Best Places: Where to Unexpectedly Find Art

Southern NH Medical Center

Allegra Boverman is a longtime photographer in New Hampshire.  She loves seeing art in unexpected places and believes art of all kinds should and must be part of everyday life and our ex-periences. Seeing local art like this “in the wild” or in unexpected places that are not museums or galleries, such as medical facilities, on a rail trail, in a recovery center, a kitchen and bathroom show-room, or in an offbeat spot behind a building or under a roadway, inspire and delight her and inform her work whenever possible.

Derry Rail Trail

“I am happy to recommend these nontraditional places to see art and photography around New Hampshire. I hope you discover some during your travels!”

Groups like the Nashua Area Artist Association, the Hollis Arts Society, Greater Derry Arts Council, and the Photographers Forum Camera Club contribute to public exhibits such as at St. Joseph Hospital, “a setting that definitely could use art as a way of calming and inspiring people and bringing art into the medical environment, which is beneficial to everyone.”

“Monument to Memory” in Nashua.

Southern NH Medical Center also has rotating art shows. NAAA members hang their work in eclectic spots like the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, St. Joseph Hospital, a chiropractor’s office, at Ripano Stoneworks, and Courtyard by Marriott Nashua.

The Derry Rail Trail has poetry painted on the pavement, and their jersey barriers are whimsically styled. Kimball Jenkins, in a grand old Victorian home, has wonderful gallery spaces in the school and carriage house. The Nashua Center for the Arts has a street-level gallery with rotating exhibits.

Of Special Note:

One of the largest spaces with unexpected art besides a museum is at the Hope Recovery Center in Manchester. There is artwork on every surface, in every hallway and room. They hold open-mic events and concerts in this festive, colorful space. People of all skill levels make art there for many reasons and that makes it inspiring and special. It’s very much like a mini museum.

Hope Recovery Center, in Manchester