Artist in Residence

Our introduction to our 2025/26 class of artists-in-residence continues with Sayako Hiroi. Sayako is a Japanese visual artist based in Boston, working across painting and traditional kintsugi, the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold. Her practice responds to silence and erasure, and to the unseen traces of presence, drawing from feminist ethics and Japanese visual archives.

The Umbrella Arts Center's Artist-in-Residence program has expanded for 2025/26, and we're pleased to welcome a cohort of five makers and educators to make something unforgettable with our resources and for our community here in Concord. In ceramics, Katie Fee has moved into a studio and begun working and teaching with enthusiasm this month. 

Artwork by Jasmine Chen and Catherine LeComte Lecce, Kyle Johns, featured in concurrent shows through September 2

The Umbrella Visual Arts wraps up this season with two exhibitions featuring artwork by three talented Artists in Residence created during residencies at the Center this year.

Meet The Umbrella’s newest Artist-in-Residence, Catherine LeComte Lecce, a Boston-based visual artist who explores familial relationships, motherhood, and personal experiences through photography, mixed media, and installation. During her residency, Lecce plans to utilize photography and a gel image transfer process, crafting a series of glass works that delve into the themes of motherhood.

Jasmine Chen is The Umbrella's Fall 2023 Artist-in-Residence. A visual artist originally from Beijing, China, she is currently based in Boston. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Danforth Art Museum and has been exhibited there and at Matter and Light Fine Art, the Jackson Homestead Museum, and elsewhere. It was also featured in a solo exhibit at the New Art Center. She has a B.A. from Harvard and PhD from Brandeis and studied art independently.

We were able to “take 5” with Jasmine earlier this week and visit her studio.

In recognition of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, The Umbrella Arts Center is pleased to share materials from a presentation last month by our 2021-2022 Artist in Residence Sally Lee.

A Boston-based installation artist from Arkansas, Lee is currently an adjunct professor at Northeastern University, teaches at the New Art Center, is a Ceramic Studio Assistant at SMFA, and Program Director of Nearby Gallery.