It’s the holiday season, one of many times to be grateful for the creative hub that is our home. If you’re looking to shop small this month, there’s no shortage of opportunities.
The coming weekend is chock full of holiday art markets. On Saturday, Small Mart holds one with more than 40 vendors in Davis Square’s Crystal Ballroom. In Union Square on Sunday, Milk Row Studios holds a buildingwide holiday event with dozens of vendors including Golden Yolk Studios (jewelry), Lexi’s Tree Fort (bags and accessories) and Cambridge Hackspace, to name a few. In Cambridge’s Kendall Square, a Holiday Art Market is Saturday and Dec. 8 with two dozen participating artists.
Of particular note is Vernon Street Studios’ 50th annual Open Studios, also welcoming visitors Saturday and Dec. 8. The weekend’s events are just one part of a trio of Vernon 50th anniversary celebrations. A retrospective exhibition opens Tuesday in the Nave Gallery. As part of the exhibition, Natick-based filmmaker Anne Continelli premieres a short documentary about Vernon Street’s history at the Nave. In the Inside Out Gallery in the windows of a Davis Square CVS, the Somerville Arts Council has studio artists’ works on view in a show curated by Vernon Street artist Steven Cabral.
The Inside Out show is small, but packs a punch. It includes artists’ studio room numbers and the years they came to Vernon, ranging from founding member Karen Moss (arrived in 1974) to Hadis Karami (arrived in 2024 to Studio 13). This detail makes for a striking portrait of the number of artists supported by studio spaces like this. Karami combines hair and weaving techniques into her powerful and unsettling work, “Don’t tread on me.” The other works are a quirky cabinet of curiosities, ranging from Suzanne Lubeck’s untitled doll sculpture to Jonathan Donahue’s “Winchester, England.”
The Inside Out Gallery show is on view until Jan. 4. Nave Gallery’s exhibition is on view from Dec. 3 – Jan. 9.
Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square
Milk Row Studios, 438 Somerville Ave., Union Square, Somerville
Holiday Art Market, 650 E. Kendall St., Kendall Square, Cambridge
The Nave Gallery, 155 Powderhouse Blvd., near Teele Square, Somerville
Inside Out Gallery, 1 Davis Square, Somerville
Share your own 150-word appreciation for a piece of visual art or art happening with photo to editor@cambridgeday.com with the subject line “Behold.”
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.