BELLOWS FALLS — Canal Street Art Gallery (CSAG) presents Alissa Buffum, the first artist to participate in CSAG's new Working Artist Program. This program is an artist's studio and exhibition space within the gallery and is open during the gallery's regular hours.
Beginning in September, the Gallery will be open Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on 3rd Friday Gallery Nights, from 5 to 7 p.m. The Working Artist Program is located on the canal, behind the front gallery at 23 Canal Street.
A mixed media painter and sculptor, Buffum has been a Bellows Falls resident since childhood. Active in the community, she said her mission is “to bring joy and beauty to a world that needs as much as it can get.” Buffum's artwork is inspired by nature, offering a surreal view of a bohemian world. The creative styles of Buffum's artistic projects are each derived from the artist's mood and surroundings.
The goal of the Working Artist Program is to provide artists with an affordable space to complete a project, explore a new body of work, gain exposure and sales, or prepare for a solo show.
Visitors to the Gallery now also have a unique chance to engage with an artist as they create their art. The public is welcome to come in to learn about and experience the process of art making. By offering a working and exhibiting space which is open to the public, with new artists every one to three months, the program contributes opportunities for dialogue, events, and classes to the community.
The Working Artist Program is open to all artists with priority for local artists. Working Artists are expected to interact with gallery visitors, discuss their artwork, process and practice, and answer questions. Artists process their own sales and curate their own space.
Upon completion of the program, artists present a self-curated solo show within their space to coordinate with a Bellows Falls 3rd Friday Gallery Night event. Artists participating in the program may also be offered a gallery-curated solo show in the front gallery, to be scheduled for a future date.
For more information about the Working Artist Program, or Canal Street Art Gallery, go to canalstreetartgallery.com, or contact the gallery at 802-289-0104 or artinfo@canalstreetartgallery.com.