Ball & Socket Arts

Ball & Socket Arts brings a much-needed outlet for creativ
ity immersion and experience to the town of Cheshire"- Kristin Dringo
li, spring

2025Ball & Socket Ar
ts beganas the dream of a community-driven hub for arts and cu

ri
osity.Weare preserving Cheshire's industrial history, transforming abandoned
spaces,and engaging creative minds. In 2025, we hosted 3,787 site v
isits tovisual art exhibitions, concerts, writing workshops, Author Talks, pu
blic artcreation sessions, Artist Talks, and more. Can you join our comm
unity ofindividuals who will spring for the arts? A gift of any size du
ring theGreat Give ensures that we can continue our progress towards the f
actory'sfuture. Each unique donor during the Great Give unlocks additional
matchingfunds and access to prizes, making this the most important time t

o give! New Th

is Year:I
ce CreamCastles in the Air, the new Artcade mural,
part ofthe Birds & Desserts series, by artists Don Car
ter and DoraReyes, brings the spirit of Ball & Socket Arts to life.
Inspired by thewildlife along the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, the
mural reimagineslocal birds with playful nod to Sweet Claude's Ice Cream—a fa
vorite stop thatinvites visitors to discover all that we offer. Stop by on Ma
y 2 from 1:45 pmto 4 pm to meet the artists and celebrate this fantastic new w
ork with a BlockParty chock full of family friendly activities, plus architect
ural and historyto

urs for adults. Preserving an

d Transforming:
To date, we havetransformed an empty garage into our Workshop Gallery and the
defunct factoryspaces of Building 2 into the new home of Artsplace (wh
ere art studentsage 3-99 hone their creativity with professional
artists).  Onceconstruction on-site is fully completed, the factory's former P
ress Room floor,will house a large-scale art exhibition hall, along with a flex
ible performancespace and a small history museum. Over the last calendar year,
we’ve replaced aseries of roofs on Building 1 and leveled flooring slabs
on the interior.Necessary infrastructure work that paves the way

for the future. Located at a prime location, with direct pedestrian and cyclis
t connections tothe Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, Ball & So
cket Arts is alreadyfostering tourism and economic activity throughout the
West Main region ofdowntown Cheshire. We are excited to be moving towards a f
uture where the pastis celebrated and industrial spaces are transformed
into spaces to sparkcuriosity, engage new ideas, and expe

rie
nce works of art.TheWest Main Street streetscape of the Ball &

amp; Socket Arts ComplexEngaging: Beyo

nd the Bric

ks a
nd MortarVisual ArtsFromlast May to today, Ball & Socket Arts has hos
ted 8 new exhibitions in ourWorkshop Gallery, commissioned 2 brand-new Artca
de murals and 2 new Residentsculptures. Take a peek back at our all our amazing artists on our trus
ty website. Since last June,the Workshop Gallery has featured Sarah Schneide
rman; Deborah Hesse, KathrynFrund, Martha Willette Lewis and Marion Belanger, p
hotographers from across thestate, including Tom Hearn. In 2026, we started strong w
ith Mahsa Attaran’s powerfulworks in My

H
eart Is Bloodied For You. Weare currently showing CT’s own, Margaret Roleke, w
ho transforms bull

et casi
ngsinto meditations. Lookingto the rest of 2026, we can’t wait to introduce y
ou to a new set of fantasticartists including: the sculptural paintings o
f Jenny Wu (starting May 15)followed by the featuring the astonishing work
of William Kent, curated byAvery Jennings and in partnership with The Will
iam Kent

Fou
ndation startingJune 26.ComeAugust, we are absolutely over the moon to announc
e that we’ll be showing CT’soutsider art hero, Ken Grimes in partnership
with Margaret Bodell and theRi

cco/Maresca Gallery in
NYC. Fall will bring in thekaleidoscopic colors and pointillism via pill fro
m Jeffery Os

tergren startingOctober 23. As u
sual, all exhibition will beaccompanied by Artist Talks, free gallery openings
, and hands-on art workshopsto deepen understanding of the

se fant
astic creative minds.Gallerystill featuring patrons interspersed with 2
-D and 3-D works by David B.Smith from the gallery exhibition, Comm
unity Garden in the Wo

rkshopGallery in su

mmer 20
24Musical Adventures:Nothingbrings together a community quite like a great nig
ht of music. Music is at thecenter of our vision of a connected, curious commu
nity. In 2025, we hosted ouroutdoor Live @ the Factory series with 6 joyful ni
ghts of free music under thestars right here at the factory, and a night o
f poetry. Bands included theGrammy-award winning Dan Pugach Big Band, Goodnight Blue Moon, Lys Guillorn and

the Void Kittens,
and more! In summer 2026, wewill return with our largest Live @ the Fact
ory yet running from June toSeptember and featuring 8 free events, including
6 concerts, 1 Make Music Daycelebrat
ion, and 1 Poetry Night.  Asalways, these concerts are absolutely free with $5
cold beve

rages available forpurchase.Live @ the Factory will kic
k off with The Zambonis withtheir signature Hocke…