick sketches of poses to help us get loosened up. Then we will draw a live human person.
We will be drawing on easels. You can sit or stand before your easel. We will have some easels, paper, and sketching tools for you to borrow / use if you need to. **PLEASE RSVP** and in that RSVP let us know if you need an easel or if you can bring one. We want to be sure we have enough easels for everyone who needs one, and that we allocate enough space for everybody. You need to RSVP on the BVAA.org site, so we have your full details. Please do not simply click a button on Facebook :).
If you have your own easel, paper, and drawing items, please bring those. We will be stretched thin with our easel collection!
Location: Singh Performance Center – NOTE DIFFERENT LOCATION!! 60 Douglas Road Whitinsville MA
When: Wednesday Oct 21 2026 – NOTE DIFFERENT DATE!! 6:30-9pm
This meeting and session is free and open to the public. No experience is necessary. The fun of our workshops is that we all learn new things we’ve never done before.
Our meetings cover BVAA organization business from 6:30-7:00pm (ish) and then go into the workshop part of the evening. Feel free to come for whichever half interests you the most. In general, our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month unless otherwise announced. Because of the high interest in this meeting, we will be opening the space up at 6pm to allow people to choose spaces. Starting at 6:30pm, we will keep the meeting portion short, and when we have covered meeting topics we will go right into the figure drawing. So we could start drawing before 7pm.
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 learn some new things and explore your creativity!
