Western Avenue Studios

SOLID GROUND | A Group Exhibit by WA Artists | 3rd & 5th Mini Galleries
2025-09-29 09:00 - 2025-12-15 17:00 UTC | 3rd Floor Mini Gallery, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, 01851, United States
As Western Avenue marks its 20th anniversary, this exhibition honors the very place that has nurtured our creative community for two decades: our historic mill buildings. These vast, storied spaces are more than walls and windows, they are the ground where we work, experiment, and grow; where artists meet, collaborate, and live as part of a culture that values creativity.
The show invites reflection on what it means to have a space dedicated to making art, a space where the artist-self is not an oddity but part of a thriving collective. Here, we are free to be authentic, playful, bold, and deeply curious in our explorations.
Featuring work in all mediums, the exhibition celebrates the physical presence of the Western Avenue complex and the role these buildings play in our shared creative life. From their historic architecture to the personal connections forged within them, the show highlights what these spaces mean to the artists who call them home.
Open to both current and former Western Avenue artists, the work on view spans the past 20 years, reflecting the evolving story of our community and its enduring connection to this place.

The Quiet Between | Group Exhibit | 4th Floor Mini Gallery
2025-10-24 09:00 - 2026-01-15 17:00 | 4th Floor Mini Gallery, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, 01851, United States
The Quiet Between is a contemplative exploration of stillness, transition, and the subtle spaces that exist between moments, emotions, and change. Featuring a diverse group of contemporary artists, this exhibit invites viewers to engage with works that inhabit the pause, between sound and silence, movement and stillness, presence and absence.This is not an exhibit of conclusions, but of questions. What does silence hold? Where do we go when we are in between? What truths live in the quiet?

Join us for Open Studios on Saturday, November 1st from 12–5pm to meet the artists and explore their work, or stop by during regular business hours (Monday–Sunday, 9am–5pm).

*This show has been extended to January 15th*

See you there!

It's Been 20 Years??? | By Maxine Farkas | Lofts Lobby Gallery
2025-10-27 08:00 - 2026-02-14 17:00 | Loft Lobby, 160 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, 01851, United States
As a part of our 20th year anniversary celebration, this exhibition highlights the work of Maxine Farkas, who joined the Western Ave Artist Community twenty years ago. The show traces her artistic evolution, shaped by that creative environment. Maxine has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally. Originally a fiber artist and quilter, her practice expanded as she connected with other artists in the Western Ave studios. Through this creative community, she explored painting, assemblage, and collage. In recent years, she has returned to fiber arts and quilting, creating intuitive, rule-free work enriched by the materials and techniques developed through her earlier explorations.
Reception: Lofts Lobby, December 5th, 5-7pm
Artist talk: teaching space in studio #225, November 22nd, 1PM

Join us for Open Studios on Saturday, November 1st, December 6th, January 3rd, and February 7th from 12–5pm to meet the artist and explore her work, or to schedule a private visit email Hope Flynn at: hopeaf93@outlook.com

1000 Cranes Project: A Wish for Peace | Group Exhibit | 2nd Floor Mini Gallery
2025-11-01 09:00 - 2025-12-20 17:00 | 2nd Floor Mini Gallery, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, 01851, United States
In Japanese culture, the crane symbolizes longevity, happiness, and good fortune. The legend of the senbazuru, one thousand origami cranes folded together, carries a wish for peace, a tradition that gained deep resonance in the aftermath of Hiroshima and continues today at temples in Japan. There, crane banners are left to weather in the open air, slowly dissolving as the wish is released into the world.
As part of this project, artists and creators at Western Avenue are invited to contribute to our own 1000 Cranes Project. Paper cranes will be gathered and sewn into long, colorful banners, while artists working in clay, glass, fabric, photography, embroidery, and other media are encouraged to create unique interpretations of the crane form. Together, these contributions will form a vibrant, collaborative installation celebrating creativity, community, and a shared wish for peace.
Each crane is donated by participating artists, and discussions are underway about sending the completed senbazuru to Hiroshima as a collective offering of peace after the exhibition closes.

Join us for Open Studios on Saturday, November 1st & December 6th from 12–5pm to meet the artists and explore their work, or stop by during regular business hours (Monday–Sunday, 9am–5pm).

Casas de Cartón | By gabriella alejandra aragon | Storage Closet Gallery
2025-11-01 09:00 - 2026-01-11 17:00 | Storage Closet Gallery, 160 Western Ave, Lowell, MA, 01851
Storage Closet Gallery presents Casas de Cartón, Recent Sculptures by gabriella alejandra aragon, opening November 1st, 2025, and on view through January 11, 2026. The works on display are ofrendas – altars used in Latinx communities during Día de los Muertos. Upon these altars, offerings are placed to honor loved ones who have passed. aragon’s materials are 100% recycled. Upcycling materials revitalizes the earth and mirrors the act of beckoning and welcoming back the deceased. Aragon’s altars expand the traditional meaning of ofrenda, not only honoring the dead but also offering gratitude for life.
Viewable during open studios or by appointment, email Antionette Indge at: aeindge@gmail.com
Open Studio dates and hours:
November 1st, December 6th & 13th, January 3rd. 12-5pm

Light Up The Night | Group Exhibit | 1st Floor Mini Gallery
2025-11-15 09:00 - 2026-01-10 17:00 | 1st Floor Mini Gallery, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA, 01851, United States
This is a show focused on art that uses light or lack thereof as part of its display, still riding the excitement and inspiration that our Luminosity fundraiser brought us. Artistic lighting fixtures and pieces that require special lighting are the focus.

This is an invitation to celebrate the halfway point of winter with us, a time where the light that we cherish is so fleeting. Following the theme of ‘light’ for Western Ave’s 20th anniversary, we present art that not only celebrates the light, but challenges the norm of bright gallery light being the only way to appreciate art.

A small reception will be held in the 1st floor mini gallery at 122 Western Ave starting at 4p.m. with an artist and curator talk beginning at 5p.m.
Join us for an artist talk & reception on December 21st 4-6 PM
