Our Mission and Vision
Newburyport Art is dedicated to promoting and exhibiting members’ work and to providing art education and access to the visual arts for the entire community.
Founded in 1948
The Newburyport Art Association held their first exhibition in July 1948 under the leadership of Sam Sargent, a painter, art teacher and native of Newburyport.
Throughout the years, the NAA leased exhibition spaces at the old courthouse on Bartlet Mall, the YWCA, and galleries on Threadneedle Alley and State Street.
In 1969, the NAA purchased the building that is now at 65 Water Street and is home to our Sargent, Hills, and Hartson Galleries.
NAA Today
A cornerstone of Newburyport's vibrant arts scene, the NAA currently has over 500 members. Artists exhibit work in a full calendar of open, juried, invitational, featured artist and featured interest group shows. The NAA also offers educational programming and supports two important community outreach programs – ArtLink & OpArt.
An image from the early 1970s, before urban renewal brought demolition of some downtown Newburyport buildings and the renovation of others.
Photo by Robert M. Currier
Land Acknowledgement
We, at Newburyport Art, acknowledge that our 65 Water Street galleries and community center are built on the Indigenous land that was home to the Pawtucket and Wabanaki Confederacy, the Native Americans and original inhabitants of this area. As an organization with a vision for inclusivity and diversity, the NAA aspires to show our respect for all Peoples of this land. We appreciate the opportunity to access and enjoy art on their traditional homeland. We also acknowledge that this statement is only a first step toward honoring the truth of our story—the NAA’s story and the American story—and that we will strive to do more and learn more about our history, the Pawtucket and Wabanaki Confederacy, and our place on this land.
“Acknowledgement is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and as a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous peoples’ history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth.”
-US Department of Arts and Culture
Relaunch - Rebuild - Renew!
On April 19th, 2024, Newburyport Art held its Annual Members’ Meeting, overviewing the 2023 year.
FOUNDERS
Sam Sargent
(1889-1959)
Sam Sargent, a native of Newburyport, was a painter and art teacher. He graduated from the Massachusetts Normal Art School (later, the Massachusetts College of Art). His paintings were selected for an international exhibition in London, and exhibited at the Copley Gallery, Boston, the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover and the Currier Museum, Manchester, New Hampshire.
Laura Coombs Hills
(1859-1952)
Among the NAA charter members was Laura Coombs Hills. Born in Newburyport, she was a member of a flourishing group of aspiring women artists in nineteenth-century Boston. She rose to national prominence as a painter of landscapes, pastel floral subjects, and miniatures.
“Land Acknowledgements are a simple, powerful way to show respect to the original inhabitants of the land where you are currently standing, presenting, about to engage in an activity, etc. The Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA) believes that this is a meaningful step toward honoring the truth, making the invisible visible, and correcting the American stories that erase indigenous people’s tribal history and culture. Land Acknowledgements demonstrate a commitment to counter the Doctrine of Discovery and to undo the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism.”-Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA)