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

Dominic Quagliozzi: "Home Body" 

On view: March 21st, 2024-June 21st, 2024

Opening Reception:  May 2nd, 4:30-6:30

4:30 - 5:30 Artist talk & reception

5:30 - 6:30 Artist workshop

Use this link to RSVP and register 

Artist Statement 

Through various media, with a focus on drawing, painting and performance, I make work that deconstructs my lived experience with chronic illness and disability to explore personal histories and the domestication of illness. Using medicalized materials such as hospital gowns and clinic table tissue paper, I reference my de- and re-constructed body, often present through its absence. My work aims to highlight the interdependence needed for healing and notions of longevity within personal and shared experience.

About Dominic 

Dominic Quagliozzi received an MFA in Studio Arts from Cal State University, Los Angeles and a BA in Sociology from Providence College. His work is in the permanent collection at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. He has exhibited work in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Providence, and at Calgary Contemporary in Canada and Casula Powerhouse Art Centre in New South Wales, Australia. In 2018, he was on the Keynote patient panel at the Nexus Summit for interprofessional care and education at the University of Minnesota. He has given workshops and lectures at the Rhode Island School of Design, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, USC Keck School of Medicine, Chapman University, Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Long Beach.

 

A fabric and paint artwork displayed on the gallery floor. It has a deep blue well made from paint. Surrounding the well are a patchwork of blue, turquoise, green, and yellow hospital gowns or moving blankets. They are marked with colored pencils and creating the brick effect of the wishing well.
"Wishing Well"
A painting with bold brushstrokes of the artist's childhood living room. Framed by an entryway with red walls, the living room has beige walls, a maroon armchair, and a light pink couch with a wood coffee table in the middle.
"2 Smith Lane"
A painting of a hospital room from an aerial view. The painting has bold brushstrokes. There are two white hospital beds divided by a blue curtain. Around the room are two bedside tables, a medical tray, and a blue visitor chair.
"Room 555"
a multiple-colored house, primarily magenta, pink, and blue made out of colored pencil markings on hospital gowns and moving blankets and parts of paintings.
"Home"

About the Open Door Gallery @WAM

Designed as both a working studio and gallery, Open Door Gallery @ Worcester Art Museum is a one-of-a-kind collaboration that supports the creation of new works and the sharing of artwork with the Greater Worcester arts community and beyond!

As a partnership between Open Door Arts, Seven Hills Foundation, and the Worcester Art Museum, Open Door Gallery @ Worcester Art Museum seeks to expand opportunities for meaningful experiences and connections through the arts for people of all abilities.

Painting with the top half horizontally in shades of oranges and browns, reminiscent of a sunset, and a turquoise lower half. Painted on a pegboard.
"Red Sky in Morning" by Jon Sarkin

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

ACCESS

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 (currently under construction).

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.

ASL interpreters can be requested for events and exhibit openings. We care about your experience, so please contact  for access-related questions.

We are proud to participate in the Card to Culture program, a collaboration between Mass Cultural Council and the Department of Transitional AssistanceMassachusetts 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 EBTWIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.