Exhibitions 2021: CVPA Star Series

CVPA Star Series to Showcase Visual and Performing Arts from the Inside Out

UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) has launched a 13-week performing and visual arts series at its Star Store campus in Downtown New Bedford. Dynamic live performances, video projections, and installations are viewable from the sidewalks outside of the corner gallery. The CVPA Star Series kicked off on February 4 with live spoken word and projected video images filling the backdrop. 

“The CVPA Star Series provides a distinctive platform to showcase the talents of our students, alumni, and visiting artists at a moment when public access to the arts is so severely limited," said Lawrence Jenkens, Dean of the CVPA. "We are excited to bring these events to Downtown New Bedford and to contribute to the City’s rich tradition of arts and culture. We are proud to partner with the City on this project which emphasizes the strong bonds between CVPA and the New Bedford community."

Details & rotating schedule

The CVPA Star Series presents free public programs every Thursday evening, 6 pm to 8 pm, in its Swain Studio space at the corner of Union and Purchase Streets. More information about each week's running theme is available on the  webpage.

• 1st Thursday: Poetry and spoken word 
• 2nd Thursday: A visual arts component during AHA! Nights
• 3rd Thursday: Live music
• 4th Thursday: Performing arts

Viera Levitt, CVPA Gallery Director, said, “We want to make the Star Store Campus feel alive even though, for the time being, we are not able to gather indoors. Our public programming inside is limited to visits to the University Art Gallery that need to be scheduled in advance. The CVPA Star Series is bringing artistic experiences to the outside, easily and safely accessible from the sidewalk. We feel that in times of social isolation like these, it is especially important to keep human connections alive and to help make a difficult time more bearable. Art is the perfect vehicle for accomplishing this. For our artists and performers, these challenges, while unique to our times, will be yet another example of how art sustains, enlivens, provokes, and teaches, while doing so, connects us to one another. Bring your mittens, folding chair, hot tea thermos, and head downtown for a socially distant art experience!"

Partners & sponsors

The CVPA Star Series is curated in collaboration with Don Burton Media (Film, New Media, and Fine Art) and Beatriz & Company (Events Production and Management) with financial support from UMass Dartmouth and the City of New Bedford’s #NBfestive Winter Places project. In-kind sponsors include Chase Canopy, Lightworks Productions Inc., and more. #NBfestive Winter Places partners the City of New Bedford with Destination New Bedford, New Bedford Creative, UMass Dartmouth CVPA, and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park every Thursday through Saturday through the winter months. On those days, artists, performers, and downtown businesses will offer a variety of special events and programming in the City that are safe and fun for all ages.