Salem Art Association

Salem Art Association is a volunteer-run nonprofit gallery on Salem’s waterfront at Pickering Wharf, next to the Salem Maritime National Park. Its mission is to bring art in all its forms to the community and the community, in all its diversity, to the arts, so it welcomes artists of every medium alongside performers, writers and art lovers. The gallery and curated shop sell affordable locally made fine art, crafts, jewelry, photography and gifts.

The group incorporated as a nonprofit in August 2007, beginning with a collaborative gallery with Salem State as part of the city’s Artists’ Row program, and ran its own gallery there from 2008. Since then it has produced hundreds of exhibits, events and workshops, nearly all free, reaching more than 100,000 visitors. Open-call shows such as a fall exhibition on monsters and myths draw on Salem’s history, and classes include a tarot series for artists.

What to Know

• Membership brings exhibition opportunities, workshop discounts and savings at local businesses.
• Members get access to the North American Reciprocal Museums program.
• Partners have included the Peabody Essex Museum, the House of the Seven Gables and Salem State University.
• The association offers internships, scholarships and volunteer roles, and runs a holiday market.