MOLLY PRIOR

ArtsWorcester is doing all that it can and more to bring art to its audience during the pandemic. After shutting its doors in March like all museums and non-essential businesses, the gallery reopened in July and has successfully been able to adapt to the changes.

“In this moment, we are actually grateful to be a small gallery,” said Juliet Feibel, executive director. “Because we are two small galleries, you can enter and enjoy without touching anything, we’ve been able to re-shape our exhibitions and create a smooth transition.”

Feibel talked about the importance of making art available in different ways to their core audience during this time. 

“I think the biggest thing that we would like our audience to know is that we fully respect how people feel about the situation going on right now. Whatever works for them, works for us,” she explained. “We are aware that we may in fact be the first place people went this summer that wasn’t the grocery store or pharmacy. And we recognize that many visitors aren’t going anywhere at all, and we don’t want them to feel like they’re missing things. At the same time, we want everyone to be able to fully enjoy our member’s artwork, and that’s where the importance of our online exhibits comes in.”

Feibel explained that now, ArtsWorcester will be displaying their exhibits both online and in person for twice as long as normal. In order to come, one must also sign up on EventBrite, and there must be groups of no more than seven people. She additionally talked about the current and upcoming exhibits that will be on display. All of them will be available online to the public for an extended period of time. One of the current exhibits, Material Needs, has been on display since Oct. 15, striving to bring new and unconventional art to the Worcester County area. 

“The goal of the Material Needs Grants is the creation of new art in Worcester County, something that is new to the artist and new to the community,” she explained.  “A grant of $10,000 is distributed to a number of artists, anywhere from $750 to $1,500 each, to pay for the materials they need to make something new. For example, one artist wanted to increase the size of her watercolors to nearly eight feet in every dimension. Watercolor paper that big is expensive, and that’s the kind of experimentation these grants pay for. Each year’s exhibit is the result of the grants we gave the year before. Additionally, we want them to also make full use of digital platforms, as this one is online only.  This will help them reach a wider audience.”

Another upcoming exhibit that Feibel is excited about is the State of Being exhibit. The State of Being exhibit, beginning Dec. 3, will highlight the art created by teachers throughout the Worcester Public Schools system. 

“This exhibit is unique and important because the art teachers throughout the Worcester Public Schools are so talented,” Feibel said. “Oftentimes, we forget that they are actually artists and not just teachers. This will be a chance for them to show their students and the public what they can really do.”

Though this is the first year of the exhibit, Feibel says that she hopes that it will be ongoing and the goal is to make it happen yearly. 

“Teachers have done so much this year, with the transition to being online, it has not been easy.” Feibel said. “This is a way to give back to the art teachers and say ‘thank you’ to them.”

Along with the State of Being exhibit, there will be another solo exhibit beginning on the same day, December 3rd. The exhibit is called “Along the Wrack Line” and is an environmental project by Rebecca McGee Tuck. McGee Tuck won this year’s Present Tense Prize, which is an award that is presented to an artist that exemplifies artistic risk-taking and excellence. McGee Tuck’s exhibit features sculptures created by the sea debris that she has collected along the Massachusetts shore line.

“This year, we needed to pare way back to make way for the longer runs of group shows, and we prioritized group shows so that we can serve as many artists as possible, in a time of limited opportunities,” Feibel said. “We also needed to cut costs, as it wasn’t clear what kind of financial havoc the pandemic would create for us. This particularly solo exhibition has restricted support attached to it, meaning that it comes with its own funding, and it’s important. Encouraging new media and new work is core to what we do. So it’s the only solo exhibition we plan to produce this year.”

There is so much going on at Arts Worcester, both in person and online. You won’t want to miss it! For more information, visit Artsworcester.org/current-upcoming-exhibitions.