A portrait of a woman with her facial features missing on display under a CVS Beauty sign. The mural is by Ariel Freiberg, made for the Inside-Out Gallery. — Photos by Heather Balchunas

By Matthias Gat

The Inside-Out Gallery provides a unique opportunity for artists to exhibit their work and for residents to freely engage with the art world.

In 2009, the Somerville Arts Council took advantage of an empty CVS window in Davis Square. They turned it into a free gallery for residents and commuters to view. The Arts Council asked the community to name the gallery. When two separate respondents wrote in with the same answer, the title was decided: The Inside-Out Gallery. The name is a play on words – the works are on the inside of the window, but out on display for everyone to see.

Heather Balchunas joined the Somerville Arts Council in 2009 and helps organize exhibits for the gallery. Since then, over 100 exhibitions have been curated under her management.

Reflecting on the gallery’s impact, she says, “It has been a joy to be able to curate this window,” but not just for herself. “Having other people be guest curators has been equally as fun because I get to help realize their own vision.”

The gallery itself is used as a way to forge a stronger community through public art, encouraging everyone to engage with the art world. Because the gallery is free, Balchunas says it gives the opportunity for everybody to get exposed to many different styles of art.

“Accessibility is important in art,” Balchunas says, “this is a way that anyone can have access to art, regardless of your income or your class.”

She emphasizes that this effort for inclusivity hasn’t gone unnoticed by the community that is most often unable to engage directly with the art world.

“There are unhoused people that hang out near the CVS that have expressed their appreciation for the gallery.”

Two of Palmquist’s paintings on display in the Inside-Out Gallery.

On display now is Predilection for Structure, a collection of paintings by David Palmquist.

Palmquist has worked at Vernon Street Studios since 2005 and has collaborated with the Somerville Arts Council before. In a Q&A with the Arts Council, he credits artists like David Hockney, Mark Rothko, and others as major inspirations for his work.

He is “drawn to subject matter that abstract themselves into smaller divisions,” a sentiment exemplified in his style, where lines are blurred, details are melded, and our viewpoint altered.”

Starting mid-February, works by Neetu Singhal will be on display.