The 8th Building Bridges Annual Showcase
151 Presidents Drive
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
The 8th Building Bridges Annual Showcase
Inaugurated in 2017, Building Bridges is a campus-wide public art and engagement initiative that draws on the power of solidarity and creative expression to bring people together and create a bridge across difference. The annual showcase event celebrates the work and stories of worker artists at UMass.
Now in its eighth year, the Showcase Event has become an annual gathering where staff and their creative talents take center stage. Last year in 2024, the showcase featured creative work from more than 150 UMass staff members past and present, across campus (both active and retired), representing over 40 different offices and departments. The variety of work included 16th century garment design, bead art, pencil drawings, poetry, photography, music performances and more.
Event Schedule
Workshops
Icosahedron Ornaments with Jennifer Lind
Kindness Cards with Lisa Korpiewski
Painting with Mara Martins
Art Demonstrations
16th & 17th Century Costume Design with Axel Boy
Miniatures with David Wilson and Justin Smith
Fly Tying with Matt Thornton
Creating yarn from fleece with Sondra Slesinski
Sublimation crafts with Kabita Wait
Chainmail linking with Andrew Humpel
Performance, Poetry, Story Reading
1:00 Wallace Field
1:30 Christine Mirabal
1:45 Anthony Nepal, Chris Ellis, Steve Ellis, Joshua
Rathbun, Mary Vanasse
2:30 Donna Vanasse and Mary Vanasse
3:00 Ernie Brooks
Performance, Music, Spoken Word, Poetry
Rebecca Weiss
Peter Beebe
Becky Walton & John Fuller
Luis Tapia
Nicholas Chavez
Anthony Nepal, Chris Ellis, Steve Ellis, Joshua Rathbun, Allan Wright
Schneider
The art installation and showcase—curated and installed by participants in the Showcasing Worker Artists class, a core Building Bridges offering through the Partnership for Worker Education—will be on view from 12-7pm, with an opening reception midday, and artist demonstrations and workshops, and performances scheduled throughout the afternoon.
Building Bridges is a collaboration between the Partnership for Worker Education, Civic Engagement and Service-Learning, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion.
A video of our 2019 showcase event
Building Bridges: Virtual Artist Showcase 2025
The Partnership for Worker Education, Office of Human Resources, is an innovative educational partnership between the UMass staff unions on campus and HR. This office provides education, training, and dynamic career ladder programming on campus and across the commonwealth. To learn more about our work and to sign up for classes, visit our website: https://www.umass.edu/worker-ed/
To learn more about and get involved in the Building Bridges Project, contact Nyari Changamire at nchangamire@umass.edu