Creatures of Worcester

Sara Arnold

Chris Michelotti, as Panduh Productions, has two art showcases in Worcester happening concurrently. He wants to bring more artistic community to Worcester.

“I love this city, I think that this is a very creative city going through a lot of changes,” he said.

In the Creatures of Worcester shows, he’s worked with photographers to show different environments of the city including different parks and hiking trails, and to show live performances happening all around Worcester. There will also be ten different digital artists.

In Creatures of Worcester: After Dark II the photographs highlight various models who are from the Worcester area in boudoir settings.

As its curator, Michelotti said “Creatures of Worcester is my love letter to the city that has taken me in when I have never been one to call any place home.”

“Worcester has been the first place I wanted to try and plant roots. This city is really special to me and even though we were all locked away during COVID, I reached out to a lot of people to try and get to know the city. People didn’t treat me oddly, and when things opened up they all came out in full force to support the first batch of artists in the show. That’s what this show is, community that aims to support one another,” he said.

Michelotti added, “Creatures live in community because it’s not about them being a hero or a villain; it’s about all of us in our weirdness.”

He has done more than 30 different shows in Worcester over the last 3 years. “I love working with local businesses and venues,” he said.

He loves the accessibility of the city and the power there is in just showing up. “I think that it’s there for everyone to take,” he said.

“I think that it’s important for communities to have fun and this is a great chance to meet cool people. On a deeper level, life can be rough and people feel alienated from one another… So I want to highlight all kinds of artists and hopefully when you come to see the shows you can find someone that you can connect with. You can buy original works or talk with the artists to get commissioned work if you like their style. I would love to see less generic art prints and ‘live, laugh, love’ in people’s houses and more original pieces that were made by those in the community,” he said.

All but a couple of the artists in the showcases are local living artists.

“The community here is the focus. If you say that you support the local scene and most of what you share or invest in is outside of the scene, then I think you should revisit your messaging,” Michelotti said.

He said, “artists appreciate the opportunities to share their work” and enjoy community. “The universe doesn’t care about us… so it means something to see people… appreciate what you are wanting to share with them.”

Electric Haze, on 26 Millbury St, is strictly 21*.

It was the first location to give Michelotti event space and he feels significant loyalty to a great venue. He does an event every first Friday of the month for group shows or highlighting local artists and plans to continue his Creatures of Worcester events with them in the future.

The current iterations will be up for about a month.

That said, he would like to hold art showcases at other venues in the city that a younger audience can attend.