The gallery at Warwick Center for the Arts is on the second floor of 3259 Post Road, in the middle of Apponaug village. Parking is in the lot behind the building at 3273 Post Road, and an elevator lift goes up to the gallery. Its hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.
Between now and the first Saturday in December, that room will be used four different ways. Whatever you plan in Apponaug before the holidays, a juried show, an artist's studio, a handmade gift or a village stroll, it runs through this building. The church right next door holds its bazaar on the exhibition's last day, so you can see both on the same Saturday.
Four Uses in Six Weeks
Here is the room's calendar from the end of October to early December, with the neighbor's date included.
| Dates | What's happening at or beside 3259 Post Road | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Through Nov. 21 | 40th Annual RI Open, a juried exhibition | Wed–Sat, noon–5 p.m. |
| Nov. 7–8 | West Bay Open Studios tour stop | Sat–Sun, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Nov. 21 | St. Barnabas Church Holiday Bazaar, next door at 3257 Post Rd. | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. |
| Nov. 28–Dec. 19 | Annual Winter Market | Wed–Sat, noon–5 p.m. |
| Dec. 5 | Apponaug Winter Stroll | Starts at noon at the gallery |
All of it is free to walk into. The Winter Market keeps the same Wednesday-to-Saturday afternoon hours the gallery used for the fall exhibition. If you already know when the gallery is open, you already know when the market is open.
Through Nov. 21, a Juried Show Holds the Walls
The season starts with the 40th Annual RI Open, a juried exhibition of work by artists who live or work in Rhode Island. The juror is Richard Whitten, a professor of painting at Rhode Island College. According to Visit Warwick's listing, Whitten picks the cash-award winners after the show is hung. The exhibition is free and stays up through Nov. 21.
The show has been up since early October, so if you haven't gone yet, you have four weeks of Wednesday-to-Saturday afternoons left. The best time to see it comes in the middle of that run, when the building takes on a second job for a weekend.
Nov. 7–8, the Gallery Becomes the Start of a Loop
The 18th annual West Bay Open Studios tour runs Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7 and 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is self-guided and free, and it covers artists' studios in Warwick, East Greenwich and North Kingstown. Warwick Center for the Arts is one of the stops, so tour weekend is the one time you can see the RI Open and meet a working artist in the same building.
The tour map lists five Warwick stops. Starting from the gallery, they make a manageable loop through the city:
- Susan Kelley Scotti, at Warwick Center for the Arts, 3259 Post Road
- Aileen Quinn, at the Clouds Hill Museum Nature Center, 4157 Post Road, farther south on the same road
- Alexandra Jedrey, 131 Cowesett Road
- Judy Hummel, at Changing Tides Gift Shop, 355 Arnold's Neck Drive
- Carol Shelton, 90 Davidson Road
Quinn's stop is listed at the Clouds Hill nature center. Clouds Hill Museum itself, a late-19th-century family home with a carriage museum and an arboretum, generally gives tours by arrangement, so call ahead if you want to see the house that weekend. With two of the five Warwick stops on Post Road, it makes sense to start with the gallery and the nature center before heading out to the others.
If you want to go beyond Warwick, the East Greenwich and North Kingstown studios are on the same map at westbayopenstudios.com.
Nov. 21, the Show Closes and the Neighbor Opens
The RI Open's last day is Saturday, Nov. 21. That same morning, St. Barnabas Church, at 3257 Post Road right next to the gallery, holds its Holiday Bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Warwick Beacon's community listings list baked goods, handmade items, gift baskets, raffles, a penny social and attic treasures, with a luncheon in the church café.
The bazaar closes at 3 p.m. and the gallery stays open until 5, so you can do both on one trip: lunch and the bazaar first, then upstairs for a last look at the RI Open before it comes down. The church's handmade tables also give you an early look at holiday shopping, a week before the gallery switches over to selling.
Nov. 28, the Gallery Becomes a Shop
Exactly one week after the exhibition closes, the same room reopens as a store. Warwick Center for the Arts' Annual Winter Market opens Saturday, Nov. 28, which is Small Business Saturday weekend. It runs Wednesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m., through Dec. 19.
The center describes the market as a boutique-style shop full of handmade work by Rhode Island artists and makers. On its event page, the stock includes:
- functional and decorative ceramics
- jewelry, scarves and knitwear
- candles and ornaments
- cards and small prints
- framed originals and photography
- turned wood, glass and metalwork
- a "curiosities" corner for the weird and wonderful
It's free to browse. Parking and the elevator lift work the same as they did for the exhibition. Some of the work you saw on the walls in November may show up again in December at a price you can take home. That makes the RI Open a useful preview, since you'll recognize names and styles when the market opens.
Dec. 5, the Market's Busiest Day
Two weeks before the market closes on Dec. 19, the Apponaug Winter Stroll comes through on Saturday, Dec. 5. A Patch listing posted by the arts center puts the gallery's part of the stroll at noon at 3259 Post Road and describes it as part of a village-wide event. The center calls stroll day the Winter Market's busiest day of the season.
The village-wide schedule for this year hasn't been published yet. The gallery's noon opening is the confirmed fixed point. If you'd rather browse ceramics without a crowd, go on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon earlier that week. If you want the market at its busiest, go on the 5th.
Around the Building, on the Nights It's Closed
The gallery is closed Sunday through Tuesday, and two nearby spots cover some of those nights.
Apponaug Brewing, 334 Knight Street. Starting Monday, Nov. 2, the taproom is launching "Dam Good Mondays," held every Monday from 3 to 8 p.m. The first week is Music Bingo. The series is adults-only and taproom pours only. The kitchen is closed, so bring your own food. The next night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, is "D&D with Derrick" from 6 to 9 p.m. The brewery's regular hours are Tuesday through Thursday 4 to 10 p.m., Friday 4 to 11 p.m., Saturday noon to 11 p.m. and Sunday noon to 8 p.m. It is closed on Mondays outside the new series. On a Saturday, the taproom's noon opening matches the gallery's, so you can easily do both in one afternoon.
Hook N Ladder Pizza Co., 2283 Post Road. This one is a drive up Post Road, not in the village. Owners Shawn and Melissa Finnigan ran their firefighter-themed pizza business out of a converted fire truck for six years. They have now moved into the former Subway building between Chelo's Hometown Bar & Grille and Tavern 12. The Warwick Beacon reported that the menu has 15 wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas, each baked for no more than two minutes in a 650-degree oven. The restaurant is BYOB while its liquor license is pending. The pesto-based Ladder 2 is the pie Shawn Finnigan calls a local favorite. It's a reasonable place to stop for dinner after the gallery closes at 5 on a Saturday of the studio tour.
Every date above is the organizers' current schedule. Fall calendars do change, so check the arts center's site at warwickcfa.org before you head out, especially for the Dec. 5 stroll.
If you live near Apponaug and want to talk through what's happening in your corner of Warwick, from Post Road openings to how the village is changing, I'd love to hear from you. Sold With Love by Chanthaly is here for neighbors as much as clients. Schedule a Free Consultation whenever you're ready, and I'll see you at the Winter Market.
