Susan Gilmore – Contemporary Sculptor

Susan Gilmore arrived a long time ago to New Bedford for an interview for the Swain School. Whilst driving down Rte 140 stopped at Buttonwood park, and was very impressed by the fact that this little city had its own zoo.

After she graduated, she stayed and helped Barney Frank try to turn Downtown New Bedford into a historical park for almost a decade. After their success, she waited to see it flourish, disheartened by the lack of progress, she suspects that all of the years of harmful whaling has brought about bad karma to New Bedford.

She thinks that we may finally be ready to rise above our tainted past.

You can see her passion and drive in all of her beautiful and powerful artwork.

Jane Bregoli – Oil and Watercolor Painter

Jane Bregoli was born and raised in Dartmouth, MA and is currently a public school art teacher in her hometown. She continued her education in Dartmouth as well and has received her masters degree in art.

You may recognize her name, from her very popular book, “The Goat Lady” which depicts the tale of a beloved Dartmouth woman Noelie Houle, who raised goats. Jane compiled the books illustrations and story from the year she spent painting Noelie.

You can learn more about Jane and her wonderful book by calling 508-992-4640 or order the book on Amazon.

Jenny Fragosa – Contemporary Artist

Jenny Fragosa is a Contemporary Artist who has a studio located in Hyannis, MA and traveled to New Bedford just to experience the Open Studios. She heard of the event through word of mouth from other artists.

She is originally from Ohio and is represented by Gallery Ehva which is located in Provincetown.

Experience more of her thought provoking works of art at jennyfragosa.com

Melanie Chartier – Fine Art Studios

Melanie Chartier is a fine art painter with a studio located in Hyannis, MA.

She traveled to New Bedford just to experience the Open Studios. She grew up in New Bedford, and went to SMU (Umass Dartmouth).

This is her first year at the New Bedford Open Studios, and hopes to continue providing art to the Greater New Bedford area.

Thomas Castella – 3-D Creation Studios

Thomas Castella has a studio located at 21 Cove Street, where he crafts one of a kind fabrications, restorations, signage and a whole lot more.

He also has constructed a traveling Raw Bar which he rents out for theme parties and corporate functions.

This is his second open studios and has been an artist in New Bedford for one and a half years. He decided to make New Bedford his home away from home when he found the building (21 Cove Street) to be interesting, and also found travel to New Bedford convenient.

Artist Open Studios Experience

We decided to start this blog by meeting as many artists as were willing to participate at the New Bedford Artist Open Studios.

Little did we know that we would end up having to cut our tour of the studios short because we ran out of model releases! All of the artists were so welcoming and willing to talk about the reasons they picked New Bedford as their studio’s home.

We can’t wait to post all of the amazing stories here, and hope for more willing New Bedford residents in our future endeavors.

Blog Under Construction

Faces of NB is going to get their first batch of faces at the Artist Open Studios this Saturday! Be on the lookout for girls armed with cameras. We will be capturing the art and the artists that make New Bedford the amazing city it is.

Our blog is about featuring people and places in New Bedford that may be overlooked and under appreciated. With a simple portrait we know we will be able to represent exactly how diverse our city really is.

Keep coming back, we expect there to be new faces every couple of days, and of course, each face comes with a story.