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Artists pour their souls into their creations. Each artwork can represent a different stage of the artist’s life or step in their journey. How could an artist choose just one piece of art as their “favorite”? This show presents that very challenge!

Note this is the SECOND time we have held this Favorite Artwork show. The first Favorite show was in 2022. So if you entered the 2022 Favorite show, this new piece might be your second favorite! Or maybe now it is your new first favorite? In any case, you can enter ANY piece into this show, as long as it wasn’t in the 2022 show. It’s fine if this piece was in other BVAA shows in the past! Your favorite is your favorite!

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Where?
The Favorite Artwork art show is held at the:

Spaulding R. Aldrich Heritage Gallery
Whitin Mill
50 Douglas Road
Whitinsville, MA

Spaulding R. Aldrich Heritage Gallery Webpage

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About the Show
Many art shows revolve around a specific theme. The artwork must be monochromatic or feature flowers. Maybe the art has to be created within the past four years. For this show, we decided to release all boundaries. Any style of art is welcome. It can be from your teenage years or finished last week. It could have been entered in previous BVAA shows (Except the Favorite 2022 Show)!

The single most important thing is that you consider it your current FAVORITE work of art that you’ve created. We’ll be fascinated to find out why you chose it!

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Submissions
The submission deadline for the Favorite show is Saturday November 2nd 2024. Use the standard online form for your submission. You can enter ONE and ONLY ONE piece.

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, conversation, and sales opportunity. By having it not judged, artists can feel free to put in their true personal favorite. They don’t have to give any consideration to how a judge might evaluate it.

Any sales will include a 30% commission taken by the Whitin Mill. The BVAA takes no commission on this show. Full BVAA terms: BVAA Show Terms and Conditions

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Drop-Off
The drop-off for the Favorite is Wednesday October 30th to Friday November 1st at the Whitin Mill. Hours are 9-4 Wed-Fri at the Whitin Mill. Cristi will be hanging the show Saturday November 2nd from 10-1 so you can also bring it in then!

If you can’t make these dates, contact Lisa Shea via the info@bvaa.org email and she’ll arrange something.

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Public Reception
Reception is Thursday, November 7th, 2024 from 5:30-7:30pm. Invite family and friends! Share the news!

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Pick-Up
The show ends on Wednesday, December 25, 2024. Pick-up for the show is Thu Dec 26th and Fri Dec 27th during the Open Sky Whitin Mill open hours (9-4) and then also Sat Dec 28th from 10-1. Contact Lisa if you aren’t available any of those times, to arrange for an alternative.

Here is the walkthrough video from our 2024 show!

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To see the information on our first edition of our My Favorite show in 2022 visit here:

2022 BVAA Favorite Artwork Show at the Whitin Mill

Let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing what you choose as your favorite piece of art!

Thank you so much to ValleyCAST for this opportunity to hold a show in this beautiful, historic building.

Our tenth anniversary! Hurrah! It’s creepy and it’s kooky! Mysterious and spooky! 2024 is the year for our 10th Annual Macabre art show! We hold this members-only pop-up and virtual show to celebrate Halloween. It is free, not judged, and does not involve prizes. It’s all for fun!

About the Show
Spooky. Unsettling. Wisps of mists and dark shadows. Macabre brings out the fascination with the off-beat side of life.

Submissions / Virtual Show
The online submission deadline for the FREE Macabre show is Wednesday, October 23th, 2024. You don’t need to use the online submission form – you can simply email the JPGs to us. You can submit up to five works for the virtual show. It’s open to all BVAA members. This is not a judged show so you CAN enter things you’ve entered in previous shows (including previous Macabre shows).

The In Person Macabre Show

We have our community show reception on Friday October 25th 5-7, and then the gallery is open its normal 10-3 hours on Saturday October 26th. So we’ll have places in the gallery for those TWO DAYS ONLY for the Macabre special event. Please bring in 1-2 items for the in-person feature. There will just be shelf and easels, so we want to have room for everyone. You can bring your art with you Friday if you want and then pick them up any time after Saturday afternoon (or in later weeks). No rush. The in-person show is just a highlight to …

The Macabre Video
The video we release for the reception with be a “moody” version. It will have a soundtrack and the images showing one by one. It will be something you could have going in the background at a spooky dinner to add ambiance.

Virtual Reception
We’ll have our premiere of the video slideshow on Friday night October 25th to kick off the Halloween weekend.

Here’s the video!

Artwork by:

Anayah . Bob Evans . Bob See . Carol Frieswick . Carole Plante
Della Erickson . Joanne Zeis . Judith Potter . Judy Murphy
Laura Cenedella . Lisa Shea . Melissa Beyer . Mike Zeis . Sue Gomes

Theme
This show is Halloween. Spooky. Shadowy.

Here are photos from previous years –

Twisted Dolls Show 2015

Macabre Show 2016

Here’s the video from the 2020 show!

Here’s the Macabre show from 2022!

Here’s the Macabre show in 2023!

We look forward to seeing your spooky work!

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is blessed to have talented oil painter Verne Thayer as one of our members. Verne runs an art show on Milford TV and is also well known for his beautiful landscape paintings. On Tuesday, October 15th, 2024, Verne will do a live demo for us of oil painting a landscape scene!

This will be helpful to ALL artists, even if you don’t use oil paints. Verne’s skill with composition, color, emotion, and more can be applied to any form of art.

Location:
BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569

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 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.

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!

You can learn more about Verne here:

About Verne L. Thayer …

Gallery – Verne Thayer

Verne Thayer – Landscape Oil Painter

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is proud to host the FREE 2024 Community Art Show! The public is warmly invited to participate! This show is open to all forms of artistic expression. We would love to see watercolors, acrylic paintings, oil paintings, sculptures, pottery, mixed media, drawings, pastels, photography, cyanotypes, and other forms of art.

THERE IS NO THEME. Your art can be about any topic at all! We celebrate the diversity of our artistic community. All levels of artist warmly encouraged to participate!

Up until 2022 we called this art show “Tapestry” to indicate it represented all types of threads from the community coming together. Every time we referred to it as “Tapestry” artists thought it was a fabric arts show and wouldn’t enter. In 2022 we updated its name to “Diversity” to represent our aim to bring in a diverse community. However, people then thought the topic was specifically about Diversity. So now we simply call this a Community Art Show!

When:
October 19th to November 16th, 2024

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.

BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Entering the Show
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.

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 two items. The deadline to submit is Saturday, October 19th 2024 at 3pm EST.

Drop Off of Works
Work must be dropped off on Saturday, October 19th between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly). Please ONLY bring your artwork in on Saturday, October 19th. BVAA staff need to be present to sign in the artwork, and we are only there at that day and time.

Reception
We will be having an in-person reception at the Uxbridge gallery on Friday, October 25th from 5-7pm! We would love to see you there.

Pick Up
Pick up is on Saturday, November 16th from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, please contact us for other arrangements.

Voting is done by the community! Please cast your votes for first, second, and third place. Each person can vote for those 3 places. You can email votes to info@bvaa.org. Voting is through November 30, 2024.

Here’s the video of the show, if you can’t make it in person!

Address any questions via our BVAA Contact Information

Ask with any questions!

Here are the 2024 winners!

Winners of 2024 Free Community Art Show

Here’s the video walkthrough from the 2023 art show:

Here are the winners from our 2023 show!

Winners of our Community Art Show 2023

Here is the 2021 Community Art Show to get some ideas!

Here’s the 2018 show video:

Here is a flyer for this show for you!

The Small Stones Art Festival 2025 is coming up soon! This is an art show for photography and paintings. The submissions of JPG images of the art is all done online. Judges then look through those JPG images in order to decide what will be allowed into the physical show at the Brigham Hill Community Farm in North Grafton, Massachusetts. The show runs Jan 25 to Feb 2, 2025.

Usually this submission process is fairly easy for photographers. Photographers are generally fairly good at turning their images into JPG files for submission.

Often, though, this process is much more challenging for painters. A painter might be really talented at creating an oil painting on canvas of a woman’s face. It might be much harder for that painter to figure out how to take a great photograph of their painting, with the right lighting and focus, so that the resulting JPG file showcases well for the judges.

We are here to help!

Award-winning photographer James Hunt has kindly volunteered to take photos of BVAA members’ paintings for FREE for the Small Stones festival. The 2025 Small Stones festival allows each artist to submit up to 5 pieces of art. Each accepted physical piece can be a maximum of 26 inches (including frame) on its longest side. Full Small Stones art show requirements:

Small Stones Art Show

Here are the details of what James Hunt is offering for our BVAA photo shoot.

When: Saturday, September 28nd 2024 from 1-3pm
Where: BVAA Uxbridge Art Gallery, 5 South Main St., Uxbridge MA

James provides this information:

• We can photograph up to 5 images (typically paintings or drawings, two-dimensional art only).  It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.
• The maximum size for any image is 26″ framed, though we won’t photograph the frame. We highly recommend removing the glass if there is glass involved. Glass can cause reflections.
• Image will be color and exposure corrected in post, cropped to the edge of any framing.
• Images will be sized according to the Small Stones Festival specifications (maximum 4500 pixels on the long edge). You’ll also get a full-sized version for other use.
• Jpeg images will be sent to you via Dropbox only, the next day.  You don’t need a Dropbox account, just email.
• Hopefully your work can lie flat!!!
• No charge, no do-overs!
• This offer is available to BVAA members only.

Thank you so much to James for volunteering to help out our painters! To learn more about James and his photography, be sure to visit:

https://jameshuntphotography.com/

Ask with any questions!

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is blessed to have talented painter Deb Bottomley. On Tuesday, September 17th, 2024, Deb will do a FREE live demo for us!

This will be helpful to ALL artists, even if you don’t use Deb’s particular paints. Deb’s skill with composition, color, emotion, and more can be applied to any form of art.

Location:
BVAA Open Sky Uxbridge Community Gallery
5 South Main Street
Uxbridge, MA 01569

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 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.

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!

Note that Verne Thayer was originally going to do our September demo but he became sick. We will definitely have Verne paint for us when he feels better! Thank you Deb for stepping in to do a demo!

You can learn more about Deb here:

https://www.deborahbottomley.com

Our meetings are supported in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

We are celebrating our Seventh Annual Uxbridge SketchFest with beauty! We have the amazingly talented artist Brandi van Roo joining us in Uxbridge to present supportive encouragement on how to quick-sketch buildings, landscapes, and bridges. We will walk short distances around the River Bend Farm canal and use the beautiful architecture and landscapes to develop our sketching skills.

Perfect for all levels of artists. Beginner will get themselves started, and more advanced artists will hone their skills!

This workshop is FREE! Please RSVP either with the online form on this site or by emailing info@bvaa.org so we know how many supplies to prepare. We will provide clipboards to draw on, paper, and pens / pencils. You can of course bring your own if you have supplies you prefer to use.

By getting started with Brandi, you’ll then have the skills you need to participate in our Seventh Annual Uxbridge SketchFest, which runs from Sunday September 15th through Thursday October 31, 2024!

Our River Bend Farm Sketching workshop will be held on Sunday, September 29th, 2024 from 2-4pm. If it rains, we’ll hold the workshop in the Uxbridge BVAA Community gallery space. We will definitely post here and on social media, and email all RSVPed people, if we have rain concerns.

Initial Meeting Location:
River Bend Farm
287 Oak Street
Uxbridge MA

The space is fully handicapped / disability accessible with no stairs. It has a large free parking lot.

This 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.

All are welcome – this workshop is open to BVAA 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!

For more about the 2024 SketchFest event:

7th Annual Uxbridge SketchFest – Fall 2024

For more information about River Bend Farm, visit:

https://blackstoneheritagecorridor.org/exploring-the-blackstone-river-valley/heritage-centers/river-bend-farm

Here are a few sketches and paintings by Brandi to see her style!

This event is supported in part by grants from the Uxbridge Cultural Council, part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

The BVAA Uxbridge SketchFest is back for its seventh year! Grab your pads of paper, pencils, and pens, for it’s SketchFest time!

Here’s the plan.

Sometime between September 15th and November 30th 2024, 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 three sketches. Please have the last JPGs in to us by midnight on November 30th 2024. 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!

Here is Dennis Smith’s great map of wonderful locations in Uxbridge. Click on it to get a larger version along with details about each location. This is a starting point. You can make your sketches anywhere in Uxbridge.

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.

At our 2019 Uxbridge SketchFest we had the amazing Laura Sfiat from the Urban Sketchers Boston group come guide us through sketching. Here is one of Laura’s examples (not of Uxbridge) which provides a few details about how she works.

Here’s Laura’s website which has all sorts of great information and advice:

https://belleartwork.wordpress.com/

Here’s a video of the afternoon session with Laura, which focused more specifically on portrait sketching.

Portrait Sketching by Laura Sfiat using Reilly Method

Our 2023 Uxbridge SketchFest session featured the talented Howie Green leading a sketching session on the Uxbridge Town Common!

In 2024, this session by Brandi Van Roo covered all the basics – equipment, techniques, and brainstorming, done at the River Bend Farm 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 person, here are some photos of locations that our BVAA members have allowed you to use as a basis for a sketch!

Here’s a flyer for our 2024 Uxbridge SketchFest. Please share this flyer with local websites, libraries, and schools!

Ask with any questions, and we look forward to seeing your artwork!

Thank you to the Uxbridge Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council for supporting the Uxbridge SketchFest!

The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring our annual members-only Fall Show! This show is open to all active members of the BVAA. Entries can include all forms of artwork on any theme. This show will be judged for cash prizes.

When:
Saturday, September 7th to Saturday, October 19th, 2024

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.

BVAA Alternatives Uxbridge Community Art Gallery Information

Entering the Show
The theme is wide open. Any topic can be addressed as long as it is family-friendly. This show does NOT have to be about autumn. It simply happens in the autumn. 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. While AI and other artists can be used to generate starting concepts for BVAA show artwork, all final work submitted must be wholly the personal creation of the individual BVAA member.

Submissions
To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The fee to participate is $8/piece or 3 for $20 for members. You can submit up to 3 pieces. As this is a judged show, you cannot enter anything which has been entered into a previous BVAA judged show. The deadline to submit the physical artwork is Saturday, September 7th, 2024 at 3pm EST.

Drop Off of Works
Work must be dropped off on Saturday, September 7th between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung, as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly. We do not ‘pre-select’ art for the show.

Judging
The show is judged for cash prizes. Those cash prizes are based on the money paid in to the show for entry fees. Each show is self-supporting in that sense. The shows don’t add money to the BVAA – the money we take in then goes to the prizes and judge. Generally we award first, second, third, and three honorable mentions. This depends on the number of overall entries.

Opening Reception
The reception is Friday, September 27th from 5-7pm NOTE THE NEW DATE!!. Please bring a snack or drink to share! Winners are generally announced around 6pm.

Pick Up
Saturday, October 19, 2024, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that timeframe, please contact us for other arrangements. We need to have a BVAA person on hand for an art pickup.

Address any questions via our BVAA Contact Information

Ask with any questions! We look forward to seeing your entries!

Here’s the walkthrough for the 2023 show, to give you some inspiration:

2023 BVAA Fall Art Show – Winners Listing

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. 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 August 2024 monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 20th from 6:30-9pm.

Location:
BVAA Open Sky 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.

Our meetings cover BVAA organization business from 6:30-7:00pm 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.

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.