CURRENT EXHIBITION
***APRIL 2026 ***
PoemVillage: Bristol
Ekphrastic Writing Paired with Visual Art
Throughout April in Bristol, visitors are invited on a self-guided walking tour featuring poetry displayed in downtown storefronts and businesses. At Art on Main, this literary gallery is an exhibition of "Ekphrastic Writing", a vivid, imaginative response to a work of visual art such as a painting, sculpture or photograph. The pairings in this exhibition are the result of a workshop at Art on Main where poets chose works of art in the gallery and, with their words, explored the art using poetry to help the reader visualize the emotional, narrative or thematic depth of the piece.
* * * * *
A March hare under a full golden moon
ears alert, whiskers twitching
one brown paw off the ground
ready to bolt across the meadow grass
she carries a warrior’s instinct
for speed, intelligence, protection
and survival
Her nest of little ones nestled
snug under ground
behind the old shed
Awaiting her return
Several years ago
on a lonely, snowing night in January
a knowing beckoned me to the
dark and cold winter porch
where, under a single pale light
flurries fell on three
tall, mottled brown rabbits
unlike any I had ever seen
Alert and sentient visitors to my world
from some far away golden moon.
They touched my grieving heart
with something akin to love
The magic of seeing and being seen
when we are living in darkness
The treasure of a blessing
wrapped in their golden light
Artist: Karla Van Vliet
Poet: Annie Perkins
* * * * *
Artist: Katie Roberts
Poet: Jnana Sagara
Time’s undone the flesh of the truck.
Now bruised and sensitive,
or receptive.
Dirt-worn hinges connect forgotten bits
of metal, feet-like wheels and foggy square
eyes barely able to open Time’s.
A disintegration of the machine’s
obligations, a duty to people
transferred to plants.
Its gas tank pops open at the subtle nudge
of a tree’s arm, something sticky like sweet
sap leaks out.
The gray branches grow erect under its
strange taste, their skin no longer dirt-filled
crevices but red alive veins.
The berries began to plump up, natures
phlebotomist filing each deflated ball
with the truck’s leftover nutrients.
Little balloons now ready to detach from
their binding force, no need for the string
tying them to their past life.
Is this the way reincarnation always works?
* * * * *
A smoothed over mistake
The unsteady hands of age
Forming the edges
Smoothing the lumps
A dance as old as humanity
Choreographed once more
Clay. Heat. Time.
As familiar to him as it was a thousand generations before -
Cracked knuckles
The same flesh
Formed by history
Formed out of humanity
Just as it was around the fire long ago
Does he feel the hands that came before him?
All joined together smoothing over the cracks.
Artist: Ken Martin
Poet: Meara Harrison
* * * * *
Artist: Dominique Gustin
Poet: Lily Hinrichsen
You hold a space for home to emerge
For home to radiate its warmth
its invitation to love and be loved
Even without song
your golden feathers speak volumes
speak of beauty and awe and stillness
Even as the earth cracks beneath us all
And you
shocking the moonlight
with your fire-orange head
ever-watchful in the golden glow of hope
Raising our spirits above the gray landscape
growing dirtier each day
You wear the coat of tree rings
an aged shaman holding wisdom effortlessly
You feathered creatures of the sky
our guardian angels of day and night
listening watching waiting
carrying messages
our messages
on the tailwind of yesterday
today and tomorrow
2024 Exhibitions
October 4 - November 16, 2024
Two Masters Reflect on the Seasons
ROBERT COMPTON - POTTERY
PAUL FORLENZA - PHOTOGRAPHY
Celebrating the work of two masters in their mediums who have spent a lifetime dedicated to their art.
"Ice House" - Photograph by Paul Forlenza
Pit Fired Vessel by Robert Compton
OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, October 4th
5:00 - 6:30 pm
August 9 - August 31, 2024
"Home is Where the Art Is!"
What does home mean to you?
Ceramic Sculpture by Judith Bryant
Group exhibition of home-related art featuring:
Judith Bryant: Tiny house sculptures & place-setting dinnerware
Jeri Canfield: Quilted pillows and tablerunners
Nora Woolf: Handmade brooms
Denise Letendre: Photography
Cindy Schultz: Botanical illustrations
RECEPTION: FRIDAY, AUGUST 16TH - 5:00 - 6:30 PM
June 7 - July 28, 2024
"In and Out of the Garden"
Watercolors by Featured Artist
Annelein Beukenkamp
Guest artist Annelein Beukenkamp will exhibit her luminous floral watercolor paintings alongside garden-themed works by Art on Main exhibitors in this summer exhibition. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 7th from 5-7 pm in the gallery on Main Street in Bristol.
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Annelein says her favorite subject matter continues to be colorful flowers which take well to the watercolor medium and allows her to stretch her palette to its fullest capacity. "I strive to capture a blooms’ “essence,” not its exact reproduction. I think the reason I enjoy painting all those blossoms stems from my childhood in the Netherlands, driving by field after field of explosive color on the way to my grandmother’s house." In her watercolors, Annelein controls the spontaneous medium while also allowing the colorful pigments to mingle and interact on the crisp white paper.
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This exhibition dovetails with a special garden fundraising event on July 14th at Rocky Dale Gardens in Bristol featuring nationally known garden expert Charlie Nardozzi. Check our Events page for more information about this highly anticipated event for garden enthusiasts.
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ECLIPSE / EARTH DAY
Community Exhibition
April 5-April 27, 2024
This exhibition features artists in our community and celebrates both the Eclipse but also Earth Day.
Art on Main will hold a CLOSING RECEPTION for this exhibition on Saturday, April 27 from 4-6 pm.
Come and enjoy refreshments and good community vibes and meet the artists!
TWO ARTISTS
September 29 - November 8, 2023
Dominique Gustin - Encaustic 2-D
Matlak Mayforth - Works in Clay
Reception & Artist Talk: October 6th, 5-7 pm
August 11 - September 5, 2023
The Printmaker & The Potter
Carol MacDonald
Exploring Imagery in Prints
that Brings Us Into Our Soul
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Kileh Friedman - Potter
Beautiful Forms, Lovely Glazes,
Lively Brush Strokes
Reception and Artist Talk on
Friday, September 1st, 5-7 pm
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Summer Wear
July 11 - August 9, 2023
Colorful dyed, hand-printed,and woven
natural fiber attire by
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Ellen Howard
Carol Crawford
Ellen Spring
IN THE GARDEN
Community Art Show
June 9 - July 5, 2023
Student Exhibition
May 19 – June 3, 2023
Annual Mt. Abe Union School District
3D On and Off the Wall
April 7 - May 15, 2023
An exhibition of diverse works exploring scale and the third dimension by Gail Martin (mixed-media assemblages), John Arthur (metal nature sculptures), Scott Crocker (wood sculptures), and Robin Kent (whimsical painted wooden objects).
Gail Martin
John Arthur
Scott Crocker
