ARTIST LINEUP AT CREATIVE SECTOR DAY 2026
Image of artist exhibiting at Creative Sector Day 2025. Photography by Steph Craig Studios.
Massachusetts Creative Sector Day at the State House is back on Tuesday, March 3, 2026 from 10 AM to 3 PM. Join us for the third annual public gathering of artists, creatives, cultural organizations, and advocates from across the Commonwealth to celebrate Massachusetts’ creative sector and to advocate for the funding and resources we need to better support artists. Creative Sector Day will include opportunities for networking, a formal speaking program, meetings with your elected officials, and performances and exhibits from Massachusetts artists.
Check out this year’s lineup of Creative Sector Day performers and exhibitors. All of these artists will receive a stipend for their participation thanks to funding from the Mass Cultural Council.
EXHIBITORS:
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Exhibit Title: Alder & Alder
Region: Bristol County
Website: alder-alder.com
Instagram Handles: @b.g.alder, @menderqueer
Displaying a selection of art in various media, including functional ceramics, naturally dyed handweavings, linocut prints on paper and fabric, queer history zines, and Judaica.
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Exhibit Title: Heartfelt
Region: Berkshire County
Mixed media exhibit (cyanotype drawing, mixed media collage) piece) by a public school art educator with over 15 years of experience teaching middle and high school students throughout Berkshire County.
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Exhibit Title: You Were Here Longer Than You Think, An ongoing archive by Aspire to Dream Productions
Region: Greater Springfield
Website: www.aspire2dreamproductions.com
Instagram: @aspire2dreamproductions
Facebook : Aspire-To-Dream Productions
Tiktok: @aspiretodreamPhotography centered on creative presence, artistic expression, and lived moments. This exhibit gathers photographs as evidence of creative presence of artists and moments that exist beyond a single event or point in time. The work challenges how creative history is recognized, suggesting that much of it has been forming quietly and consistently, longer than we tend to notice.
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Exhibit Title: Community Mural Painting
Region: Greater Springfield
Website: www.commonwealthmurals.org/
Instagram Handle: @common.wealth.murals
Attendees can experience a hands-on community mural painting experience guided by professional muralists. Attendees paint sections of a pre-designed mural, making it accessible to all skill levels. The activity fosters connection and creativity while demonstrating the power of collaborative art.
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Exhibit Title: Ella Alk Inuk LLC
Region: Hampshire County
Website: ellaalkinuk.my.canva.site
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ellanalkiewicz3
Instagram Handle: @ella_alk
Displaying original, authentic acrylic paintings and poetry to represent that Indigenous people of North America are still here.
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Exhibit Title: Ceramic 3D Printing
Region: Bristol County
Website: www.fallonnavarro.com/
Instagram Handle: @fallon_navarro
Ceramics, digital design, mixed media installations. They will use a 3D printer to demonstrate how they use digital fabrication as part of their ceramic practice. Will showcase the printing process live and display finished, fired ceramic pieces that highlight the forms, textures, and surfaces made possible through this technique.
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Exhibit Title: Small Works Artists at Gallery 263
Region: North of Boston
Website: https://gallery263.org/small-works-project/
Instagram Handle: @gallery263
Gallery 263 is a nonprofit creative space committed to advancing contemporary art in Massachusetts, New England, and nationwide. Our conceptually driven exhibitions and enriching community programming foster the lifelong engagement of artists and visitors.
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Exhibit Title: "To Be American"
Region: North of Boston
Website: jahnyahstudios.com
Instagram Handle: @jahnyahstudios_Will display pieces from their "To Be American" series, a body of work centered on individuals who should have been protected by the values on which America was founded, but were instead oppressed and dismissed. Most of these pieces explore topics such as immigration and racism.
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Exhibit Title: Rooted in Resilience
Region: Greater Merrimack Valley
Instagram: @LiberationArtStudio
Facebook: Liberation Art StudioOriginal mixed-media acrylic paintings featuring layered color, organic forms, and abstract floral imagery. The pieces reflect themes of resilience, growth, and renewal, using expressive mark-making and vibrant color to invite reflection and connection.
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Exhibit Title: Kathleen Dunn Studio
Region: Plymouth County
Website: https://kathleendunnstudio.weebly.com
Instagram Handle: @kathleendunnstudioWill display recent paintings based on landscape themes of the coastline and seasons of Plymouth County.
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Exhibit Title: Lessons From Newtok
Region: Cape Cod, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard
Website: www.emilyschiffer.com/lessons-from-newtok
A 6'x6' three sided cube featuring students photographs and writing. Images are printed on vinyl, and viewers can see work on the inside and outside of the cube. This exhibit was first shown at Photoville Festival in Brooklyn NY.
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Exhibit Title: “Rooted in Resilience”
Region: Greater Merrimack Valley
Instagram: @LiberationArtStudio
Facebook: Liberation Art StudioBy Jennifer Loiselle of Liberation Art Studio, “Rooted in Resilience” uses organic forms and vibrant color to reflect endurance, healing, and growth. The work honors both individual and collective strength.
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Exhibit Title: Circo
Region: Berkshire County
Instagram Handle: @mariana.cicerchia
The Circo series by Mariana Cicerchia serves as a framework to examine societal contracts and the dynamics of power within familial and communal contexts, uncovering themes of belonging and otherness, questioning who holds power and who is deemed "other" in society.
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Exhibit Title: "While We're Still Here..."
Region: Greater Boston
Website: www.talbotsart.com
Instagram Handle: @talbotsart
"While We’re Still Here" is an ongoing showcase of appreciation, exploring the idea of paying homage to the people in our lives by giving them their flowers while they’re still with us. Each flower depicted is symbolic of the role each person plays within our lives.
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Exhibit Title: "The Architecture of Happiness"
Region: North of Boston
Website: www.artworkarchive.com/profile/michelle-mullet
Instagram Handle: @michellemulletart
Acrylic painting on wood and paper. These works are brightly colored, abstract architectural pieces that offer viewers a sense of safety and peacefulness.
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Exhibit Title: Michelle Stevens
Region: Greater Boston
Website: www.michellestevensart.com
Instagram Handle: @michellestevensart
2D drawings, paintings, and prints. Will have a few original works propped up on table easels, as well as a flip-through portfolio with more examples of their work.
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Exhibit Title: Buttons for Change
Region: Greater Boston
Website: www.missyarellano.com
Instagram Handle: @miss_collage_mom
Analog collage and photography and community artivist running workshops for children and families. Will invite participants to design/collage their own buttons using paper, markers, flowers, and other materials.
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Exhibit Title: Movement City Artists
Region: Greater Merrimack Valley
Instagram Handle: @movementCity
Will display a vast range of artwork made by the students in their program. There is a variety of different works in a variety of different mediums. From paintings to paper mache sculptures. The point of their art is to show what captures their interest and what they would want to make art about
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Exhibit Title: No Evil Project
Region: Central Massachusetts
Website: www.noevilproject.org
Instagram Handle: @noevilproject
They use art, humour, and conversation to challenge stereotypes and help people find commonality despite their differences. Participants will be photographed posing as See, Hear, and Speak No Evil; pick three labels that describe themselves; and write something good they’ve done to show they’re not evil.
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Exhibit Title: "Playing Together," an interactive board game that invite passersby to play together
Region: Greater Boston
Instagram Handle: @giftponnapa
Will display "Playing Together" and place on an 8' table for people to engage and play. The piece include 5 meeples, 2 foam dices, and giant snake a ladder game printed+mounted on foam core.
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Exhibit Title: Malegría: The Chiaroscuro of the Present
Region: Greater Boston
Website: sandramayo.com
Instagram Handle: @sandramayo14
Malegría is an immersive installation exploring the coexistence of joy and sorrow through embroidered domestic textiles, light, and sound. Drawing from everyday materials that serve as witnesses, the work transforms intimate memories into a shared experience.
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Exhibit Title: Can Art Save the Planet? by Ebb the Tide
Region: Cape Cod, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard
Instagram Handle: @EbbtheTide
Endangered species created with marine-debris plastic, including: a 5 foot critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale with her 2 foot calf; a Piping Plover; and a Red Knot. Monoprints of marine debris. All work to keep awareness on climate change, plastics & endangered species.
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Exhibit Title: No Vine a Destruir / I Came to Rebuild
Region: Berkshire County
Instagram Handle: @artbystephx
Will display two 10 x 10 inch printed works presented as a diptych. Together, they tell a personal immigrant narrative that moves from extraction and destruction of land, bodies, and voices to reconstruction, resilience, and self-renewal.
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Exhibit Title: Art that Breathes
Region: Franklin County
Website: www.tonyalemosarts.com
Instagram Handle: @tonyalemosarts
Will showcase Art that Breathes, an evolving, Massachusetts-based practice that weaves together herbalism, ecology, and creative process. The table will feature plant-based prints, natural pigments, foraged materials, and small works made in collaboration with local plants, land, and seasons.
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Exhibit Title: Prints and Poems
Region: MetroWest
Website: www.rachaeldubinsky.com
Instagram Handle: @redubinsky
Poet and multimedia artist who weaves together printmaking, photography, collage, and watercolor.
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Exhibit Title: Chinese Empresses, Watercolor on Silk
Region: Central Massachusetts
Website: xiangliart.com
Instagram Handles: @xiangliart
Meticulous (gongbi) Chinese watercolor on silk.
PERFORMERS:
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Performance Title: Christine Bilé
Region: Berkshire County
Instagram: @christine_bile_music
Facebook: Christine Bilé Music
Tiktok: @christinebilemusic
Performing an original folk song titled "Lend a Hand" featuring live vocals and acoustic guitar. The song is an uplifting call to action focused on reconnecting with nature, ourselves, and our community to make the world a better place.
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Performance Title: Berkshire Theatre Group
Region: Berkshire County
Website: www.berkshiretheatregroup.org
Instagram Handle: @BerkshireTheatreGroup, @btgplays
Facebook: @BerkshireTheatreGroup
Actors with Berkshire Theatre Group's education program will perform a song from the '25-'26 BTG PLAYS! Touring Show of the Magic Tree House Hip-Hop Musical, Showtime with Shakespeare based on the Magic Tree House Book #25 by Mary Pope Osborne with book and lyrics by Will Osborne and Jennie Laird and music and lyrics by Randy Courts. Directed by Kathy Jo Grover, Musical Direction by Erin White, Choreography by Serina Saunders.
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Performance Title: Chinese Music Fusion: Pipa & EDM
Region: Franklin County
Website: minqimusic.com
YouTube: Minqi Wang
Instagram Handle: @minqimusic
Spotify: Minqi Wang
Performing a short instrumental performance featuring the pipa (traditional Chinese lute), blended with electronic beats.
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Performance Title: Suite from The Victorian Kitchen Garden for Clarinet and Harp
Composer: Paul ReadeRegion: Hampshire County
Website: https://rongbingshen.com
The Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite by Paul Reade, is a rare clarinet and harp duet that evokes themes of care, cultivation, and resilience. The delicate balance between the clarinet and harp invite the audience to reflect on creativity as a sustaining force.
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Performance Title: RESPAIR (excerpt) by Zehnder Dance
Region: Greater Springfield
Instagram: @zehnder_dance
Website: www.zehnderdance.org
Facebook: ZehnderdancersZehnder Dance will show a short excerpt of their evening length work RESPAIR. RESPAIR tells stories of both despair and hope, collective and individual identity, as it redefines notions of beauty and empowerment.
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Performance Title: Overjoyed
Region: Greater Springfield
Performing a soulful, intimate reimagining of Stevie Wonder’s "Overjoyed" featuring a unique arrangement for solo upright bass and vocals.
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Region: Cape Cod, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard
Website: www.kimmobergmusic.com
Facebook: kimmobergmusic
Instagram Handle: @kimmobergmusic
Performing an original song from her newest album.
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Region: Bristol County
Handles: @iamtoricosta
Performing original music that has Portuguese folk roots mixed into a global pop sound.
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Region: Central Massachusetts
Performing spoken word slam styled poetry about remembering our roots.
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Performance Title: Saexia
Region: Greater Merrimack Valley
Instagram Handle: @saexia
Original song performance with guitarist accompaniment.
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Performance Title: BigMan
Region: Greater Merrimack Valley
Performance about personal struggles and upbringing in Lawrence, MA.
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Performance Title: Movement City's Youth Dance
Region: Greater Merrimack Valley
Instagram Handles: @mvmentx, @movementcity
Performing a piece representing the seeds that young dancers plant with inspiration from community leaders.
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Performance Title: Cultura Latina Dance Academy Inc
Region: Greater Boston
Website: www.CLDALynn.org
Instagram Handle: @cldalynn
Celebration of Latin Culture through dance. Honoring Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador.
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Performance Title: Bharatanatyam: Pushpanjali
Region: Greater Boston
Website: bhumikaarts.org
Handle: @bhumika_arts18
A Pushpanjali performed to invoke the 5 elements to preside over the event.
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Performance Title: Estrellita - a traditional Mexican piece newly arranged by Laura Intravia and performed by Fanny Lora, mezzo-soprano and the Mano a Mano Ensemble.
Region: MetroWest
Instagram Handle: @fannyloraartist
Performing a Mexican traditional piece called Estrellita which has been newly commissioned by Fanny Lora and arranged for the ensemble as part of their 2026 concert tour named "Mano a Mano: Arias in Dialogue."
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Performance Title: "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"
Region: City of Boston
Website: www.coroallegro.org
Facebook: Coro Allegro
Performing a classical gospel arrangment of “Joshua Fit the battle of Jerricho.”
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Region: City of Boston
Website: www.lizje.com
YouTube: LIZJE
Instagram Handle: @lizjesmusic
Performing a song called "Mas de Paz."
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Performance Title: Arts For Social Cohesion - Poet Laureate Regie Gibson and Composer Guy Mendilow
Region: Statewide
Arts for Social Cohesion will present an original poem and composition focusing on Massachusetts and/or American History and the present moment
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Performance Title: “Listen”
Region: City of Boston
Website: www.UptownDanceCenter.com
Instagram: @UptownDanceCenter
Facebook: Facebook.com/Uptowndans“Listen” is a tap dance solo that explores finding one’s voice, inner strength, and confidence through movement and rhythm. Performed by Missouri, the piece reflects her growth as a young artist and mentor, using musicality and storytelling to express resilience, self-awareness, and the power of being heard.
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Performance Title: Beat The Odds - Odd Squad
Region: City of Boston
Website: www.btoboston.org
Instagram Handle: @btoboston
Featuring a live performance by their youth dance team, The Odd Squad, presenting original choreography that reflects youth voice, culture, and creative expression.
