A glistening vessel rests on a pedestal on one side of the gallery space. In another artwork, bold, lush colors suggest the shape of a horse, bursting into the bloom of a flower. One stone sculpture represents the mystical form of a hand, the index and middle fingers crossed superstitiously, while revealing a dark blue eye in the center of the palm. These imaginative pieces, dream-like, surreal, and gesturing toward the fantastical, are part of Fountain Street Gallery’s last exhibit, “…gladly beyond,” which takes its name from an E.E. Cummings poem. The show is an exploration of the unknown, the second of two showcases of core artists, coming on the heels of “somewhere i have never travelled…”
It’s a fitting final show for Fountain Street Gallery, which will be shuttering on March 31. As the space prepares for one last closing reception, artists are navigating their steps into an uncertain future. Marie Craig, co-owner and director, who jointly led the gallery with assistant director Tatiana Flis until Flis left last fall, said that she made the decision to shut down Fountain Street Gallery for several reasons. Because of rising rent, she decided against committing to a long-term extension of her lease. Another factor that contributed to the closure was the shift in SoWa’s culture that Craig observed. Over the years, she had seen the neighborhood become more of a space for established artistic voices, rather than new, experimental ones, and she said a trend toward centering the design community and high-end consumer goods took focus away from galleries.
“There seemed to be a change in the critical mass of galleries in the SoWa district, in particular, in our building,” said Craig. “There were fewer art spaces and no new ones since after the start of the pandemic. When businesses were leaving, they would be replaced by non-galleries, non-art spaces. That writing was on the wall.” She added, “There is so much more happening. There are so many new voices being amplified in the art scene, and those need to shine now.”
Fountain Street Gallery opened in Framingham in 2011, with the intention of bringing contemporary art to the suburbs. Craig and her cofounder, Cheryl Clinton, established the gallery when a space opened up in the building where they occupied studios. A development project led to the gallery being evicted, and in 2017, Fountain Street Gallery found a new SoWa home along pedestrian-only Thayer Street. Today, the gallery has twenty-eight artist members, who pay fees that contribute toward rent, utilities, and other costs. They are granted a show every other year and are encouraged to pursue their own visions, rather than target a market. Artists work with a range of media, creating abstract paintings, sculptures, metal prints, and more.
The building that Fountain Street Gallery occupies is owned by GTI Properties. The company’s managing director, Marc Julien, said that his long-term vision for the building is that it will not change much. He would like to see upper floors remain residential and lower floors dedicated to art and design. Ideally, he would like to see the Fountain Street Gallery space filled by another art gallery.
“If we had a gallery come to us today and say ‘We want to take the space and make it work,’ absolutely,” said Julien. He added that if another art gallery does not reach out to him, he will consider different types of tenants, stating, “It’s not good for anyone if the space is empty forever. If I had my preference, Fountain Street never would have left.”
Members of Fountain Street Gallery said that they’ve seen the SoWa neighborhood change over the years. Artist Kay Hartung, who joined Fountain Street Gallery before the move to SoWa in 2017, said that she believes the area has become less affordable for small, local art galleries and that the design community and more commercial galleries have developed a strong presence recently. Sandra Cohen, who has been a member of the gallery since 2022, said that she thinks the art scene in SoWa may be “slowly disintegrating,” due to increasingly high rents.
“I think that area might be going down,” said Cohen. “There is a cascade effect. It becomes less viable for people to try and be there when [other artists] are leaving [and the area sees less traffic]. Eventually, the vector of what’s good about that place and what’s not good—high rent for no foot traffic—it becomes untenable.”
Hartung said that Fountain Street Gallery had a strong impact on SoWa during the short time that it was part of the neighborhood. The people that she met there made the experience meaningful, she added.
“For me, it was a community,” she said. “The people that were involved, the other artists… they were a great bunch, very committed people, very professional.” While she laments the loss of the gallery, she added, “I actually hope that [the artists] will remain connected.”
