This is the first issue and the newsletter is still a work in progress. How many times have you heard that before? It will be published on a slightly skewed quarterly schedule. The next issues will be posted on September 1 and December 1. There are some new regular feature sections planned for September 1, including Artist Spotlight and Lowell Art Scene Highlights. Special off-schedule posts may be published to subscribers from time to time.

Quarterly Show Roundup

ALL Arts Gallery

The Close to Home show closed on April 26. The show was sponsored by Pat Caron and Bethany Tine in memory of Normand Caron. It was a juried photography show and top honors went to three artists. They were named at the reception on March 14.

David Oxton received the top spot with “Steve, James and Eddie” (size 20” x 30”). David gets permission to photograph from homeowners abutting the MBTA commuter rail. In this shot, he set up flash units to light key elements of the subject. Your first thought might be that this is heavily edited with Photoshop, but this is an actual backyard scene. David got this comment from the homeowner: “We love and hate the train. When our boys were young, their friends loved watching the train come racing toward them from our kitchen table or the back porch. We had a trampoline in the yard for years and the boys would bounce and yell to get the train to give a toot toot.” The piece sold for $350.00.

Brittany Severance received second place with her photograph “Kitchen Island” (size 17” x 17”). Brittany commented, “Every morning my mother wakes up around dawn to prepare her coffee and breakfast. As she refuses to admit she has allergies, a box of tissues sit in the middle of the island, ready for the taking.” The short depth-of-field in this image highlights the story being told. The diagonals in the composition make the scene restive and the opposing lines of the grate draw our eyes to the subject.

Heather Hacker received third place with “Chrome,” a fascinating interior (size 25” x 30”). Heather says, “The abandoned spaces I love to explore and photograph are inherently a ‘close to home’ subject as many of them were someone’s home, someone’s ordinary. There’s something powerful in the idea that decay is intimacy, that getting close to ruin means getting close to the life that was lived there.” There is a lot to see in this image. The focus seems to be the top of the table, but the corner of the room is irresistible, especially since the edge of the table leads us toward the door. It sold for $1,000.00.

John Greenwald Gallery

The Gregory Wright solo show Bound ran from March 11 through April 5. The show is best described by the artist statement on his website: “I explore organic abstraction in my artwork with subtle to bold relief and extreme textures.” His total gross sales were $1,350.00. Congratulations, Gregory!

Tor Voner followed with her show Chronic - An Artist’s Story, held from April 8 through May 3. Tor suffers from chronic migraine headaches and her show took us visually from onset to resolution. The bright colors and stark visuals gave us a view into Tor’s world.

From May 6 -through May 31 the Gates Block Artists show was held. The show featured member artists who have studios in the Gates Block building, home to the Arts League of Lowell. The artists represented were Lisa Anderson-Bisson, Raquel Bauman, Normand Caron, Patricia Caron, Emily Ferrara, Peter Gavriel, Mary Hart, Dian Hosmer, Jean LaPoint, Leslie MacPhail, Coleman Rogers, Vilo Vvs, Pamela Wamala, Jean Winslow, and Eleni Zohdi. The show included a variety of subjects and media.

Just for Artists

So far, the hype over AI exceeds the actual results. That’s my humble opinion, based on a past career in tech and software. True, AI has caused a stir in colleges and some creative and legal circles. The stir comes from people tending to leverage the latest tech to take ill-advised shortcuts. Those include students cheating, generating faux art, and lawyers concocting fictitious briefs.

Going back to the late eighties, I was the first in my block to get an Internet account with TIAC of Woburn. So, giving AI a spin was a natural thing for me to do. Besides, my children and grandchildren all use it to some extent. C’mon, grandpa!

One of the first things I used it for was to write a memorandum of understanding. Not being a lawyer, I had no idea what the outline needed to be. Microsoft Copilot generated a good starting point. That’s all it was - a starting point. I suppose I could have spent more time coaxing the AI to fill in the gaping holes, but instead dropped the text into Word and started typing.

Adobe has a new AI tool called “Firefly.” Limited use of Firefly comes with my Creative Cloud subscription. Early in 2025 I was struggling with the theme for the Close to Home show. I used Firefly to inspire me, using several prompts to generate images that satisfied the theme in the prospectus. It generated images with community settings, like a group of people at a street party. There was an image in my library of photos that had a similar vibe and I entered it into the show.

Since one of my pursuits is writing, I like to have a catchy image to go along with the text. I use Microsoft Copilot as an easy way to generate images that support the writing in some way. I would never use AI images as my own and never submit them for a show, but using them for illustration purposes and citing Copilot seems fine.

I used this Copilot prompt [drawing or picture of a man in mid-twenties riding an electric fat tire e-bike wearing a backward baseball cap, leather jacket, black pants, and black boots] to generate a caricature of a fat tire, e-bike rider. This was for an article I was writing about e-bikes on local trails. It is probably an unkind way to characterize all e-bike riders, but the prompt came from personal experience on the trail. The same kind of prompt can be used to explore subject ideas for most visual arts, not only to generate illustrations.

Copilot is available on your tablet or phone for free.

Member Milestones

Jim Roberts has a solo show at the Acton Memorial Library through the end of June. The theme of the show is “The Big Sky.” Jim describes his show: “The idea for ‘THE BIG SKY’ exhibition came about as I was working on a series of skyscape paintings; one of which, a diptych, is called “THE BIG SKY.” During this period, I envisioned a collection of larger, skyscape paintings (30×40) with the hope of exhibiting them as a group. This vision led to my first exhibition of “THE BIG SKY” at the Parish Center for the Arts in October, 2024. Although the paintings have been shown separately in other shows, this 2026 exhibit at Acton Memorial Library is only the second time the collection has been shown as a whole.”

Behind the Scenes at ALL

As a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit, the Arts League of Lowell must file Form 990EZ with the Internal Revenue Service and the Annual Report Form PC with the Massachusetts Attorney General. The 990EZ reports annual financial details and the Form PC includes a financial summary. The documents for 2025 submitted in April reported total revenue of $49,922, expenses of $48,419, and net assets of $18,817. Those were good financial results for fiscal 2025.

Also in April the Board of Directors approved the purchase of twenty folding chairs at a cost of $480. These replace the current stacking chairs that are breaking because of age and cracking plastic backs. The new chairs are sturdy and much more comfortable than the old chairs. The chairs are used for meetings and workshops held at ALL.

The Board decided to change insurance agents after comparing the cost and coverage of the new policy with the old. The new policy has the same coverage for liability and officers and directors insurance as the old policy, but the cost is $1,300 lower. Our new agent is Conway Insurance Company.

The Arts League of Lowell is always looking for people to join the Board of Directors and to fill various volunteer roles. ALL operates on the energy and commitment of unpaid volunteers including the Board of Directors. The gallery is staffed by volunteer members during our scheduled hours of operation. Volunteers run our programs and manage our scheduled art shows. Let us know you are interested by contacting artsleagueoflowell@substack.com.

Quarter Ahead Preview

Ongoing Show

The On The Merrimack show, Sponsored by Conway Insurance Company, continues through June 28. The reception was held on May 9, attended by over 100 guests. The show represents the work of 48 artists in various media. Artists were asked to join in celebrating Lowell’s 200th anniversary by entering work that had river scenes, buildings, places, and people of Lowell. The show will be followed by Considering the Third Dimension, a juried 3D show.

Tom Gill took an impressionistic approach in this piece titled “Along the Merrimack.” The soft splashes of warm light contrast with the deep green of mid-summer shadows at high noon. It feels like “high in the 80s and partly cloudy with the wind from the southwest at ten to fifteen.” A perfect day along the Merrimack. (acrylic, size 13 x 16, price $500).

As a photographer myself, I was drawn to “Reverend Gotham with His Neighborhood Bus” by Al Pierce. At the show reception on May 9 I talked with Al about the photo. The photo tells a story with an assist from the title. Al was at South Common Park in Lowell when a late 1970s vintage Buick pulled into the parking lot. The doors opened. Eighteen children and one adult poured out into the parking lot. The eighteenth child is just out of the frame in the foreground of the image.

The photo was taken in 1991 using a film camera. Al Pierce is a film photographer who develops and prints the images in his darkroom. (silver gelatin print, 11 x 14, price $100)

“Mill on the Merrimack” is a another work from painter Eileen Byrne who has been consistently selling her paintings. Her recent work has been small square panels where she achieves fascinating detail using acrylic paint and ink. Here she applied a slight impressionistic touch that captures essential shapes and colors. This is the way the mill probably looked in its heyday, every window illuminated from the lighted work space inside where people toiled all night. (acrylic and ink on canvas, size 13 x 13, price $200 SOLD)

Coming Art Calls

Calls for art are issued on a published schedule. A new art call is published just after the application deadline of a show. The art call consists of a prospectus that states all of the rules for entry and the show deadlines. Usually up to three entries are permitted. The theme stated in the prospectus is used by the gallery committee to curate the show. The committee selects works that most closely follow the theme. Some shows are juried and for those the appointed juror makes the selections. The theme is used to select the first, second, and third place works of art. For a juried show, it is possible that an artist will have none of their submitted works chosen for the show based on the juror interpretation of the theme. In general, both members and non-members can enter ALL shows as specified in the prospectus. The shows and the receptions are open to the public.

July 3 – August 30 - Considering the 3^rd Dimension - A juried exhibition of 3-dimensional, sculptural artwork, either wall hung (bas-relief) or self-standing.

• Open to members and non-members

• Reception: July 11, 3-5 PM

• Prospectus and Application - see the ALL web site.

• Application Deadline: June 20

September 4 – November 1 - Shapes & Symbols

• Open to members and non-members

• Reception: September 19, 3-5 PM

• Prospectus and Application site available: June 24

• Application Deadline: August 22

November 6 – January 3, 2027 - Wrapped for the Holidays - Our annual holiday show.

• Open to members only

• Reception: December 12, 3-5 PM

• Prospectus and Application site available: August 26

• Application Deadline: October 24

John Greenwald Gallery Shows

June 3 – June 28 - Charles Zhang - The Wu wei Mind of Ink

• Reception: June 6, 3-5 PM

July 1 – July 26 - Norma Vonfricken

• Reception: July 18, 3-5 PM

July 29 – August 23 - Elizabeth Sheehan - Illuminations

• Reception: August 1, 2-4 PM

August 26 – September 20 - Norm Caron, Pat Caron, Bethany Tine

• Reception: September 12, 3-5 PM

September 23 – October 18 - David Martsolf

The John Greenwald Gallery is available for rent by ALL members for $200 plus the costs of an optional reception. The schedule is set by the Board of Directors each year, usually a series of four-week rental periods. A typical reception where wine is served will cost $10 for the liquor permit, $50 for the required certified server, and $7.50 (cost) per bottle for wine plus the cost of hors d’oeuvres provided by the renter. For information or reservations, contact artsleagueoflowellnews@substack.com.

Support ALL By Becoming A Member

Membership helps to sustain our non-profit purpose. Memberships help pay the bills and members keep the organization running through participation and volunteer efforts. As a patron or art lover, you receive notifications for our shows. Even if you are not an artist, your participation is welcomed. Join a committee or the Board of Directors.

As a visual artist in any medium, you can enter shows at ALL at a discounted price. Members can rent the John Greenwald Gallery for solo shows at a nominal cost. The Coop Gallery is another option for members to rent wall space to display and sell their art on a longer term basis. There are opportunities to learn from other artists as well as to collaborate on projects, including ALL internal programs and outreach programs.

To become a member either come to the gallery or visit our web site https://artleagueofllowell.org/.

Our Generous Sponsors

Every year sponsors support our shows with contributions. We are grateful for their continuing interest in the visual arts and in the Arts League of Lowell. Sponsorships are a significant part of our operating revenue. Our 2026 sponsors:

• Rockland Trust Bank

• Conway Insurance Agency

• Pat Caron and Bethany Tine

• Martha Mayo

• Nancy Donahue

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