By JILLIAN BROSOFSKY
Waltham Times Contributing Writer
Artists with studios at Waltham Mills, Lincoln Studios and Metalwerx will open their doors and welcome in the community this coming weekend during the annual Waltham Open Studios.
This year’s event – which marks 48 years of art, community and connection – is set for Nov. 2-3, 12 noon to 6 p.m., at 144 Moody St. (in buildings 4 and 18) and 289 Moody St.
The free event is open to the public and promises a wide variety of art.
To be eligible to participate, artists must rent studio space at one of the buildings and pay the $125 registration fee.
Participating artists include painters, photographers, metalsmiths and various mixed-media artists. Many artists also create a mix of different types of works.
“People walk into my studio and they just assume it’s a bunch of different artists. It’s not. It’s my many personalities,” Andrea Tishman, one of the creators opening their studios for visitors this year, said in an interview with The Waltham Times.
Tishman’s work, which includes pastel and charcoal drawings, paintings and prints, will be on display at her Waltham Mills studio.
Tishman started renting there about 15 years ago and began helping organize Waltham Open Studios a couple years ago. She even ran the effort for a few years.
Many of the artists help with the event, she said. But between cleaning the building and studio space, creating the art, designing the flyers and brochure, and hiring the security guards and greeters for the weekend, she said the event requires “hundreds of hours” of work.
“It’s so much freaking work,” Tishman said. Still, she explained that it’s well worth the effort.
A relaxed setting for fostering connections
“It’s just really nice to pause from art-making all year and have a chance to see people interact with it,” Tishman said.
The Open Studios setting is more “conversational and relaxed” than a museum, she said, and it fosters connections among the artists and between the vendors and the buyers. Tishman said she has had great discussions with attendees and other artists throughout the years.
Susan Siefer, who has been showing her work at Waltham Open Studios since 2016, agreed.
“What I really like that keeps me coming back to [Waltham Open Studios] are the people that keep coming back to it,” Siefer said of the friends she has made through the years. She noted that the community of collectors and artists can create deep and lasting friendships.
Deborah Barlow, who creates abstract work centered on connection, met a close friend during her first year at Waltham Open Studios. A woman came in alone and appeared transfixed by Barlow’s work. The woman bought a few pieces and came back for more. Now, the two women “spend a lot of time together.” Barlow credited Waltham Open Studios for bringing them together.
For Tishman, the event provides a chance for residents to see what Waltham artists are creating and thinking about.
“It keeps us relevant and appreciated by the community,” she said.
According to the event brochure, there’s parking at the train station on Felton Street and Carter Street, the Embassy parking lot on Pine Street, the Crescent Street parking lot, and the Spruce Street parking lot. There is also reserved handicap parking near the studios at 144 Moody St.