Congratulations to all the winners of our Blackstone Valley Art Association Fall Show in 2021! This show was held in our Uxbridge art gallery. Here’s the full walkthrough video of the show:
The judge for this show was artist George Hancin, who teaches at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Worcester Art Museum. Here is his website:
First Prize – Carol Frieswick / “Low Tide In The Marsh”
This pastel creates a soft atmospheric look which takes you into the distance. There’s a fine interplay between the distant trees and textured foreground.
Second Prize – Beverly Tinklenberg / “Beach Houses”
This is painted in a loose, carefree style which still preserves structure and space. The geometric shapes of the houses work well against the organic shrubs of the middle ground.
Third Prize – Al Weems / “The Traveler”
The photograph creates a gloomy, surreal, ambiguous atmosphere.
Honorable Mention 1 – Steve Paulson / “Butterfly Farm”
A pleasant use of color also creates three-dimensional forms in the silos and barns.
Honorable Mention 2 – Laura O. Cenedella / “Autumn Creek”
This painting is of a shady spot in the woods alternating between dappled light and darker colors; it becomes almost pointillism.
For all the details about our Fall Show 2021 visit:
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, October 2 to Saturday, October 25, 2021
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.
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. 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 is Saturday, September 25th, 2021 at 3pm EST.
Drop Off of Works Work must be dropped off on Saturday, September 25th between 10am and 3pm. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).
Opening Reception For COVID reasons we will not be having an in-person reception for this show. We will let you know about a virtual one!
Pick Up Saturday, October 23, 2021, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, contact us for other arrangements.
The BVAA Uxbridge SketchFest is back for its fourth year! Grab your pads of paper, pencils, and pens, for it’s SketchFest time!
Here’s the plan.
Sometime between September 1st and September 30th, 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 September 30th. Participation is completely FREE!
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.
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
At our 2019 in-person 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.
Laura Sfiat City Sketcher Boston
Here’s Laura’s website which has all sorts of great information and advice:
Here’s a 22-minute YouTube video by Alphonso Dunn that goes step by step through how to create an urban sketch. You can skip the first two minutes – those are an ad for his book :).
Ask with any questions, and we look forward to seeing your beautiful sketches!
Here’s the schedule of BVAA shows at the Milford TV Studio for the 2021-2022 season!
We have a FREEEEE 2-month show schedule at the Milford TV Studio location. This location gets a fair amount of traffic as locals come and go to the various events there. Our art hangs on the walls in their hallways and rooms. Every two months we swap out with a new theme.
On the swap-out date, we all descend on the studio and hang out from 6-8pm. We take down the old art, put our new art against the walls, and have fun. We bring in our own snacks and drinks for this. It’s casual and relaxing. You can bring as many pieces as you wish on the theme. Milford TV hangs and labels our pieces for us.
On the reception date, Milford TV provides the food and drinks. By now they’ve hung and labelled all the artwork for us. We show up and enjoy the show and conversation from 6-8pm.
It’s free to participate and there’s no stress. Just bring in as many or few art items as you want, on the theme. Just label the back of each with the title, artist name, and price. You don’t have to fill out any online forms. We do have a sign-in sheet there just to keep track of what is in the gallery.
Ask with any questions! And let me know if you spot any typos on any of these pages. In general the date is always the last Wednesday of the month. We only slide it to avoid major holidays. Sometimes we have to move dates due to winter storms and such – we’ll email in advance if that happens.
July 28th, 2021 – Summertime Reception
August 25th, 2021 – Autumn Splendour Drop-off
September 29th, 2021 – Autumn Splendour Reception
October 27th, 2021 – Small Works Drop-off
November 24st, 2021 – Small Works Reception
January 5, 2022 – Winter Magic Drop-Off
January 26th, 2022 – Winter Magic Reception
February 23th, 2022 – Spring Joy Drop-Off
March 30th, 2022 – Spring Joy Reception
April 27th, 2022 – Monochrome Drop-Off
May 25th, 2022 – Monochrome Reception
June 29th, 2022 – Good Ole Summertime Drop-Off
July 27th, 2022 – Good Ole Summertime Reception
August 31st, 2022 Autumn Splendour Drop-Off
September 28th, 2022 Autum Splendour Reception
Thank you so much to Milford TV for allowing us use of their wall space! Be sure to follow them at:
We are back to a fully live hung-on-the-walls show! Hurrah!
Beautiful summertime is celebrated at the Milford TV Station!
Every two months the Blackstone Valley Art Association rotates the art show at the Milford TV Station. The drop-off for the upcoming June-August 2020 show on the theme of “Good Ole Summertime” is the week of June 7th to June 11th 2021.
Drop-Off Monday June 7th to Friday June 11th, 2021 Milford TV Station 138 South Main Street Milford, MA 01757
You can bring in up to five pieces. All members in good standing can participate in this show for free. Please make sure the art is wired for hanging. Label the back with your name, the artwork title, and the price. You don’t need to use the online form for this show – Milford TV takes care of the labels for us.
Please call Liz Harkins, the Executive Director, to arrange a specific time to drop off your work. That way she can make sure someone is there to take it in.
Liz Harkins, Executive Director C. 508-333-9207 W. 508-488-6445
Public Reception Wednesday, June 30th, 2021 6-8pm THIS IS IN PERSON! IN PERSON AT MILFORD TV! Note that there will be NO FOOD OR DRINK at this reception, and normal mask requirements are in place. We are still easing into in-person activities for now.
Also note THIS IS WEDNESDAY. Milford TV said that Wednesdays are easier for their schedule now.
Pickup will be during the drop-off period for the next show, which will be for the September-October period. It’ll probably be the middle of August. We’ll let you know when we plan that next step.
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is holding an art show at the beautiful Whitin Mill in Whitinsville, Massachusetts! The show is open to all BVAA members. If you’re not yet a BVAA member, now’s the time to join us!
The Blackstone Valley Art Association celebrates the joy of community and friendship! The summer of 2021 reminds us just how precious it is to see the smiling faces of loved ones, to share laughter, and to treasure every moment. Through our photography, painting, drawing, and other forms of art, we offer our visions of creativity. Together we inspire each other to explore new avenues of expression.
About the Show: This is an open-themed show to celebrate the re-opening of events and activities! Come treasure the creativity and expressions of our local Blackstone Valley area artists!
Thank you so much to ValleyCAST and Alternatives for providing this opportunity to the BVAA.
Entering the Show The entry fee for the Whitin Mill show, open to all styles of artwork, is $8/piece or $20 for three. You can submit up to three pieces. The theme is wide open. You can submit a portrait, landscape, still life, abstract, seascape, you name it. Your imagination is the limit. Because this show is judged, you cannot enter anything which has previously been submitted for a BVAA judged show. It’s fine to enter works which have been in non-judged BVAA shows.
All artwork must be family friendly. Any hanging artwork MUST BE properly wired for hanging. This gallery does have pedestals for sculpture-style artwork. If you are new to preparing hanging artwork for shows, read our page on How to Mat and Frame Artwork. Please also check out our Show Terms and Conditions
Submissions To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The deadline to submit the online form is midnight on Sunday, June 13th, 2021 at midnight. Work should be dropped off during the week of TUESDAY, June 15th to Friday, June 18th, 2021. The hours are 9-12 and then 1:30-4:30pm each day. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).
We will have a sign-in sheet. Please make sure you sign your art in so we can track what is in the gallery.
The show will be hung by Cristi at ValleyCAST once all art has been dropped off. Please label the back of every piece so she knows which labels go with which objects.
Note that art that is entered into this show must stay present for the duration of the show. Art which is purchased can be retrieved after the show is complete.
ValleyCAST will take a 30% commission on each sale. Price your artwork accordingly.
Judging This show awards cash prizes based on the number of entries received. The judge for this show will be Joellen Rheinhardt.
Opening Reception Due to lingering pandemic issues, we will not be having an opening reception. However, ValleyCAST is planning to have their summer concert series in the plaza, and the gallery will be open during those concert events. So if you’d like people to hang out and talk with, be sure to attend one of the summer concert shows!
Viewing Hours This building will be open Mondays through Fridays 9am-4pm. Please call ahead to let them know your intended arrival time, as the doors are locked and they are not always right by the front door.
Pick Up Pick up for the Whitin Mill show is during the week of Monday, August 23rd to Friday, August 27th, 2021, between 9-12 and then 1:30-4:30pm. Please call ahead so they know you’re coming. Pick up for art at the Uxbridge Gallery will be Saturday August 28th from 10am to 3pm.
If you aren’t able to make that, contact us for other arrangements. Someone can probably pick up your art for you and then arrange to meet another time.
Congratulations to the ribbon-winners from the BVAA’s Third Annual Carbon Copies show! This show premiered on April 30th, 2021.
Marcia Ciak – First place Carl Larsson / Dagmar Grill
Lisa Shea – Second Place Paul Klee / Three Houses
Dennis Smith – Third Place Old Tower in the Fields / Vincent van Gogh
For full-sized versions of the images along with the works they are representing, be sure to watch the video! It’s only 2 1/2 minutes long and quite fun!
If you’re interested in purchasing prints or originals of any piece, let us know and we’ll get you in touch with the artist.
It’s our third 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 painting 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!
It doesn’t have to be a painting. You can imitate a famous photo. Play with a historical sculpture. 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 1923. Art which is under copyright, after 1923, has its rights controlled by that artist. You would need to ask that artist for permission to use their work in any exhibit.
When: April 2021
Where: VIRTUAL ONLY! We’ll make a slideshow for YouTube.
Each BVAA member may exhibit up to three photos. These will be judged for cash prizes.
Entering the Show The entry fee for this show is $8/piece for up to three pieces.
Artwork can be any size.
All art must be family friendly.
All art items which are entered are included in the show. There is no “pre-selection” process where some are accepted and others are rejected. If you submit artwork, and it is family-friendly, 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 Sunday, April 25th 2021. Work must be emailed to us by that date. Use a JPG file and in general make it as large as possible, that will fit by email. All work which is submitted will be part of the show (as long as it is family-friendly). Please include a photo of each of your source artwork items, so we can include those next to your artwork. That way visitors can see what you were working with.
Judging Judge to be announced
Opening Reception The virtual opening reception for the show is Friday, April 30th – we’ll run the slideshow as a premiere!
Here’s a video walkthrough of the 2020 Carbon Copies show!
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!
Our April 2021 monthly meeting will feature a demo by the amazing artist Bill Lane!
Our monthly meetings are always on the third Tuesday of the month. So this meeting will be on Tuesday, April 20th, 2021, starting at 6:30pm. Usually from 6:30-7:00pm we talk about the upcoming events and shows. The demo tends to start around 7pm.
All active BVAA members should be getting our Zoom link via email. Please let us know if you do not have the Zoom link. We will also record and post the session for those who aren’t able to make it on Tuesday.
Since we’ll be recording it, you can watch the first time through, ask questions as he paints, and then try it yourself with all your supplies ready after that, from the video!
Here’s the image he’s thinking about painting for us. It’s set in New York City, specifically Grace Church near the corner of Broadway and East 10th Street:
Here are some samples of Bill Lane’s work:
Be sure to visit Bill Lane’s website to learn more about him and his paintings!
