PRESS RELEASE

NORTHAMPTON, MA (March 12, 2025) – Award-winning Northampton-based visual artist Mark Guglielmo mounts the first solo exhibition of his new series of life-size collage portraits exploring the Italian American experience entitled Portraits of My People at Barn Door Gallery, Northampton Center for the Arts, 33 Hawley St, Northampton, MA running from April 2—30, 2025.

The Opening Reception will take place on Friday, April 11 from 5-9pm (coinciding with Arts Night Out), with an Artist Talk that same night at 7:30pm in the gallery. There will also be a Community Conversation entitled “Italians and Whiteness in the United States” on Saturday, April 19 from 4-5pm in the gallery featuring the artist, his dear sister Jennifer Guglielmo (Professor of History, Smith College), and good friend Heshima Moja (Musician, Composer, Sonic Architect). Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 11am-7pm, closed Sun, Mon, and Tue. The gallery is fully accessible and admission is free.

Combing through thousands of old, black and white, archival and family photographs, the artist drew inspiration from his childhood growing up in a large Italian American family in New York and from those that came before him. Themes of memory, identity, family, and belonging permeate the portraits. With this new body of work, Guglielmo intends to honor his beloved grandparents Grace and Angelo, who raised 11 children and still held space for him and his siblings. He celebrates this quickly disappearing culture while engaging Italian American identity to spark greater awareness and deeper conversations about some of the most salient issues of our time.

This exhibition is supported by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts ValleyCreates program, in partnership with MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists, and The Puffin Foundation.

For more info, please email the artist, visit nohoarts.org, or call the Barn Door Gallery at (413) 584-7327.