NCFA is thrilled to be stewarding a new, dedicated art gallery at 33 Hawley! On this page, please find our mission and values, application process, information about curation, and our commitment to representation. Information can also be found in our FAQ document, and upcoming exhibits can be found here! Additional questions can be directed to gallery@nohoarts.org.

The Barn Door Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday 12-7pm.

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

The Call for submissions for Feb-Aug 2024 is now closed. The next round will open for submissions in May 2024.

  • NCFA will put out a call for exhibit proposals each May.

  • A curatorial committee will meet each July to make decisions about the following year’s exhibits.

  • 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

    • two-person shows (either two artists applying together or an individual artist who is open to a shared exhibit)

    • guest curation

    • submissions for the group show for emerging artists

    • all types of visual art, including 2D and 3D work

NCFA will sell art that is exhibited and retain a 20% commission. Artists may set their own prices in conversation and agreement with NCFA staff. Artists may exhibit some work that is not for sale as part of solo and two person exhibits.

The Barn Door Gallery is approximately 20’ x 26’ with about 70-80 linear feet of wall space (depending on the kind of art being displayed). There are five pedestals, and tables may also be available for 3D work. 

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.)

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.