Galleries at WORK_SPACE

Supporting and Showcasing Local Artists

About the Galleries

The Galleries @ WORK_SPACE make up 1/3 of WORK_SPACE, the Town of Manchester’s Coworking, Meeting & Gallery space in the heart of Downtown. The Galleries consist of the Main Street Gallery (a traditional gallery space), the Loop Gallery (the space connecting the offices and meeting rooms on the first floor), the Creative Commons (a community space for members and guests with private offices, open spaces, kitchen, multi-purpose meeting rooms and a digital story studio) and a Gallery Shop.

Prior to 2019, the art spaces were overseen by Manchester Community College, now as part WORK_SPACE which sees art and innovation as tools for social change, the mission of the Galleries is to:

  • explore and celebrate diversity
  • promote and foster inclusion
  • showcase and inspire creativity
  • provoke and challenge thought
  • highlight and expand perspectives
  • create a network of creative people that would not otherwise share ideas, outlooks, resources and relationships.

WORK_SPACE is a flexible and multi-purpose space with multiple venues that can be used for creative workshops, live performances, digital recordings, and artisan pop-ups.

The Gallery Shop

An idea that started during the pandemic in 2020, the Galleries wanted a place for artists to not only share works in our exhibits but also share merchandise related to their work and style. The shop features many handcrafted goods from mugs, magnets, books, earrings, cards and more. 

Hours of Operation

Monday – Friday    10am-4pm
2nd Saturdays       10am-2pm
3rd Thursdays       6:30-9pm Monthly Listening Room/Open Mic

*Closed on Federal Holidays

Become A Gallery Member Today!

Gallery Member Art & Merch Submission

Gallery Membership Promo
Call for Artist Promo
Our annual Perspectives exhibit explores the way we view, spend, relate to and attempt to outwit time. We invite all artists of all disciplines and mediums to explore the ever-elusive concept and how we all are reflections of our time in our art and in our day to day.
 
 
Submissions Due November 27, 2023.
 
Submit your work here: https://bit.ly/PerspOfTime
 
 
 
 
“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864, American novelist)
Promo
Our 4th Annual Blank Canvas exhibit has the same goal – to inspire creativity, but this year rather than providing the blank canvases, we are asking artists of all ages, experiences, and mediums to create art from repurposed packaging materials. Submission will be open on December 1st, until then, start saving your boxes, plastic containers, bubble wrap, and any other packaging material you would have otherwise thrown away.
 
 
 
Holiday Pop-Up promo
Our annual holiday pop-up shop / love local vendor fair is happening during December’s 2nd Saturday Open House from 10AM-2PM on Dec. 9th. We will have a variety of unique vendors offering a selection of special gifts meant for special people. Interested vendors can apply for a table via https://bit.ly/HolidayFair2023.
 
The table fee is $20 with a 10% commission of all sales being donated back to WORK_SPACE. The table fee will be waived for Gallery Members and Membership starts at $36 a year. We want to make sure that we have a diverse array of vendors so reach out to us soon to secure you place as we won’t be able to host everyone.

IN THE MAIN STREET GALLERY

Art Show promo

Featuring artists from *MARC, Inc. and winners of the bicentennial photo contest: WEEK IN THE LIFE OF MANCHESTER. Since 1952, *MARC, Inc. has been providing opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead meaningful lives of independence, choice, inclusion, and continuous personal growth.

“This art show is special because it truly represents the diversity, heritage, and vibrant spirit of Manchester. If you are open to feeling it, this exhibit will be an immersive experience that reflects the very heartbeat of the city.” – Traé Brooks, Co-Curator

Art Show promo

CREATIVE COMMONS

We enjoy building relationships with local artists and displaying their work on a rotating basis in the meeting spaces on the 1st & 2nd floors and throughout The CREATIVE COMMONS that hosts our collaborative coworking spaces. When not being used for a themed show, this space is reserved to display the work of our Creative Community Members. If you are interested in learning more about our Galleries and membership, please call: 860.647.3168, email: info@workspacemanchester.com and/or scroll down.

Currently we are featuring

 

In Our Loop Gallery:

In Our Creative Commons

 

 

 

Poetry Club Logo

The Wit & Wisdom Poetry Club of Manchester is a chapter of the Connecticut Poetry Society. The Club meets at the Manchester Historical Society at 175 Pine Street from 1-3 PM on the second Saturday of each month. New members are welcome!

For additional information, contact President Victoria Dubiel at victoria.dubiel@hotmail.com or Susan Nedd at susanonedd1@mac.com.

POEM OF THE MONTH: Thanksgiving Table by Linda Maselli Richardson (click to read)

Little faces with toothpaste smiles

Gather like olive branches

Tiny fingers touch the linen cloth

staring at the silverware

That begs to be used.

 

Uncle C taps the crystal water glass with a spoon

The chime rings out; everyone looks up ─

Mama carries the bronzed bird

To the table on a large white platter ─

An art sculpture to be admired.

 

Mouths water

The aroma of turkey fills the room

Everyone is hungry and thirsty─

Grandpa and Great Aunt Jean

Knowing this day is a reason to be grateful.

 

My brothers wait for the Thanksgiving prayer ─

Each staring the other in the eye

To see who gets the drumsticks.

Excited that the orange pumpkin is now a pie

Turkey and stuffing are still the main events.

 

Laughter and family stories fill the room

Ancestors linger

Leaving us heirlooms of hope.

 ________________

BIO: Linda Richardson lives in Bolton, Ct.  She is a long-time member of the Wit & Wisdom Poetry Club of Manchester, a chapter of the Connecticut Poetry Society.

 Freedom of Want – Three generations circle the table, World War I and World War II.

Memories of a large family still exist in our hearts today.

PAST EXHIBITS & VIRTUAL GALLERIES

Art of Pride

Art of Pride

EXHIBIT DATES: May 6 – June 30, 2022 in the Main Street Gallery
OPEN HOUSES: Saturday, May 14 and Saturday, June 11

Showcasing artwork that reflects LGBTQ+ pride and resilience and what it means to live as authentic and uncompromised selves. To see some samples of the work, go to: https://bit.ly/Pride2022promoshttps://bit.ly/Pride2022promos

Perspectives of Home

EXHIBIT DATES: December 3 – February 22, 2022 in the Main Street Gallery
OPEN HOUSES: Saturday, December 11 ; Saturday, January 8 ; Saturday, February 12 (10a-2p)

The Galleries @ WORK_SPACE in partnership with EPOCH (Engaged, Public, Oral and Community Histories in the History Department at UConn) are coordinating an Art Exhibit with companion programs that explore how where we live impacts who we are, our feelings of belonging and our sense of place. Through archival research, in-depth interviews, community conversations and an art exhibit with didactic wall panels, Perspectives of Home will highlight the many threads woven into the story of Manchester, CT’s historic evolution from a mill town to a vibrant, diverse and thriving community including the inequitable opportunities that exist for its citizens.

 

artwork by: Naomi Nevo Ben Ari (https://www.naominba.art/)

OCTOBER SYNCHRONICITY

October 1 – 22, 2021

WEEKDAY HOURS: Monday – Friday (10a-4pm and by appointment)
2nd SATURDAY OPEN HOUSES: October 9 (10a-2p)
Special After Party: October 9 (6:30p-8p) no RSVP required

Connecticut artists Hunter Pedane and Phillip LeBlanc combine their talent and blend their different mediums to harness the earth’s natural beauty, texture, movement and energy to bring us this unique exhibit.

 

Staycation

EXHIBIT DATES: Aug 1 – Nov 27 in the Loop Gallery
OPEN HOUSES: Sunday, August 1 ; Saturday, August 14 ; Saturday, September 11 (10a-2p)

We often neglect to be tourists in our own backyard, missing experiences that others seek out. There aren’t many silver-linings to quarantine, but one could be our enhanced appreciation of all things local. Local businesses, local parks, local walking trails, local Instagram-worthy sights. This exhibit will feature all types of art that features the activities, landscapes and moods of our recent staycations when we entertained ourselves within and close to our homes.

Inspiration: Blank Canvas Show 2022

WORK_SPACE gave out 14″x14″ Blank Canvases to 45 local artists, asking them to bring them back with images that represented INSPIRATION. Now we invite you to see the 66 fun and diverse works of art that fill the Main Street Gallery. We think that you too will be inspired.
 
EXHIBIT DATES: Friday, March 4 – Wednesday, April 20, 2022 – Come on in or call to make an appointment.
OPEN HOUSES: Saturday, April 9 and March 12 (10a-2p) – Every month we host our 2nd Saturday events and encourage folks to explore the wonderful local business on Main Street.
ART & ALE: Friday, March 25 (5-8p) – View the exhibit, enjoy dinner downtown, and then join us at Urban Lodging Brewing at 8p.

ART IN ACTION

August 13, – Sept. 24, 2021

WEEKDAY HOURS: Monday – Friday (10a-4pm and by appointment)
2nd SATURDAY OPEN HOUSES: August 14 and September 11 (10a-2p)

A diverse array of images created by young CT artists ages 13-19 about their experiences and emotions in 2020. This exhibit was produced by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. To see the virtual exhibit on their website, click here.

 

Art of Recovery

More than 30 New England artists submitted close to 100 pieces that illustrate the toll that addiction takes on our physical, mental and behavioral health as well as our familial relationships and communal well-being. Although this exhibit does not aspire to solve the systemic failures and public stigma associated with addictive behaviors, we aim to create a hospitable space for those in the midst of its trauma or having already come through the other side, to share their story through art and conversation.

Please join us at one of our Gallery events or during our regular hours to view this free exhibit. Contact us to arrange group tours or to host events in the Gallery. Contact galleries@workspacemanchester.com or 860.647.3168 for more info.

JUNETEENTH

EXHIBIT DATES: Monday, June 7 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
Featuring art that honors independence, resiliency and Black lives and celebrates our nation’s second Independence Day, we invite artists to contribute to a dynamic exhibit and to join us and our cultural partners across CT for an array of programs and events.
 
 
 

fresh stART

EXHIBIT DATES: Friday, April 9 – Friday, May 28, 2021
Celebrating new beginnings, positive change and the possibilities of a blank canvas, the Galleries @ WORK_SPACE provide an 18” x 24” canvas and artists of all levels of experience and forms of expression fill it with their imagination and the medium of their choice

Perspectives of a Pandemic

EXHIBIT DATES: November 2020 – March 2021
Showcasing 150 pieces of art created between March – November 2020 by 45 ‘local’ artists between Brooklyn and Boston utilized photography, fiber art, painting, poetry, and other mediums to comment on Covid-19, respond to the injustice of structural racism, react to the contentiousness of politics, and to fill time in quarantine.

Gallery Members

Tom Andrea     Evan Seide     Lou Sorrentino     Linda Blakesley     Doreen Stern     Kathleen Telesco     Nakeia Herbert    

Carolyn Brooks-Burton     Yolanda Creal     Lisa Ducharme     John Hoffman     Tosha Jenkins     Julianna Kristoff   

Basia Salek     Robert Thiesfield     Melanie Askew     Mary Ann Francis         Lori Barker     Kasey Quaglia     

Daniel Nichols     Kevin Michael Olsen     Mark Tegtmeier     Carol Gould     Sharon Quaglia     Jeffery Balzejovsky     

Donnamarie Nakos     Olusanya Bey     Donna Faust      Ren Pu      Maria Dillon     Crystal Valladares     Fuad Khaligov     

           Adis Halilovic      Bethany Terzi      Chris Todd      Deb Bates      Athira Sanal      Bina Nair      Jose Marcos      Abby Dijon

    Claudine Purdue      Ashley Hyatt

Get Started

Contact WORK_SPACE to get started with a free day pass and tour, coworking, hosting a meeting, hosting an event, and much more.

footer-form