Barn Door Gallery
NCFA’s dedicated art gallery at 33 Hawley
November 2024
Pliable Entanglements
November 5 - November 30
Opening Reception on Arts Night Out
Audio Timestamps:
Pliable Entanglements Statement 00:00
Eva R. Barajas 02:07
María Sparrow 03:10
Ross Momaney 03:55
We ask that you see our body of work as an imperative call to be present in our shared Pliable Entanglements. Our visual collection serves as evidence illustrating the interconnectedness we inhabit through universal and foundational elements. The experiences we imagine, the instances that could have been, and the concrete histories that make up who we are all intertwine here. Pliable Entanglements offers the viewer the ability to honor their own past, present, and future while simultaneously acknowledging the malleable connections we have to the network of lives to which we are linked. These pieces serve as reflections of the overlapping histories and experiences of the artists, reminding us that we are not the first, the only, or the last to have them.
Through drawing and printmaking, we seek to explore the narratives of the past and their infinite connections to the present. Our shared tactile connection to the earth manifests through ceramic vessels that act as relics of timelines, memories, and experiences in alternative and imagined landscapes. Using clay to construct artifacts of invented experiences reflects the conception of the personal histories of what could have been and serves to fill in the gaps of the unknown. The ever-present threads that connect all of us are expressed through fibers weaving together the communal and personal histories we have experienced, both real and internally constructed. Together, these pieces bind the many histories and experiences of the artists while offering a moment in time to build a shared experience with viewers.
As humans, we are all connected through shared Pliable Entanglements. Our personal landscapes are infinitely malleable and subject to ever-evolving internal and external influences. May this presentation of artwork guide you to value the permeable and unseen links that connect us all and carry the notion that anything we observe, we change; anything observed changes and connects us in perpetuity.
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Eva R. Barajas (she/her/ella) is a disabled, queer, interdisciplinary artist, educator and cultural producer.
Descended from Southern Paiute/ Comanche and mestizaje peoples. Currently living and working on the unceded land of the Nonotuck people (Northampton, MA ) pursuing a Master’s in Art Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a focus on accessibility education in the arts.
Her installations reflect her dedication to exploring disability, craft, grief, stimming, care, collectivity, and joy. An invitation to engage with the intricacies of creative labor, embracing the malleability of experiences and the potency of imagined scenarios.
Her goal is to craft spaces that resonate with the vibrancy of unspoken dialogues, the malleability of experiences and a celebration of infinite diversity in infinite combination.
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María Sparrow (she/they) is a teaching artist based in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Sparrow employs painting, fiber, and printmaking techniques in combination with historical research in order to probe questions of memory, identity, alienation and belonging. With half of their family based in Argentina and half in the U.S., Sparrow’s ongoing “Stains” series seeks to understand racial formation across these cultures. Focusing here on research on racial formation in Argentina, the artist offers a specific case by which Argentine and non-Argentine viewers alike might consider their own cultural racial constructs.
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Ross Momaney (he/him) is a visual artist and arts educator. He grew up playing in the woods of West Dummerston, Vermont with plenty of room to roam and explore, letting his vivid imagination run free. As a child, he often played with and built elaborate imagined worlds with lincoln logs, LEGOs, and any other materials he could find.
From a young age, Ross knew he wanted to be a teacher. He attended the University of Maine at Farmington where he earned a BS in Elementary Education and Art. He is currently in the Master’s program for Art Education at The University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Prior to his graduate work, Ross was a teacher at an elementary school on Deer Isle, in Maine. There he taught writing and English, as well as third grade before becoming the school’s art teacher. His work in the classroom supports imaginative inquiry and play while providing equitable experiences in the arts for all learners.
Ross’ own artwork focuses on process and self-interpretation with an emphasis on constructing imagined worlds and relics from his imagination. At the core of his artistic practice, Ross centers on creating pieces that illustrate how he perceives and experiences the world. His work delves into the ways lines exist in our environment, both natural and constructed, and investigates how these elements can shape our understanding and awareness of the different landscapes that surround us. Most of Ross’ work utilizes clay to create and build relics of personal expression. Ross examines how signs, text, and images function as tools for navigation and communication, as well as how a given object serves as an artifact of personal experience. Ross’ art invites viewers to reflect on the subtle yet powerful ways that visual language influences our perception of the world.
The Barn Door Gallery Mission and Values
The art gallery that the Northampton Center for the Arts (NCFA) stewards at 33 Hawley is a space which supports NCFA’s mission to foster community connections through the arts. The Barn Door Gallery provides dedicated space to cultivate constantly evolving and transformative conversations between and among artists and viewers. In managing this community resource, NCFA uses the following intentions as a guide:
To create an art space that is accessible and inclusive, with transparent criteria, that welcomes a wide variety of artists and art mediums
To steward the art gallery in such a way that it is available to as many artists and community members as possible
To provide space to learn more about how people with varying identities express themselves through art
To maintain a rotating curatorial committee of NCFA staff and board and community members that makes recommendations on curatorial decisions
To make financially sound decisions that will enable us to continue to provide opportunities for our community to experience the arts for years to come
Application Process for Exhibits
Next CALL FOR PROPOSALS: May 2025
NCFA will put out a call for exhibit proposals each May.
A new curatorial committee will meet each July to make decisions about the following year’s exhibits. More here!
Committee members will be asked to review images independently before coming together.
Applicants will be notified by early August.
Exhibit proposals may include:
individual shows
guest curation or shared exhibits
submissions for the group show for emerging artists
all types of visual art, including 2D and 3D work
Please note that all artwork submitted must be available for sale (exceptions may apply), and NCFA retains a 20% commission on all artwork sold. We try to keep this as low as possible to aid our mission.
The Barn Door Gallery is approximately 20’ x 26’ and has about 70-80 linear feet of wall space (depending on the kind of art being displayed). It has five pedestals, a movable wall, and tables may also be available for 3D work.
Submission Form for Solo Exhibits
NCFA’s Commitment to Representation
As the leaders of a small, local arts organization, we know the power of the arts to help us process, contextualize, and speak out. In good times and bad, we know the beauty of witnessing works of art coming into being. We also know the challenges of supporting the arts in the context of infrastructure impacted by racism, classism, gentrification, unnamed power dynamics, colonialism, elitism, and gatekeeping that is too often performed in the name of curation. At the Center, we believe that arts administration and curation offer an opportunity for care, inclusion, and challenging the status quo. As such, we are committed to an ongoing practice of dismantling patterns of white supremacy culture in ourselves and our organization. (From NCFA’s Antiracism and the Arts page)
Our goals for representation in the Barn Door Art Gallery over the first three years:
NCFA is committed to supporting artists who hold historically marginalized identities. Half of exhibiting artists will identify as BIPoC. In addition, half of all exhibitors will identify as LGBTQIA+ artists. (These identities may intersect.) Proposals for identity themed exhibits are encouraged.
NCFA is committed to supporting emerging artists. One exhibit per year will be a group show dedicated to emerging artists, with some prioritization for those who have never exhibited work in a gallery before.
NCFA is committed to supporting local artists. As such, the curatorial committee will prioritize artists both within a 30 mile radius of the Center, and will consider artists from farther away (up to 60 miles) as well as those with ties to the area.
NCFA is committed to supporting and welcoming low income and new/emerging artists, and to taking steps to mitigate any tendency for artists to feel intimidated. We offer resources such as a commitment to no artist application fees, providing refreshments for artists’ receptions, and marketing support (website, social media, email, newsblast). We are working towards securing discounts for printing and framing at specific local businesses, providing basic hardware for hanging as well as resources for artists regarding the hanging and presenting of work. The parameters for portfolio submissions and formatting will be as flexible as is feasible.
NCFA is committed to listening to and engaging with community members, and will continue to prioritize multiple mechanisms for feedback.
The Curatorial Committee
Any community member may apply to be on a curatorial committee.
The application form is open and applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Applicants will be contacted in the spring of each year to join that year’s committee.
Applicants will remain on the list unless they ask to be removed.
All eligible applicants will eventually be invited to serve on the committee.
NCFA will strive for each committee to have the same representation as our exhibiting artists: half BIPOC, half LGBTQIA+, and a mix of emerging and experienced artists. We understand these identities may intersect.
Each curatorial committee has the option to curate a group show for the January exhibit, either with their own art or an artist they would like to amplify.
In addition, the gallery curatorial committee will be guided by a three-year vision which will ensure that the mission and values established initially are consistently incorporated into the operation of the space.
The curatorial committee will solicit feedback after the first year to help revise and improve practices.
(For the first cycle, the steering committee became the first curatorial committee. This group, who worked closely together in the fall of 2023, will choose the February through August 2024 exhibits, and will exhibit their own work in January 2024.)
Past Gallery Exhibits
Barn Door Gallery
Past Split Level Gallery Exhibits
Barn Door Gallery
