Summertime and the living is easy, but there’s still lots of art around to savor and to view.
The new exhibits open Saturday at the Fitchburg Art Museum. They include the 90th Regional Exhibition of Art and Craft which is one of the longest running juried exhibitions in New England.
This tradition at the Fitchburg Art Museum spotlights the artists and crafters of the region by providing a museum environment for their work and connecting them with fellow creators, patrons, and art enthusiasts. The winner will have a solo exhibition alongside the 91st Regional Exhibition of Art & Craft in 2027.
Also, on view through Sept. 13 are exhibits by James D ye and Call and Response: Kindred.
Visit https://fitchburgartmuseum.org for info, hours and events.
Umbrella Arts
At the Umbrella Arts Center in Concord the 2026 Ceramics Biennial exhibition, “Earthworks: Evolution” remains on view through June 28.
Umbrella’s Ceramics Program Manager Zachary Mickelson says the artform is having a moment in New England, with rising national stars making work in the region.
The Umbrella boasts one of Massachusetts’s most robust ceramics programs for working artists and part-time or hobbyist makers. It offers extensive course offerings and state-of-the-art studio spaces, both planned for expansion to meet demand.
That commitment to the medium is reflected in this year’s exhibition, which includes several works by artists who began or continue their practice at the center.
The theme, “Evolution,” leans into the center’s concerns for sustainability and embraces innovations and new technology in the field.
Visit https://theumbrellaarts.org for info and details.
Concord Art
Concord Art presents “Say it with Flowers,” on view through Aug. 11. The impulse behind “Say it with Flowers” is rooted in the community that is Concord Art. As the association nears completion of the new classroom, the Keyes Art Barn, they have gratitude for the generosity of the community that made it possible. With that in mind, and with the knowledge that the grounds around Concord Art are a construction zone, they brought the gardens inside and filled the galleries with a riot of color and texture.
….The exhibition takes its title from the Florists Telegraph Delivery (FTD) slogan, coined in 1917 by Boston adman Patrick O’Keefe and inspired by the Victorian practice of floriography, where floral arrangements were used to send secret messages. The FTD slogan helped shape the industry by encouraging people to send flowers to express emotions: secret and not-so-secret love, congratulations or sympathy.
Contemporary artists infuse floral forms with deeper meanings and raise questions about the relationship to nature and what it means to live in today’s world. From addressing social isolation during Covid to posing questions about body politics and fertility to honoring a beloved dog, the nineteen artists use flowers to address a wide range of themes both political and deeply personal.
Whether reimagining 15th-century botanical illustrations or fashioning ethereal sculptures out of light, these artists embrace the sensual nature of flowers, using paint, graphite, ink, paper, sticks, cyanotype, photography and collage to create a distinctive and evocative language. And in so doing, they invite the viewer to listen in.
Artists featured in this exhibition include Laura Blacklow, Loren Eiferman, Tina Feingold, Tom Fels, Emily Filler, Aaron Fink, Beth Galston, Nancy Gruskin, Katrine Hildebrandt, Fiona Kennedy, Kirstin Lamb, Jaeok Lee, Alex Maclean, Neeta Madahar, Susan Maxfield, Linda Nagaoka, Tucker Nichols, Roberta Paul, Katherine Richmond and Peter Gruner Shellenberger.
Visit www.concordart.org for info.
Nancye Tuttle’s email address is [email protected].
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