Looking forward to 2026

On Thursday, September 25th, we hosted an Open House. And we met for the first time as a working group on October 13th.

At the Open House, we wrote down our own ideas and questions on poster paper and hung them up around the gallery. People who came by responded on post-its, giving us feedback or a simple thumbs-up and added their own ideas. We gave tours and talked 1-on-1 with poets, musicians, artists, and friends. Those ideas, questions, and feedback are typed below.

If you want to get involved, there are next steps at the bottom if you want to support these efforts.

Summary from Open House (9/25/25):

Gallery: We want to plan and manage exhibits in 2026 with others. Here are ideas -

• Meet regularly with a group & plan exhibits together = collective

• Allow individuals to put exhibits together = community curators

• Themes for shows?

  • Ancestral medicine

Studios/Maker space: should we keep spaces private or open for memberships?

• Weekly or monthly open studio memberships

• Workshops? What do you want to see and learn?

  • writing workshops

• Any interest in a private studio space? One space available starting 10/5

The Shop: Our small shop can hold about 20 vendors, but help us figure this out -

• Hours? When should we be open?

• Products? What should we carry?

  • local artists' work & zines

  • books by local authors

Food Counter: We have a service counter in the shop. Here are some suggestions -

• Cafe

• Tea Bar

• "Public" kitchen

• Pop-ups - bevs, food, and cooking demos

• Cookouts

• Food as medicine

• Supper Club

• Dinners in the gallery

General ideas/Comments:

• Political education movie nights

• Mutual aid herbs

• Family photo album collage nights

• People bingo

What do you want to see?

• Co-writing sessions

What does Olneyville need?

• Community circles

  • Grief & healing space

Next Steps:

• Sunday, November 16 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. This meeting will be open to the public & everyone is welcome. Please only rsvp if you plan on coming.

rsvp

• If you can't make it, you can fill out the contact form below to stay updated.

Contact form

*note: you only need to fill out one form