Studio space opens new possibilities for UMass Dartmouth artists — at least temporarily
It's not the Star Store, but for Fallon Navarro and friends, it's a reminder that UMass Dartmouth art students are in full support of their classmates.
With fewer opportunities to prominently showcase their art, the Star Store Student Collective at 65 William St. in downtown New Bedford provides students with the opportunity display their work inside.
The students lost the ability to showcase their work in the centrally located Star Store galleries when the university decided to transition its studio arts programs out of the historic building last fall and faced a backlash all the way to the governor's office.
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Navarro said the exhibition opening and other events are an opportunity to get everyone together, and the studio hours are a time for the community to see their work on display.
She said having these shows and other events in a prominent location was a big part of the learning process.
"The thing is we all work together, we all came to grad school to be a community, so I think that's been the great thing about this," she said.
Art students unite to shine a light
The gallery is run by a group of students including Navarro, Anis Beigzadeh, Jillian McEvoy and Marilyn Perry who organized last semester and have continued to work together to keep the Star Store's closing at the forefront.
She said the exhibition openings and other events are an opportunity to get everyone together, and the studio hours are a time for the community to see their work on display.
Navarro said they started working last semester to find a storefront so they could have a presence back in downtown New Bedford, and they are excited they were able to do so thanks to private donors and assistance from the building's owner, who has been advocating for their cause.
They will have access to the space at least through May.
"We just wanted to be back in New Bedford, interacting with the community, doing workshops and doing what we came to graduate school to do," she said.
The graduate students lost their studio space when the Star Store closed, separating them and contributing to a sense of isolation, she said.
Navarro will be graduating this semester, but her friends have another two to three years ahead of them, and she's worried that not enough new students will apply to the ceramics, painting and other arts programs to keep them going.
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She said many of the students are international students who arrived here to learn the building where they had their studio space was shutting down.
The interaction the students were to have by living in and attending classes in New Bedford was essentially taken away from them, she said, and many of the students had to move to the dorms instead.
Students who moved to New Bedford had to figure out how they were going to get transportation to campus.
Artwork on display showcase new exhibits
The current exhibition called "Glimpse" features the work of six first-year Master of Fine Arts students who lost the opportunity to show their work at the Star Store when it closed.
"We want to make sure they're getting the welcome they deserve and that their art is showcased," Navarro said.
The six students — Sarah Valinezhad, Arghavan Booye, Yaren Yildiz, Kofoworola Adebiyi, Ali Masoumzadeh and Immer Cooks — will talk about their artwork at an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight, Friday, Jan. 26.
The exhibit will end with a closing reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8.
Over the next couple of months, the Collective is planning a few more events, including featuring an exhibition with Persian artists.
Navarro said a large number of Iranians live in and around downtown New Bedford, including some of the graduate students, and in March they will have the opportunity share their food and music and introduce their culture.
The gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Standard-Times staff writer Kathryn Gallerani can be reached at kgallerani@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgallreporter. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Student-run gallery in New Bedford offers a place for UMD artists to showcase work
