Kaiomi Inniss

Expect the unexpected! ArtWeek is no ordinary week — presented by the Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, this award-winning, 10-day art festival promises to be a creative and interactive experience for folks of all ages. There will be more than 300 events featured across the state, ranging from individual artists hosting public talks in a vacant lot with their art to lighting up a canal with lanterns in Lowell.

ArtWeek was launched in the fall of 2013 with seed money from Art Place America. Occurring twice a year, ArtWeek launched with only 25 events and gradually grew to more than 260 events.

“It was initially inspired by the popularity of Restaurant Week, in that it happened twice a year and everyone went out and discovered new places,” said Sue Dahling Sullivan, the team leader of ArtWeek 2018.

Unlike Restaurant Week, which features a discount pricing model for delicious meals, ArtWeek was inspired by research from the National Endowment for the Arts, which found that people were looking for socially-based or learning-based art experiences. This research helped the folks behind ArtWeek to create the “ArtWeek twist” — a learning-based, interactive, hands-on experience that would engage communities.

“People were looking to engage in arts, culture and creativity in a different way – they loved going to art exhibits, theater shows and concerts, but they were looking for a little extra something,” Dahling said.

After four years of success, growth and overwhelming public reception, ArtWeek had reached its tipping point and will now be an annual, statewide event.

“We had featured 260 events, and we had spread throughout eastern Massachusetts, and we knew that doing it twice a year at that level of activity simply wasn’t sustainable,” Dahling said.

ArtWeek’s guiding principles of ensuring that arts and culture is affordable and accessible to communities regardless of age, socioeconomic background or geographic location aligned with the principles of the Highland Street Foundation. The Highland Street Foundation is the founder of Free Fun Fridays in the summer, working with museums across the state to offer visitors admission-free events. Since 2013, the foundation has been a presenting sponsor for ArtWeek. More than 60 percent of ArtWeek’s events will be free, and more than 90 percent of events are either free or less than $25, which reinforces the principles of accessibility and affordability.

ArtWeek now boasts more than 70 partners at different levels, including statewide partners, regional champions and community catalysts.

“We really built the model on a framework of collaboration and partnership,” said Dahling.

ArtWeek has divided the state by the six super regions defined by Mass Office of Travel and Tourism – Greater Boston, North of Boston, South of Boston, Cape and Islands, Central Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts. Patrons in Central Massachusetts can expect a diverse range of events during ArtWeek. The Worcester Art Museum will host a special curator talk on the da Vinci pieces it owns. The talk will discuss the technical aspects of da Vinci’s art. Colleges in the Worcester area will also be involved in ArtWeek. Worcester State University will host several ArtWeek events, including a night for graduating artists to present their senior theses artwork.

The College of the Holy Cross is teaming up with the Worcester Art Museum to host a podcast tour, giving the history behind the special pieces in the museum. There will also be a Jazz Safari Concert hosted by the Joy of Music Program and the Cape Art Troupe, which will create a collage during its concert and the audience will be invited to add to the collage afterwards.

“It’s really, really exciting to see people and organizations sort of come together around this really unique concept,” said Dahling.

ArtWeek will run from April 27-May 6. You can find out more about ArtWeek and access the calendar of events at artweekma.org.