OPEN DOOR GALLERY @ WAM

Located inside the worcester art museum

Designed as a partnership between Worcester Art Museum, Seven Hills Foundation, and Open Door Arts,
ODG@WAM is a working studio and gallery that exhibits and celebrates the work of aspiring, emerging and established artists with disabilities, acting as a catalyst for community convening and conversation with the museum and beyond.


CURRENT EXHIBIT

Tim de Christopher "Paper and Stone: A Retrospective" 

On view: September 16 - December 6, 2026

Reception: Sunday, October 25 from 1-3 PM

Click Here for the Audio Tour 

Virtual Tour Coming Soon

Screen Reader Friendly Tour Coming Soon

About the Artist and Exhibit 

Tim de Christopher(opens in new tab) began his art career in 1977 while living in New York’s Lower East Side and attending Cooper Union. He is now an established artist known for his stone carvings featured in private collections and public installations, including gargoyles for the facade of the Jewish Museum in New York City and a major work titled Rock Paper Scissors installed in Turners Falls. With this public artwork, de Christopher has made his mark on the town of Turners Falls.

Paper and Stone is a retrospective of de Christopher’s artwork, on view in the Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum. Featuring stone carvings, paintings, prints, and drawings, this maximalist celebration highlights Tim’s consistent artistic voice across media, as well as his legacy of creativity, humor, and gift for elevating the everyday. A special highlight of this exhibition is the display of Tim’s Napkin Drawings—600 napkin sketches made from 1977 to the present day, installed in the drop-in studio. A literal visual diary of the artist.

Tim shares about his art: “We love to use the phrase ‘etched in stone,’ with an ironic wink, but to me it has a vital immediacy. I am a stone carver, and I tell stories in stone. We know our ancient history largely from artifacts in stone left behind by past civilizations. I want to follow that tradition but with a contemporary twist. My vision is to capture events—general and specific moments in time—that relay milestones in our shared human experience, events that have marked episodes in our collective history.”

A round half-circle with a flat top and a square base. Around the circumference are four figures, each standing on a ledge that comes off the rounded semicircle. Two figures have their arms resting flat on the top. One has its hands up at the side of its face. The fourth figure is holding up a piece of paper with the text “YTTE” on it, honoring artist Achilles G. Rizzoli. YTTE, the name of his imaginary world, stands for “Yield to Total Elation.”
Angel of Hope and Despair, 1996
A salon-style installation of Tim’s napkin sketches. These sketches were made by Tim over the last 5 decades. The napkins are pinned to large cardboard panels that cover the surface of the three walls in the studio. The napkins are various sizes and colors. Some napkins are square, some rectangular, and some have drawings on both sides, so they have been displayed unfolded. The ink colors also vary from blue, black, green, red, and orange. The subject matter is predominantly sketches of ideas present in Tim’s art, like buildings, boats, people together, and dogs. There are also written reflections, resources, and to-do lists. The display of the napkins together feels like a generous offering from the artist, him opening up his visual diary for us to peruse.
Napkin Drawings, 1977-2026
A square canvas in a black frame. There is a bright blue sky and a large yellow field with three big square green patches in the middle. In the background is a large red brick building with multiple chimneys and numerous windows.
No. 12, 2025
A forest green background. In the middle is a large brick-red andsalmon colored house. To the right is a tall red water tower with a light green top and white legs. To the left is a large oval in a white outline.
No. 8, 2025

AUDIO TOUR

Below is an audio tour that contains descriptions of the larger series in the exhibitions, reflections from the artists about the art, and image descriptions of all the artworks in order of appearance in the gallery.  

 

 

 

 

 

 


VIRTUAL TOUR

Now you can enjoy the Open Door Gallery from anywhere! We’re excited to offer virtual gallery tours for all of our exhibitions. Whether you’re unable to visit us in Worcester or prefer to experience the show from home, our virtual gallery provides an accessible way to explore the artwork, exhibitions, and audio tour.


GALLERY COMMITTEE

in 2024, to ensure that multiple voices inform our vision and decision-making, we created a paid Gallery Committee to help design and juror calls for art and advise on best practices to create an accessible, inclusive and representative gallery space.  Along with their guidance, we are also forming deeper relationships with disabled artists throughout the state, disability organizations, and the broader community.

The committee includes Jeff Kasper, Gordon Sasaki, and Dominic Quagliozzi (who all identify as disabled artists), Megan Bent (Open Door Arts Gallery and Communications Manager) and Samantha Cataldo (Curator of Contemporary Art at WAM).

LOCATION AND HOURS

The Open Door Gallery @ WAM is located in the Higgins Education Wing of the Worcester Art Museum, at:
55 Salisbury Street
Worcester, MA 01609

Hours:
The gallery is open during regular museum hours,
Wednesday – Sunday: 10 am-4 pm
Third Thursday of every month: 10 am-8 pm

The Open Door Gallery @ WAM is located in the Higgins Education Wing of the Worcester Art Museum. The gallery can be accessed through the Lancaster Street entrance of WAM or through the Tuckerman Street entrance.

The gallery is at the end of the first floor of the Higgins Wing. During warmer months, it can also be accessed directly through the Lancaster courtyard, where there is a ramp and switch-operated double doors.

We are committed to making the gallery experience as accessible as possible by featuring tactile representations of artworks, large print and Braille signage and texts, audio description, and virtual alternatives, as well as providing ASL interpreters and sighted guides for all events. Please contact for access-related questions or requests.

We are proud to participate in the Card to Culture program, a collaboration between Mass Cultural Council and the Department of Transitional Assistance, Massachusetts Health Connector, and WIC Nutrition Program, by broadening accessibility to cultural programming.

Admissions to our Open Door Galleries and related events is free. EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders will receive free admission to any ticketed events. See the full list of participating organizations offering EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.

ACCESS

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