Exhibitions 2026: Ash: Drawings by Elena Peteva

April 9 – May 22, 2026 | New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Location: New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, 33 William Street, New Bedford, MA AHA!
Night Receptions & Artist Talks: Thursday, April 9, 5:00 - 6:00 PM (Talk at 5:00 PM)  and Thursday, May 14, 5:00 - 6:00 PM (Talk at 5:00 PM)
Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Saturday, 9 AM – 5 PM
Exhibition Dates: April 9 – May 22, 2026 

The UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) is proud to present Ash: Drawings by Elena Peteva, hosted at the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. The exhibition runs from April 9 through May 22, 2026, and features two receptions during the city’s popular AHA! Nights.
Elena Peteva, Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is widely recognized for her dedication to the College of Visual and Performing Arts and for her mastery of drawing as both discipline and inquiry.

The Ash drawings unfold as quiet yet powerful meditations on individual, social, and global states. At once introspective and expansive, these works invite viewers into a contemplative space shaped by fragility, impermanence, and transformation. Peteva’s drawings do not seek to depict fixed narratives, rather, they evoke conditions hovering at the edge of articulation.
In Peteva’s transformative creative process, charcoal – raw, inert matter – becomes a generative force, conjuring meticulous forms that emerge from the pristine white substrate, creating a profound dialogue between presence and absence.

Elena Peteva states, that “charcoal, or ash, becomes a metaphor as subject and material – it is what is left at the end of all things and something essential to new life, in the form of carbon. It is the beginning and the end. What I try to do in my work is define, present, and illuminate things which are, perhaps, unrepresentable.”

Elena Peteva is a Bulgarian-American artist who lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island. She is the recipient of three Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grants, among other professional recognitions. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the European Museum of Modern Art (Barcelona, Spain), CICA Museum (Gyeonggi-do, South Korea), Daura Museum of Art (Lynchburg, VA), New Bedford Art Museum (New Bedford, MA), and the Museum of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia, PA), among others. Peteva is an Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.  

Contact: Viera Levitt, Gallery Director, UMass Dartmouth Email: gallery@umassd.edu
Social Media: @UMassDartmouthGalleries | @umassdCVPA
For information on hours, please call the park visitor center at 508-996-4095