Open Door Arts

Join us tomorrow (6/4) from 11 AM to 1 PM for the opening reception of Among Blooms: Finding Ourselves in Nature.
A vibrant exhibition celebrating creativity, self-expression, and the beauty of the natural world.

Featuring artwork in a wide range of media, this exhibition showcases the talents of artists from the SSeven Hills FoundationASPiRE! Day Program, who have spent the past year creating work and exploring at the WWorcester Art Museum Through painting, drawing, sculpture, and mixed media, the artists share unique perspectives on nature, growth, and connection.

Come meet the artists, experience their remarkable work, and celebrate the power of art to bring people together.

Learn more at https://www.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/open-door-gallery/aspire-artists-among-blooms-finding-ourselves-in-nature/

Images:
1. A wall with a 3x4 grid of bright and colorful paper collages of flowers in a window.
2. A view of the gallery. The bright paper collages in the first picture are on the back wall. The gallery walls are filled with colorful and varied 2-D artworks. Pedestals display sculptures and weavings.

Our April Professional Development Program "The Hub with Open Door Arts" is available to view on our YouTube!

Thank you to Dani and Portia from Open Door Arts and Mariam from The Morton Arboretum for sharing with us about artsaccesshub.org!

If you missed the original presentation, you can visit bit.ly/cachub26 or visit our YouTube channel to learn about how the Arts and Culture Accessibility Hub provides tools to help your organization with its accessibility growth FOR FREE!

Thank you again to everyone involved in this amazing presentation, and thank you to Bridget Melton for the recording's editing and audio description.

We are excited to feature "We Got Inspired by The Magical Touch," an exhibition by South High School students participating in ODA's CareerCREATE Program.

The exhibit opened on 5/19 and is on display through Sunday, 5/31. The gallery is FREE and open to the public Wed-Sun from 10-4 PM.

The CareerCREATE program offers high school and transition-aged students with disabilities engaging and accessible opportunities to develop artistic skills and explore career pathways in the arts.

On display are the artworks that the students developed over the school year: paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures, and poetry. The students created their own bespoke tactile art, meant to be experienced through touch!

Images:
1. An installation of the artworks in a drop-in studio. In the middle is a large table for art making. On the walls are brightly colored paintings of animals, handprints, and abstractions.
2. Bright paintings of a panda, minion, elephant, rainbow, and sunset skies are above a counter. On the counter are tactile representations, artwork designed to be experienced through touch.
3. A close-up of two clay sculptures. On the left is a small dog with blue fur and white spots. On the right is a large, round black cat with short legs and a large, round tail.

Opening tomorrow!

"Handle With Care," an art exhibit by students at Another Course to College in the CareerCREATE Program.

Attend the opening on TH. 5/21 between 2:30 and 6:00 PM.
Located at 612 Metropolitan Ave. Hyde Park, 02136

The art exhibit is a testament to resilience, creativity, and the power of a community to transform loss into expression.

Image: A flyer for the exhibition that features variegated cardboard and the exhibit title "Handle with Care" on the cardboard in red ink. Brown text shares all the info in the post text about the exhibit, dates, and times.

Opening today at Boston Neighborhood Network Media!

"Embrace Color: Diversity Makes Humanity Shine"
On display: May 18 - June 26
Opening Reception: May 28 at 6:30 PM
Free and Open to the public.

This exhibition celebrates the vibrant perspectives of students from Community Academy of Science and Health and Boston Green Academy who participate in Open Door Arts’ CareerCREATE Program. Through bold use of color and form, each artwork reflects a personal exploration of identity, emotion, and belonging. For some students, these colors connect to cultural pride and heritage, including references to national flags; for others, they express feelings, experiences, or individuality in deeply personal ways.

Together, these works highlight the richness of diverse perspectives and remind us that diversity is not only something to be seen, but something to be valued, uplifted, and embraced. Each piece contributes to a collective story—one that shines brighter because of every unique voice within it.

Image: A flyer with a navy background. Text on the flyer shares all the information in the post text. In the middle is a collage of paintings with brightly colored shapes like triangles, squares, and rectangles.

‘Repeat After Me’ Featured Artist: Delia Harrington

Delia and their artwork were recently featured in The Reading Observer! https://www.thereadingobserver.com/community-news/reading-artist-delia-harrington-showcases-work-at-worcester-art-museum

Delia shares about their art:
“The migraine logs are quite literally repetitious, part of an ongoing fiber art data visualization series I'm hand embroidering of data from my actual headache diaries that my neurologists have asked me to keep. They are an attempt to make my "invisible" disabilities and chronic illnesses visible and comprehensible to others. Research shows that women, LGBTQ people, and BIPOC rate their pain lower, yet are less likely to be believed about our pain levels.

I often struggle with what numbers on the pain scale to assign. I frequently under-rate my pain, almost never using the highest rating that is shown here in the deepest red. Like many chronically ill people, I live with pain daily, so days marked in the light, soothing green of "no recorded migraine" could still be misleading, even in a work meant to demonstrate my pain."

‘Repeat After Me’ features the artwork of eight disabled artists from Massachusetts. Through painting, fiber, sculpture, and video, these artists assert themes of connection, embodiment, mapping, community, and identity.

This is the last day (5/13) to experience the exhibit! It is on display in the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum through May 13. The gallery is always free and is open Wed-Sun from 10-4 PM.

For more details and gallery access, visit https://opendoorartsma.org/gallery/odgworcester/

For further access requests, email Megan at [email protected]

Image: A blue and green background. On the left is the neon yellow text “Repeat After Me.” In the bottom right is the artist’s name, and in the middle is their artwork, 'The Pain Scale is Bu****it, But it's All We've Got 2019,' a fiber artwork in which the months of the year are embroidered in a grid, and a color-coded calendar charting their migraine pain scale. The legend for the pain scale is embroidered on the right.

‘Repeat After Me’ Featured Artist: Erika Schwarz

Erika's artwork, The Unseen Spectrum of Stress, and its accompanying research were part of the Worcester Art Museum's Earth Day activities!

Erika shares:
“My autism often displays in ruminating thoughts and compulsive actions. Repeating or 'going over' things ends up being an inherent theme even if unintended. I'm searching for an understanding of the world in patterns. Changes that emerge in the process of searching and or repeating reveal something of meaning to me."

‘Repeat After Me’ features the artwork of eight disabled artists from Massachusetts. Through painting, fiber, sculpture, and video, these artists assert themes of connection, embodiment, mapping, community, and identity.

These are the last days to experience the exhibit! It is on display in the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum through May 13. The gallery is always free and is open Wed-Sun from 10-4 PM.

For more details and gallery access, visit https://opendoorartsma.org/gallery/odgworcester/

For further access requests, email Megan at [email protected]

Image: A purple/pink background. On the left is the neon yellow text “Repeat After Me.” In the bottom right is the artist’s name, and in the middle is their artwork 'The Unseen Spectrum of Stress." long, tear-shaped, senescent Sumac leaves in a grid. The leaves are in various stages of color shifts due to stress. The shifting hues of the leaves are reminiscent of fall: yellow, red, orange, and green. Their unique patterns make visible the stresses of marginalization and of environmental degradation.

‘Repeat After Me’ Featured Artist: Jacoba Niepoort

Jacoba shares:
“In the works exhibited, I visualise what it has been like to live with post-concussion syndrome and mental fatigue following a head trauma and brain surgery three years ago.

These images reflect a period marked by significant physical and cognitive limitations. Drawing them now becomes both a revisiting and a repetition of that time — a period still ongoing, yet one in which reflection has become possible.

The work engages with internal communication between fragments of thought, memory, and different parts of the self. They are created in ballpoint pen, a medium that by its inability to erase, embraces undefined borders and imperfections."

‘Repeat After Me’ features the artwork of eight disabled artists from Massachusetts. Through painting, fiber, sculpture, and video, these artists assert themes of connection, embodiment, mapping, community, and identity.

This is the last week to experience the exhibit! It is on display in the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum through May 13. The gallery is always free and is open Wed-Sun from 10-4 PM.

For more details and gallery access, visit https://opendoorartsma.org/gallery/odgworcester/

For further access requests, email Megan at [email protected]

Image :
A purple to pink ombre background. On the left is the neon green text “Repeat After Me.” In the bottom right is the artist’s name, and in the middle is their video artwork, Multitudes - a black pen and ink drawing with a texture of scribble lines. In the middle is a rendering of the artist, one hand covering their face, the other outstretched. Behind them, in the scribble lines, is a large looming shadow with its hands and arms raised.

'Repeat After Me' Featured Artist: Marcus Clarke

Marcus shares:
“My work engages with repetition as a tool for cementing meaning and belief, or questioning belief and evoking doubt. The effects of this repetition are felt in my own life, especially when dealing with suffering associated with disability, where hope and belief are both an anchor and a force of dissonance. These works were created during a flare-up of an autoimmune disease that I have, which caused me to be mostly bedridden. I was thinking a lot about suffering and embodiment during the creation of these works.”

‘Repeat After Me’ features the artwork of eight disabled artists from Massachusetts. Through painting, fiber, sculpture, and video, these artists assert themes of connection, embodiment, mapping, community, and identity.

The exhibit is on display in the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum through May 13. The gallery is always free and is open Wed-Sun from 10-4 PM.

For more details and gallery access, visit https://opendoorartsma.org/gallery/odgworcester/

For further access requests, email Megan at [email protected]

Image: A pink to purple ombre background. On the left is the neon yellow text “Repeat After Me.” In the bottom right is the artist’s name, and in the middle is their artwork, Suffering Blockade. A large neon orange and white road blockade features an LED screen with the words "Are you suffering?" On the right side of the blockade is a shimmery gold emergency blanket and a pile of gold confetti underneath it.