New Salem Museum and Academy of Fine Art

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Creating a Stronghold for Contemporary Realist Art - Permanent Collection, Special Exhibitions, Workshops with World Renowned Artists, Weekly Figure Drawing Group

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to Andrii Kateryniuk for winning the 2026 NSMA International Painting Competition People’s Choice Awar...
08/19/2026

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to Andrii Kateryniuk for winning the 2026 NSMA International Painting Competition People’s Choice Award for his beautiful painting “Not Alone”

Voting for the People’s Choice Award was open to all museum visitors during the length of the finalists’ exhibition (May–August), during which NSMA received the most traffic we’ve ever experienced! The response to this award category vastly exceeded our expectations – museum visitors loved voting, and due to the responsibility given to them to vote for their favorite piece in the show, visitors were more engaged in contemplation, discussion, and debate about the artwork than we usually observe.

Our next exhibition, a new rotation of our permanent collection, opens Wednesday August 26th and we are absolutely thrilled to be including the two acquisition award winners from the competition:

GRAND PRIZE ACQUISITION AWARD – $35,000
T. Allen Lawson
“End of Day”

SMALL WORK ACQUISITION AWARD – $5000
Fabrice Grimard | Fine art • Painter
“Path by the lake”

07/01/2026

🎥 created a beautiful video showcasing NSMA’s 2026 International Painting Competition Awards Gala. He’s renowned internationally for his documentaries, commercials, and music videos. In the art world, he’s built a reputation filming both short and feature-length documentaries on leading representational painters, including an award-winning film on Jeffrey T. Larson (winner of Best Minnesota Film at the Catalyst Film Festival) as well as a project on Quang Ho, which just won Best Documentary at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, an incredible achievement. Beyond the art domain, his work spans clients around in the world in various industries. We’re honored to collaborate with him on both last year’s and this year’s Awards Gala video.

The Competition Finalists’ Exhibition is open through Sunday, August 16th! Plan your visit to NSMA soon to enjoy the exceptional artistry on display along with the stunning surrounding natural environment of rural New England in summertime. We hope to see you at the museum soon!

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS once again to our AWARD WINNERS 🏆

GRAND PRIZE: $35,000 ACQUISITION AWARD _allen_lawson
End of Day, 2024
Oil on Linen Mounted on Cradled Panel
25 x 30

SMALL WORK PRIZE: $5,000 ACQUISITION AWARD

Path by the lake, 2025
Oil on Linen panel
13.75 x 8

DIRECTOR’S CHOICE AWARD: $2,500 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO MICHAEL HARDING ARTIST MATERIALS ()

Last Light, 2025
Oil on linen
44 x 52

What distinguishes this competition most notably is its approach to the two Acquisition Awards – a $35,000 Grand Prize Acquisition Award, and a $5,000 Small Work Acquisition Award. Rather than a single juror or panel selecting the winners, the finalists themselves determined the recipients of each Acquisition Award at the awards ceremony on May 9th, 2026. Each finalist had the opportunity to cast votes for their favorite works in the exhibition – excluding their own – in a ranked choice voting system, ensuring that the museum acquired pieces that are not only of the highest artistic merit, but also ones that are most admired by the very artists who stand among the best of their fiel

We are proud to announce our Boston debut exhibition at the St. Botolph Club at 199 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston’s Back...
05/21/2026

We are proud to announce our Boston debut exhibition at the St. Botolph Club at 199 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston’s Back Bay. The show opened 5/20 and will run through September 4th. The Club is private but the exhibition will be open to the public on Wednesdays between 2pm-4pm or by appointment. Please contact the St Botolph Club at 617-536-7570 for more information about visiting.

We are most grateful to magazine for the fantastic article about our Painting Competition in their most recent publicat...
05/20/2026

We are most grateful to magazine for the fantastic article about our Painting Competition in their most recent publication! Check it out!

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to  for winning the NSMA 2026 Competition Director’s Choice Award, generously sponsored by for her pa...
05/10/2026

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to  for winning the NSMA 2026 Competition Director’s Choice Award, generously sponsored by for her painting “Last Light” – Rose was awarded a $2,500 Michael Harding gift certificate, chosen by NSMA Director  at the Awards Ceremony 🏆

Michael Harding is world-renowned for producing high-performance artist materials of uncompromising quality — grounded in the techniques of the Old Masters, made with ethically sourced ingredients, and formulated for the demands of today’s serious painters who demand the best.

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Last Light, 2025
Oil on linen
44 x 52

“Last Light meditates on the passing of a day, a life, questioning the setting sun. Are we seeing this light for the final time, or is the light that fills the eyes something new? A mortal man steps forward from a dark space, his arm bandaged, covering his latest wounds. Sagging, he stands upright. Recently, he danced. Soon, he will pull over to the side of the road, knowing that he is dying. Perhaps, at this threshold, he sees the light. Is it a golden reflection of all that has been, or is it also a luminous beginning?

“Chuck Aucoin was an enigmatic Canadian who cheerily started his career as an art model in his eighties with my class being his first time posing fully n**e. What tickled him so much was that as a young man, when folks asked him what he did for a living, he said he was a n**e model – the irony being that he was a monk at the time. I invited him to Iowa to model for a few weeks. We created seven paintings together, one of which was a large study for Last Light. In 2025-2026 I had time to re-examine the study and create a new narrative that acknowledges Chuck’s passing. From a solid practice of years working directly from life, my work gravitates toward layers of expressions, incorporating numerous styles, mediums, and materials while still revolving around the figural and the organic. Over the years, these efforts evolved into installations, series, and singular works such as Last Light.”

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to  for winning the NSMA 2026 Competition Small Work $5,000 Acquisition Award for his painting “Path b...
05/10/2026

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to  for winning the NSMA 2026 Competition Small Work $5,000 Acquisition Award for his painting “Path by the lake” to join NSMA’s permanent collection! 🏆

What makes this award so unique is its method of selection – rather than a single juror or panel selecting the winners, the finalists themselves determined the recipient of the Acquisition Awards. Each finalist had the opportunity to cast votes for their favorite works in the exhibition – excluding their own – in a ranked choice voting system, ensuring that the museum acquires a piece that is not only of the highest artistic merit, but also one that is most admired by the very artists who stand among the best of their field.

We are beyond thrilled that Fabrice Grimard’s gorgeous painting is joining NSMA’s permanent collection, and can’t wait to display it for years to come 🎉🎉🎉

__________________________________________

Path by the lake, 2025
Oil on Linen panel
13.75 x 8

Fabrice Grimard is a classically trained painter devoted to the enduring disciplines of painting and drawing.

His artistic formation began at the Académie des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, where he completed two foundational years of study, before continuing at the Grand Central Atelier in New York. There, he completed the atelier’s rigorous four-year program, centered on academic draftsmanship and the principles of classical realism.

Following his studies at GCA, Fabrice spent two months in Norway studying under the renowned painter Odd Nerdrum, further deepening his understanding of composition and narrative in painting.

Fabrice’s work reflects a search for beauty as the proper organization of truths made visible.

Path by the Lake is a study made from life, painted outdoors in the cold Canadian winter, the kind of direct observation that remains at the core of his practice.

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to ._allen_lawson for winning the NSMA 2026 Competition Grand Prize – a $35,000 Acquisition Award for...
05/10/2026

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS to ._allen_lawson for winning the NSMA 2026 Competition Grand Prize – a $35,000 Acquisition Award for his painting “End of Day” to join NSMA’s permanent collection! 🏆

What makes this award so unique is its method of selection – rather than a single juror or panel selecting the winners, the finalists themselves determined the recipient of the Acquisition Awards. Each finalist had the opportunity to cast votes for their favorite works in the exhibition – excluding their own – in a ranked choice voting system, ensuring that the museum acquires a piece that is not only of the highest artistic merit, but also one that is most admired by the very artists who stand among the best of their field.

We are beyond thrilled that T. Allen Lawson’s painting is joining NSMA’s permanent collection, and can’t wait to display it for years to come! 🎉🎉🎉

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End of Day, 2024
Oil on Linen Mounted on Cradled Panel
25 x 30

“When passing this subject early one afternoon, I first thought little of it. I stopped to observe the scene but decided to continue my exploration. The barn, rather nondescript compared with so many others nearby, didn’t grab me – or, at least, didn’t excite me enough to do preliminary drawings. Later in the day, as the sun neared the horizon I began to retrace my route, and passed the location a second time. What a difference the few hours made!

“What had been nondescript, now silhouetted against the early evening sky, demanded attention. The glowing sky illuminated the faults and fractures of the barn’s imperfections and off to the side, heavy farm equipment had returned from the fields and was parked for the night.

“Raised in Wyoming, I am aware of the difficulties of trying to stay ahead of the tasks it takes to keep a ranch running. Having cleared several acres of woods and created a small farm on the coast of Maine, I know first-hand the seemingly endless chores that must be continually done just to keep up. The days simply don’t seem long enough, and the end of day, at times, can feel like your only respite.”

An exquisite award created just for us by .e.guerin.
05/10/2026

An exquisite award created just for us by .e.guerin.

Thank you for sponsoring our Director’s Award this year!
05/10/2026

Thank you for sponsoring our Director’s Award this year!

Please note that we will be closed for painting rotation and a private event from May 6th until May 9th. We will reopen...
05/01/2026

Please note that we will be closed for painting rotation and a private event from May 6th until May 9th. We will reopen for regular business hours on May 10th (Mother’s Day) with all new paintings from the finalists of our Annual Painting Competition! Don’t miss it!

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37 South Main Street
New Salem, MA
01355

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