April 16 opening reception for “Repeat After Me” includes artist walkthrough, art-making, and works by eight Massachusetts artists with disabilities
WORCESTER, MA – Open Door Gallery at the Worcester Art Museum today announced it will be holding an opening reception for its group exhibition, Repeat After Me, on Thursday, April 16, from 4:30 to 7 p.m., featuring the work of eight Massachusetts-based artists with disabilities.
The reception will include an artist-led walkthrough with exhibiting creators Delia Harrington, Erika Schwarz, Jess Skyleson, Marcus Clarke, Sam Fein, Tim de Christopher, Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, and Jacoba Niepoort. Attendees will also have the opportunity to decorate postcards with artwork from the exhibit. The eight artists, out of 75 who applied, were selected by the Open Door Gallery Committee.
“Artists with disabilities must be recognized as leaders in shaping their own narratives. This exhibit brings that vision to life, illuminating the nuance, complexity, and creative power within this talented group of artists,” said Open Door Arts Managing Director Nicole Agois.
Repeat After Me positions the artist as teacher. Through painting, fiber, sculpture, and video, these artists assert themes of connection, embodiment, mapping, community, and identity. Together through their diverse mediums, processes, and experiences, the exhibition serves as a rich meditation on agency and return.
“My work engages with repetition as a tool for cementing meaning and belief, or questioning belief and evoking doubt,” said Clarke, one of the featured artists. “The effects of this repetition are felt in my own life, especially when dealing with suffering associated with disability, where hope and belief are both an anchor and a force of dissonance.”
A collaboration between Open Door Arts, a program of Seven Hills Foundation, and the Worcester Art Museum, the Open Door Gallery is one of the only permanent museum galleries in the country solely dedicated to promoting the work of disabled artists. Since its launch in 2016, the Open Door Gallery has showcased the work and stories of hundreds of emerging and established artists with disabilities, increased visibility and representation, and served as a platform for community conversation about disability, identity, and culture.
“The dominant narrative of disability is largely constructed by external forces, telling us who we are and what our experiences mean,” said Fein, another featured artist. “These paintings affirm that I have the power to define myself on my own terms …While acknowledging the trauma that disabled bodies are forced to endure, I also celebrate the resiliency of the human spirit and our stubborn will to survive in the face of extraordinary obstacles.”
“The Open Door Gallery and its exhibitions help make tangible the Worcester Art Museum’s commitment to becoming a more welcoming and accessible environment for all,” said Marnie P. Weir, Worcester Art Museum’s director of learning and engagement.
Accessibility features of the exhibition include large print labels, braille guides, an audio tour, and tactile materials and representations of the artworks. ASL interpreters and sighted guide tours are available upon request for the opening reception. Repeat After Me will be on display through May 13, 2026.
The gallery is free and open to the public on Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is committed to being an accessible and inclusive environment and is located on the first level of the Higgins Education Wing of the Worcester Art Museum.
About Open Door Arts (ODA)
Open Door Arts, a program of Seven Hills Foundation, works annually with more than 1,500 students, teaching artists, educators and leaders of cultural organizations through innovative and inclusive programming, training, events, and exhibits designed to improve access, expand participation, challenge the status quo and share practices to ensure equitable representation by people with disabilities in the arts.
About Seven Hills Foundation
Headquartered in Worcester, the Seven Hills Foundation currently offers program sites at more than 230 locations in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and abroad, employing over 4,800 professionals. Seven Hills Foundation offers a continuum of support and services to 60,000 children, adults and seniors with disabilities and other life challenges. Seven Hills Foundation stands as one of the most dynamic and comprehensive health and human services agencies in the country and is widely recognized as a premier provider of comprehensive supports. For more information, visitwww.sevenhills.org.
