Cyanotype Art Exhibitions in Northampton, MA | Spring 2026
Testing small duotone and tri-color cyanotype prints on watercolor paper as I prep for upcoming shows.
Fine art photographer Nikki Gardner shares her spring 2026 exhibition news, including new cyanotype work exploring memory and transition. She is showing in two western Massachusetts exhibitions: Revelry at 33 at the Northampton Center for the Arts (April 5–25) and Enough: A Collaboration at Waterway Arts in Turners Falls (opening April 3). She also reflects on completing the Elevate Accelerator Program at The Sphere and the relationship between her studio practice and her business vision.
Golden light fills the kitchen as I sip my tea. The snow island covering our yard is shrinking and despite the recent run of winter storms, Spring feels close.
I've been working in the studio toning cyanotypes. It's like using a printmaking process where you separate the image (digital negatives in this case) into CMYK layers and then test how you print the layers and what toners to use based on the look you want. It's mostly what happens when I change the negative layers. Since I'm printing in the studio with a UV lamp and not in the sun, printing times are generally longer so it is a slow process much like working on a puzzle.
I wanted to share some news.
Spring 2026 Fine Art Exhibitions in Western Massachusetts
For 2026, I was selected as one of the artists in AMP It Up!, the Artist Membership Program at the Northampton Center for the Arts. Designed to support creative careers and strengthen our local arts community, the program culminates in a month-long exhibition:
Revelry at 33: Artist Membership Program Members 2026 April 5–25 | Opening Reception: April 10, 5–8pm (Arts Night Out at Hawley)
For this exhibition, I will be showing a new series of pieces titled What Was Held.
What Was Held: New Cyanotype Work on Memory and Time
This work examines memory and how memories change over time. I've been making these images with black and white film and digital negatives and making hand-coated cyanotype prints that I later tone.
At the heart of this work is an interest in transition — in the space between what is remembered and what is released. What Was Held is less about a single story and more about the residue of experience: what lingers, what shifts, what softens over time.
In addition to the Revelry exhibition, I'm participating in Enough: A Collaboration at Waterway Arts, opening April 3 (5–8pm). For this show, artists were paired with writers; I created a photographic response to Tegan Mixer's story Wisdom Fish. Responding to language through image invited a different kind of listening — allowing the emotional undercurrents of the text to inform how the image takes shape. This work is also a cyanotype print.
This feels like a meaningful season of visibility and connection — one that extends beyond the studio walls.
Building a Sustainable Fine Art and Portrait Photography Business
On the business side, I recently completed the Elevate Accelerator Program at The Sphere, funded by the TD Charitable Foundation and Liberty Bank Foundation. The program supports established entrepreneurs in building sustainable growth and stronger infrastructure. As someone balancing a portrait practice and a fine art practice, this experience has helped me shift from simply operating day to day toward building something more intentional and enduring.
Art and business are often spoken about separately. For me, they are in conversation. The same attention I bring to light and material in the studio is the attention I'm learning to bring to structure, systems, and long-term vision.
If you're local, I would love to see you in April — whether at the Revelry exhibition in Northampton or at Waterway Arts in Turners Falls. If you're farther away, I'll be sharing behind-the-scenes processes, installation views, and reflections in the coming weeks.
Thank you for being part of this unfolding.
A few notes on the choices:
