Gallery Talk Series

Umbrella Arts Visual Arts Program, in collaboration with Umbrella Arts Education Program, is pleased to present the Umbrella Arts Gallery Talk Series, featuring presentations from working artists, arts educators, and art curators from our wide creative community. Except where noted, most talks are free and RSVPs are not required but are appreciated. Select educator and partner events may require RSVP or registration fees, so please see individual program details.

 

UPCOMING TALKS

Shelly "Lola" Freund
October 23, 2026, 5 - 6 PM, Room 112 (RSVP appreciated)
Artist Shelly “Lola” Freund discusses her exhibition Menjunje/Amalgamation, on view in the Wedge Gallery, exploring the work’s ties to her multicultural background. Freund’s painted geographies ask us to engage with questions of multiculturalism, social tensions, and attempt to identify the line between assimilation and acculturation.

Cynthia Fisher
November 7, 2026 3-4pm, Dance Studio (RSVP appreciated)
Mosaic artist Cynthia Fisher will give an in-depth talk on the history of mosaics, her art practice, and her mission to elevate mosaics from craft to fine art through the philosophical works of her exhibition On Being Human, on view in the Allie Kussin Gallery. 

​Debra Fleury
February 2027
Debra Fleury discusses her art practice and new-found experimentation with painted textiles. Preferring to work with tactile materials such as clay, textiles, and metal that allow her to work intuitively and responsively, Whorl, on view in the vertical gallery, exhibits this need for variability and experimentation.

Helen Duncan
Join 2026 Ramble artist, Helen Duncan, on a walk around Fairyland Pond to view her art installation Disperse and learn more about the work. Reflect on the quiet resilience of our natural systems and contemplate the impact of natural and human actions on the land. (RSVP appreciated)

  • Wednesday, September 30, 1:00 - 2:00 PM
  • Saturday, October 10, 2:00 - 4:00 PM (every 30min) with Free Family Day
  • Tuesday, October 13, 10 - 11 AM
  • Thursday, November 5, 3 - 4 PM 

PREVIOUS TALKS

2025/26 Artists-in-Residence Katie Fee, Sayako Hiroi, and Ivo Makianich
September 9, 2026, 5:00 PM, Dance Studio 
The 2025/2026 cohort discusses their residency experience and explores the development of their artistic processes over the past year, examining what takes shape when you have the ability to provide your art practice a home. 

Marsha Wilcox and Carl Ristaino
February 21, 2026, 2:00 PM, Black Box Theater

Artist Talk: Forrest Gard
Forrest Sincoff Gard talked about the idea of play and the importance of play throughout our entire lives, which is the driving force behind all of the work that he makes. During the presentation, Forrest shared images and videos of his interactive artworks and talked about the strategies that he uses to engage audiences to touch and play with his ceramic sculptures and installations. This unique artist talk showed a wide range of work that Forrest has made over the last 20 years, including video footage of him riding on a ceramic skateboard and games that are specific for the gallery.

Visiting Artist Workshop: Stuart Gair
August 9, 2025
An artist talk and slideshow exploring the evolution of his ceramics career, and highlighting some of the newest works on display at the Lucy Lacoste Gallery, followed by a walk to the gallery to visit the show. 

Workshop: Exploring Contemporary Sculpture and Ceramics
March 24, 2024
In a full-day workshop, celebrated sculptor and ceramic artist Li Hongwei discussed his breadth of work, recent series of crystalline glazed ceramic and stainless steel sculptures, and hand-built ceramic self portraiture and installation. The program combined lecture, slides, demonstration, and Q&A, concurrent with an exhibition of his works at The Pucker Gallery in Boston.

Workshop: Open to New Technology: 3D Printing in Clay!
May 18, 2024
Featured in this spring's juried ceramics show, Earthworks: Tradition, Influence, Innovation, Ellen Shön was Adjunct Professor in Fine Arts and Ceramics Studio Supervisor at Lesley University College of Art and Design in Cambridge, MA, where she has taught ceramics and 3-D courses since 2002. This lecture examined the process of 3D printing (including a live demonstration), viewing slides and examples of Ellen’s work, and discussed how this process has elevated and expanded her creative process.

Artist Talk: Catherine Le Comte
February 8, 2024
The Umbrella Winter 2023 Artist-in-Residence Catherine LeComte discussed her planned residency work. LeComte is a Boston-based visual artist who explores familial relationships, motherhood, and personal experiences through photography, mixed media, and installation. Advocating for greater visibility of artwork centered around motherhood and created by mother artists is a central passion for her that she centered during her residency.

Artist Talk: Kyle Johns
November 2, 2023
The Umbrella 2023-24 Ceramics Artist-in-Residence Kyle Johns discussed his work using the traditionally rigid process of mold making found at the core of industrial production. Kyle deconstructs and reassembles plaster mold positives to explore new ways of creating one-off slip cast objects. Kyle’s talk journeyed through the different stages of his development as an artist, from his early days as a wheel throwing potter to his current work.

Artist Talk and Reception: Sally Lee
October 22, 2022
Talk and reception in conjunction with 2021-2022 Umbrella Artist-in-Residence exhibition “Are We Home Yet?.”

Panel Discussion: "Bizen Revisited"
November 6, 2022
The Umbrella was honored to host famed ceramic artists Isezaki Koichiro, son of Isezaki Jun, Jeff Shapiro and Tim Rowan for a panel discussion and community conversation about their work and careers, and the tradition of Bizen pottery. The panel culminated in a visit to nearby Lucy Lacoste Gallery for the concurrent "Bizen Revisited" show, also featuring Kakurezaki Ryuichi and Isezaki Koichiro.

Workshop: Sgraffito and the Narrative Surface
November 12, 2022
Director of the Harvard Ceramics Program, Kathy King, demonstrated the lively and popular technique of sgraffito and helped participants try this distinctive form.

Artist Talk: Ponnapa Prakkamakul
November 15, 2022
Our 2022-2023 Umbrella Artist-in-Residence discussed her plans to engage the Concord community in her art process.

Juror Talk and Reception: Jessica Straus
December 11, 2022
A reception with the juror for Lost and Found, our concurrent found objects artwork group exhibition.

Artist Talk: Katie Bosley Sabin 
February 3, 2023
An artist talk with our first ever Ceramics Artist in Residence! Katie discussed her background, her career as an artist and educator, and her plans for her residency at The Umbrella. Her slides took us through the development of her personal style and skill set over the years. She shared her inspirations and the process uses to create her unique and precisely crafted architectural vessels.

Artist Talk: “Is that a poem I Hear?”
April 13, 2023
Umbrella Studio Artist Max Payne shared the connection she makes between the visual and the word in her work.

Artist Talk: Re-remembering of Things Past
October 19, 2023
Umbrella Artist-in-Residence Jasmine Chen discussed her past work and her project of six paintings inspired by her residency at The Umbrella.

Curator Talk & Tour: Art Ramble with Stephanie Marlin-Curiel
October 16, 2023
A tour of this year's site-specific, climate change-themed exhibition in Hapgood Wright Town Forest, Fairyland Pond.