Quick Picks

Add Art Hopping to Your Fall Travel List!

In the cute Petersham Center, lies the Petersham Art Center at 8 North Street — a mile north of Petersham Common.

An all-volunteer, non-profit home for the arts since its beginnings in 1912, Petersham Art Center showcases fine craft and art of the region and beyond. Welcoming volunteers organize sales from exhibitions and operate a gift shop.

Open Saturdays from noon to 4 pm.

The Fort Devens Museum, located at 97 Jackson Road #305 in Devens, was incorporated in 2000. The, non-profit, Fort Devens Museum, collects, preserves, and shares artifacts and stories that tell the history of Camp Devens and Fort Devens, once New England’s largest US Army base.
More than a million men, women, and children have passed through Fort Devens.

Exhibits include photographs, letters, documents, equipment, uniforms, and personal artifacts from those who lived, trained, and worked at Camp and Fort Devens. Those with items to donate or place on loan will contact the museum.

Open from 10 am to 3 pm on Tuesdays, Fridays, and the third Saturday of each month.

Fitchburg’s Fall Favorite

by Helen Obermeyer-Simmons

Fitchburg Open Studios offers a free, self-guided art discovery tour on October 18 and 19. Fitchburg Cultural Alliance coordinates the event.

The Fitchburg Open Studios tour includes Boulder Art Gallery, Main Street Studios, Fitchburg Historical Society and Gallery Marquee in Fitchburg along with Creative Connections Gift Shop and Gallery in Ashburnham and Gallery Sitka in Shirley.

For participating artists, the open studios tour offers a chance to introduce their work to new audiences, make new connections, and set the stage for future interactions.

With the city of Fitchburg as core of the tour, Open Studios branches off to include artists in neighboring communities within an easy drive of each other. Visitors may obtain a brochure, plan the day, and even enjoy leaf peeping along the way.

Whether art lovers, new to the art scene, or simply curious about art and the creative process, visitors will find Open Studios an opportunity to experience working spaces, exhibition spaces, and studios of the region’s accomplished artists. Artists will welcome visitors to meet them, network, watch demonstrations and techniques, and view creative spaces and processes. Artwork will be available for sale directly from the source.

In its sixth year, Fitchburg Open Studios has become an annual event. Each stop offers its own unique and varied experience. Visitors may visit as many studios as they wish.

Participants say Fitchburg Open Studios qualifies as a unique opportunity and an inspirational event, a great way to meet people passionate about art and an opportunity to talk shop while interacting with artists in their personal studios and workspaces.