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!
Our June 2024 monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 18th 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.
It’s our sixth 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 1928. Art which is under copyright, after 1928, 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 6th to August 3rd, 2024
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 6th, 2024. To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. Work must be dropped off on Saturday, July 6th, 2024 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.
IN ADDITION!!
We would love to feature previously seen fakes and forgeries to be a part of this show! It will let us demonstrate the full breadth of the fun of this process. Any previously seen art items are FREE to participate. They just won’t be judged for cash prizes. Please bring in as many of the previous items as you’d like! The more the merrier!
Judging We are doing this as a PEOPLE’S CHOICE voting! Get your votes in!
Opening Reception The opening reception is at the Uxbridge gallery on Friday, July 12th, 2024 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!
Worcester Center for Crafts, in collaboration with ValleyCAST, has invited BVAA artists to exhibit in their Community Gallery for their annual event Hot Night in the City!
This amazing artistic event draws in crowds of 3,000 people. Our artwork would be featured down the main hallway of the center. It is a prime opportunity for visibility and sales!
When: June 24 to July 26, 2024
Where: Worcester Center for Crafts 25 Sagamore Road Worcester, MA 01605
Each BVAA member may exhibit up to three art items. All forms of media are warmly encouraged – paintings, mixed media, photography, textiles, sculpture, and more.
Entering the Show The entry fee for this show is $8 per piece for up to three pieces.
Note that as this is a non-BVAA-gallery show YOU CAN ENTER PIECES THAT HAVE BEEN IN PREVIOUS BVAA SHOWS. Select the works which you feel best represent you!
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. You may choose to have your artwork listed as not for sale.
All art items which are entered are displayed. 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 your online details is midnight on Sunday, June 16, 2024. Work must be dropped off at the Worcester Center for Crafts on Saturday, June 22, 2024 from 10am to 1pm. Please do not bring in art to the gallery at other times. All work which is brought in will be displayed (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).
We plan on arranging / labelling the show on Saturday, June 22 as work is being dropped off starting at 10:00 am. Please don’t be late! If you are unable to bring your work on that date, please contact us to make other arrangements on or before Wednesday, June 19.
As this show will not have a reception, and is not in our gallery, there will be NO commission on sales. The artist gets the full amount.
Judging Judged for monetary prizes by Elaine McKenna-Yeaw, Executive Director of Worcester Center for Crafts and Cristi Collari, Director of ValleyCAST for Open Sky
Opening Reception In lieu of an opening reception, everyone is invited to attend Hot Night in the City on Friday, July 19, from 4:00-9:00 pm. This is a free event, but you are encouraged to RSVP here:
Pick Up Saturday, July 27, 2024, from 10am to 1pm at the Worcester Center for Crafts. If you aren’t able to make that, please contact us for other arrangements.
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring its sixth annual Series Show! This is a fun, creative art show which celebrates the magic of creating artwork in a series.
This show is for all BVAA members to participate in. You can submit two or three artwork items as your series. They can be related to each other in any way that you wish. It’s wholly up to you to define the theme of your series.
Maybe they are all shades of blue. Maybe they’re all landscapes. Do they all involve triangles? Cows? You can mix your artwork styles. Do one photo, one sculpture, and one watercolor painting. Explore your creativity!
NOTE NEW DROPOFF DATE! NOW JUNE 8TH!!
When: June 8 to July 6, 2024
Where: BVAA / Open Sky Uxbridge Community Art 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 two or three art items. These will be judged *as a series* (i.e. one prize for a whole group) for cash prizes. Note that you CAN submit items which you’ve submitted separately for judging before. This time they’ll be judged as an entire series. Also, when you submit items to this show as part of a series you CAN then submit them separately for a future show as individual items. This here is a fairly unique show in that we’re judging the art items as one coherent “group”.
Entering the Show The entry fee for this show is $20 for two to three pieces. Note that you can’t submit just one item. This submission needs to be 2 or 3 items which relate to each other. They can be presented together if you wish, as in a triptych frame.
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 your online details is midnight on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Work must be dropped off on Saturday, June 8, 2024 between 10am and 3pm. Please do not bring in art to the gallery at other times. All work which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).
We plan on arranging / labelling the show on Monday, June 10th starting at 6:30pm. We’d love to have you join us! Please contact us in case we change the date or time.
Judging Judge to be announced
Closing Reception The closing reception for the show is Friday, June 28th from 5-7pm. Invite family and friends – all are welcome! NOTE NEW DATE!! JUNE 28!!
Pick Up Saturday, July 6, 2022, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make that, please contact us for other arrangements.
It’s that time of year! BVAA Spring Party Time! This is when we celebrate the start of summer. We also hold elections for our officers for the 2024-2025 year, which will begin in September. Our BVAA calendar year runs from September 2024 to August 2025.
We will be holding our meeting on our regular monthly meeting date, the third Tuesday:
Tuesday May 21st 2024 6:00pm
Bob and Carol Evans once again set up all the details for us! Thank you Bob and Carol!
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. You can order just a tea! Just a salad! There’s no up-front payments.
Please EMAIL US DIRECTLY at info@bvaa.org if you are thinking about coming. That way we can create a table count for the restaurant. You’re welcome to bring one person with you.
We would love to see you on May 21st. If you’re not able to come for any reason at all, we understand. We will miss you!
There will not be any event in the Uxbridge gallery on Tue May 21st. We will only be at the Grille 122.
Ask if you have any questions, and have a great weekend!
Congratulations to the winners of our 2024 BVAA members-only Spring Show! The judge for this show was Carol Arnold.
Congratulations to Verne Thayer for his honorable mention for “Fall Bridge” in our Spring Show! The judge loved Verne’s use of light, the way the light hits the tree and water, drawing your eye around the landscape. The composition was lovely, and there is a great use of color. Oil painting, $1800.
Congratulations to Steve Paulson for his honorable mention with “Winter Pastoral”. Watercolor $120. The judge loved Steve’s design and perspective, with the great feeling of distance. “The fence was done so well! Not putting in every post and great variety!” Then from that fence your eye is drawn deeper and deeper into the image, with the soft colors and barely-painted-in-trees. She loved that fading-into-the-distance sense. It created a strong sense of emotion.
Congratulations to Janice Fortin for her honorable mention in the BVAA Spring Show with “Pachyderm” watercolor $75. The judge loved this painting, with its loose and free nature and playful youthful appeal. The painting resonates with joyful emotion and energy. There’s a great sense of movement and energy.
Congratulations to Claire Messier for winning third place with her pastel “Friend or Foe?”. The judge loved the skillful technique showcased in this art, with the softer background and the vivid details on the fox. The eye is really drawn in to the fox itself.
Congratulations to second place prize winner Carol Frieswick for her oil painting “Peony in Teacups” $200. The judge loved the luminous light and the skillful composition of the flower and cups. The use of color and light caught her eye from across the room – a beautiful combination of colors which complement each other quite well. It almost glows. Every petal has its own hue. Carol F commented that it was quite challenging to present the symmetry of the saucers.
Congratulations to Nancy Russell for winning first place with her watercolor and gouache painting “July”! The judge loved the gorgeous use of light and the composition with the varied non-linear background. There’s a real sense of emotion in the dog, an alert eagerness. The viewer is drawn in to wonder what the dog is looking at and what is going on – is he about to run after a stick? There are beautiful colors and nice use of lost edges / shadow so that the scene feels natural. Great light-medium-dark values.
It’s time for a critique session! We all bring in our latest works or images and then offer each other suggestions and advice. You can bring the works in in person or bring JPG images on a thumb drive for us to view on a laptop. You can bring in paintings, drawings, or sculptures. Whatever you wish! It’ll be fun, relaxed, and conversational.
If you aren’t able to bring the physical item in, and don’t have a thumb drive, you can email the image to our normal info@bvaa.org address sometime before Tuesday and we’ll handle it for you. Lisa Shea will be on laptop duty for the night :).
Our April 2024 monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 from 6:30-9pm.
This critique will be moderated by the talented award-winning painter Carol Arnold!
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!
Ask with any questions!
Some samples of Carol Arnold’s work:
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 an absolutely amazing two-part workshop and demo on Sunday March 24th 2024! Note the Sunday date!
You are invited to attend a two-hour workshop in Asian arts with local artist Bayda Asbridge. The first 30 minutes will revolve around Saori (Japanese weaving) where you will see the artist weave on her portable loom. You may even get a chance to run the shuttle yourself and experience weaving personally. She will introduce this art form and explain in what way it is different from traditional weaving. Meanwhile, there will be a Powerpoint presentation of her fiber art playing in the background. She will be able to answer any questions that arise during that period of time.
In the remaining 90 minutes, you will learn about Classical Asian Brush Painting – the 4 gentlemen. The focus will be on two of them by practicing the basic strokes of the bamboo stalk and leaves & wild orchid flowers and their leaves.
This workshop is FREE and is open to the community. If you want to participate in the brush painting portion, please RSVP to info@bvaa.org so that we know how many stations to set up for the brush painting. We have a hard limit of 24 brush stations. All materials will be supplied for the brush painting portion of the session.
The date for this workshop is Sunday March 24th, 2024. Bayda will start setting up at 12:30pm and we’ll get started at 1pm. Feel free to arrive at 12:30pm to chat and get updates on our spring schedule. We’ll aim to start with the Saori weaving portion right at 1pm.
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.
Please note the SUNDAY DATE! In general, our monthly meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month unless otherwise announced. For March 2024 we are moving this meeting to SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY :).
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!
The Blackstone Valley Art Association is sponsoring its annual BVAA Spectacular Spring Show – this is our 66th year! The show is open to all BVAA members. If you’re not yet a BVAA member, now’s the time to join us!
NOTE! SHOW IS EXTENDED THROUGH JUNE 8TH!!
When: April 6 to June 8, 2024
Where: BVAA / Open Sky Uxbridge Community Art Gallery 5 South Main Street Uxbridge, MA 01569
About the Show: The Blackstone Valley Art Association celebrates its 66th year with its annual Spectacular Spring show. This open-themed extravaganza features the very best artwork from its diverse membership. We explore stunning black and white photography, soaring landscapes, delicate watercolors, swirling acrylics, precisely detailed oil paintings, and much, much more. Our members range from teens to retirees, from those just starting out to award-winning Putney Painters. We warmly invite you to our opening reception where you can enjoy insightful conversations with the artists and infuse inspiration into your life!
Entering the Show The entry fee for the Spectacular Spring 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. The gallery will not accept non-wired wall-hanging 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 Saturday, April 6th, 2024. Work should be dropped off that Saturday, April 6th from 10am to 3pm. 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 on Wednesday, April 10th from 5-7pm. We’d love to have you come participate! Hanging is easy and fun now that we have the wall hanging system. It’s all about figuring out which artwork styles go together.
Judging This show awards cash prizes based on the number of entries received. The judge for this show is to be determined.
Opening Reception The opening reception for the show is: Friday, April 12th, 2024 5-7pm
There’ll be music, fun, and lively conversation! Bring a snack to share – just how creative can you get? Lisa might bring her ladybug-tomato-on-mozzarella! That is nice and springy!
Please invite family and friends – all are welcome!
Viewing Hours Mondays through Saturdays 10am-3pm. If coming during the week, note that Open Sky uses this space for their work with clients. Call ahead to make sure someone will be there.
Pick Up Pick up for this show is:
Saturday June 8th, 2024 10am-3pm
If you aren’t able to make that, contact us for other arrangements. Address any questions via our BVAA Contact Information
Ask with any questions! We look forward to seeing your entries!
Celebrate the beauty of the Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts! Our “Local Beauty” community art show is open to ALL forms of art – photography, watercolors, acrylics, oil paintings, pastels, printmaking, sculpture, and more. The topic is our local Blackstone Valley in Massachusetts. We eagerly look forward to seeing local landscapes, architecture, visions, and interpretations of:
Do you have a photo of Purgatory Chasm in Sutton? A watercolor painting of the Millville canal lock? An abstract interpretation of Worcester City Hall? We’d love to see how you interpret this topic!
This show is FREE to participate in and is open to all community members! You don’t have to live in a listed down to participate. The image itself needs to somehow represent one of those towns.
Please vote for your favorite! Voting is open through Friday April 5th – winners are awarded at 6pm!
When: March 2nd to April 6th, 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.
Participation is open to the public. Each participant may exhibit up to three pieces of art.
Entering the Show 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. 3M stick-on hangers are notorious for falling off – please don’t use those. If you are new to preparing photography for shows, read our page on How to Mat and Frame a Photo. Please also check out our Show Terms and Conditions
All art which is entered is displayed. 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. You can have your art listed with a price for sale, or you can have it Not For Sale if you wish.
Submissions To submit your entries use our BVAA Online Submission Form. The deadline to submit the online label information is midnight on Saturday, March 2nd, 2024. Work must be dropped off on Saturday, March 2nd, 2024 between 10am and 3pm. Please only bring artwork in on Saturday – the staff in the location during the week do not handle artwork processing. All artwork which is brought in will be hung (as long as it is properly wired and is family-friendly).
Please indicate on your label which town each image represents. We’ll be using that information to create our town-specific slideshows, explained below.
Judging This show will be a community choice voting. Every person can vote for a first, second, and third place. Winners will be announced at the reception.
Video Slideshows
In addition to the in-gallery experience and the traditional full show video walkthrough, we will also do town-specific slideshows as part of this project. We’ll create a slideshow of the images representing Uxbridge, the images representing Grafton, and so on. That way people who are interested in art from a particular town can easily find it.
Reception The reception for this show will be on Friday, April 5th, 2024 from 5-7pm. Prizes are usually awarded around 6pm. Winners will receive ribbons and certificates.
Pick Up Pickup of the art is on Saturday, April 6th, 2024, from 10am to 3pm. If you aren’t able to make this date, please contact us for other arrangements. Please do not stop by the gallery during the week to pick up art – the weekly staff are not able to process the art items.
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!
