Arts in the Community
FYACS builds creative community, in The Big Yellow House and out!
SAVE THE DATE: 3rd Annual Chalk Walk is September 30, 2023
Mark your calendar now:
September 30, 10:00am-1:00pm
Ell Pond, The Big Yellow House and City Hall
(rain date Oct. 1)
Click here to see a video from our first event,
or click a button below to learn more!
Chalk Walk: A Community Art Gallery
Our 2022 Sponsors
$500 Sponsors
- Melrose Family Opticians, LLC
Melrose Oriental Rug
$250 Sponsors
Hinge Fitness
Wakefield Cooperative Bank
Alaine Breen (DF Breen, LLC)
Melrose Open Studio Tour
Leila Migliorelli, City Council
Jen Grigoritis, City Council
Jen McAndrew, School Committee
Miter Biter Frame Company
The Grover Donahue Family
Liz and Paul Brodeur
The LeClerc/Martin Family
Manjula for Melrose
Colette’s Bakery
The Residence Inn
$125 Shared Square
Melrose Rotary
Melrose Kind
First United Methodist Church
The Food Drive
Our 2022 Artists
Sam Brodeur
Lucie Coleman
Amy Drago
Thais DeMarco
Olivia Rodolico Frakt
Ell Gimenez
Chris Ingalls and Liza Hostetler-Ingalls
Carson Lynch
Leah Mallozzi
Carol Methot
Kirsten Moran
Antonia Nadeau
Rebecca Pani
Kerry Pegoraro
John Pegoraro
Amy Swan
David Winkler
Gino Zermani
Thank you for making our Chalk Walk a success! Our community (that’s YOU!) helped us raise over $9000 to continue the work of our Arts for All Program. DO IT AGAIN IN 2023.
Past Events
On site we host Gallery Receptions, Author Talks, Live from the Living Room performances and Open Studios among other events. We also collaborate with a broad range of community organizations to host unique opportunities for us to come together through chalk murals, festivals, and community storytelling events. At FYACS we are always looking for ways to welcome you.
Read on to learn more about the events that we’ve held and the organizations that we’ve worked with!
Arts in the Afternoon! A Community Event
Thank you for joining us!
What a WONDERFUL day we had building creative community! Over 100 folks from Melrose and Boston created art together, walked on stilts, hula hooped, juggled, and saw a great show from Circus Up!
If you missed the event, you can still contribute! Our community art project, “What does HOME mean to you?” continues on Thursday at the Melrose Farmers’ Market.
Thursday June 10th, 1:00-6:00 pm
Bowden Park (Cedar Park), Melrose
Funded by Arts for All and a generous grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council
MLK Jr. Day Community Art Project
When you fly through your imagination…
What do you see? Where do you go?
Faith Ringgold uses visual art to tell the story of 8-year old Cassie Lightfoot, who flies through the sky on a summer night in 1939 Harlem and dreams of a life of possibilities beyond her surroundings. This MLK Jr. holiday, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s spirit of dreaming and the belief that ‘anyone can fly.’
Friends around Melrose joined us in this project:
They listened and watched Faith Ringgold tell the story of Tar Beach.
They made their own 6 inch quilt square to answer the question posted above
Volunteers assembled the squares into a completed quilt!
Thank you for participating in our project!
We hope someday soon to have this on display in a public location for all to see.
FYAC in the Community
In collaboration with the Melrose Alliance Against Violence, with funding by the Melrose Messina Fine Arts Fund, a new mural supporting MAAV’s Candlelight Walk and Vigil will be going up on the wall of the YMCA this October. The design will invite spectator participation, stay tuned.
Catch Melrose Open Studio Tours for the month of November with virtual artist demos on FB and MMTV. FYACS artists Kerry Pegoraro and Jen Blesso are on the tour, as well as Board Member Sue Lembo.
Artists have been selected and sketches have begun! FYACS is working with the Melrose Public Art Initiative to facilitate the development and installation of 8 public art works in Melrose. Learn more here!
We love to open our doors to arts organizations that need space to run creative programs that benefit our community. Filmmakers Collaborative ran their June Stop Motion Animation program in the Big Yellow House, and we welcome them back again!
FYACS has a history of collaborating with schools, daycare centers, and community groups to bring art beyond our walls. Our newest collaboration is virtual! From March through June, we partnered with Riverside Community Care to provide virtual art classes to their families. This partnership will continue in September, and we are thrilled to be working with such an incredible organization and meeting such creative artists of all ages and abilities.
We welcome community partnerships with schools, nonprofits, community groups, municipalities and private businesses to bring creative self-expression to a wider audience. If you are interested in creative collaboration, email our Director at krodolico@fyamelrose.org
Creative Community Bulletin Board
Melrose Porchfest is a newcomer on the Melrose arts scene that has quickly become a community favorite! This outdoor, all day music fest takes place on porches, in driveways, and backyards all across town.
Melrose Arts has been promoting fine artists and craftspeople in Melrose for 15 years as a non profit 501(c)3 in partnership with the Community Coalition. The Arts Festival in the spring, and the Window Art Walk in the fall are two favorite community events. Live periodic art demonstrations are yet another activity that is sponsored by Melrose Arts as a way to connect fine artists to the community. Melrose Arts is happy to promote the exhibits at the Beebe estate as well as the new Melrose Open Studios (MOST) in the late fall. #melrosearts
As a nonprofit dedicated to building creative community, we support other creative arts nonprofits in their endeavors to promote creative happenings around town. If you have an event to promote, email info@fyamelrose.org with information about your organization or event.