Jeanée Redmond’s tile sculptures at the biannual Miller Street Open Studios incorporate evocative text as part of a pattern. (Photos: Jane Ward)

In an unassuming neighborhood in Somerville not far from Porter Square lie the Miller Street Studios, a group of art spaces sharing a building and, this weekend, celebrating the biannual Miller Street Open Studios, where work is on display and, in some cases, for sale. Dozens of artists are allowing the public a peek not only at finished pieces, but at works in progress, raw materials and other insightful aspects of the world where the art is made.

Amy Lapidow offers handmade boxes, paper, sketchbooks and make-your-own book station and wins the Affordable Art prize for her $1 handmade sketchbooks.

McKey Berkman and Amy Lapidow keep the art of bookbinding alive at Miller Street. On display this weekend are Lapidow’s handmade paper, sketchbooks and even handcrafted boxes. Viewers will also see Berkman’s work with books bound in the styles of different periods in the history of the craft. This is a fun studio to spend time in; Lapidow has set up a make-your-own book station and wins the Affordable Art prize for her $1 handmade sketchbooks.

Staying on the theme of the written word, down the hall are Jeanée Redmond’s tile sculptures incorporating evocative text as part of the visual pattern. Focusing heavily on the narrative component of each piece of visual art, Redmond’s sculptures also feature science, nature and a homage to the Rorschach ink blot test.

For those who prefer their art two-dimensional, painter and printmaker Sandra Butler is among several artists at Miller Street to bring a pensive mood to straightforward subject matter in a traditional medium. Depicting incomplete bridges, the beautifully rendered, if somewhat unsettling, geometric designs of her Structural Impermanence series beckon the viewer back for a second look.

The real wild card of the Open Studios is the work of David Durlach and his firm, TechnoFrolics. The first thing you see when you walk in – or the last thing you see as you walk out, depending on where your focus is – Durlach’s installation “Dancing Trees” is truly one of a kind. The viewer is invited to push a button playing a choice of four pop songs, then watch as clumps of kinetic iron dust (remember that Wooly Willy toy?) perform a synchronized dance.

These works of art and many more are on display from noon to 5 p.m. today and Sunday at the Miller St. Studios, 11 Miller St., Somerville.