Winchester Open Studios Moved Into Fewer Rooms This Year. Here's How to See It All in One Saturday

How many stops does it take to see about 50 Winchester artists in a single Saturday? Last November it took eight. On November 22, 2025, Winchester Open Studios spread across the Jenks Center, First Congregational Church, the Griffin Museum, Linda Forsythe's home studio, Rubini Art, Studio on the Common, Teri Coté Boutique and the Winchester Unitarian Society, all inside a 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. window.

The fourth annual Open Studios is on Saturday, November 21, 2026, and the map is smaller. The official artists-by-location roster lists five venues. Two of them hold almost everyone, and those two keep different hours. This year the schedule decides your route.

Eight Stops Became Two Hubs

The change was announced in the organizers' call for artists, published by Winchester News in late September. "Winchester Open Studios heard your feedback!" the call said, and the first item on its list of changes was "We are consolidating some of our locations." The call named two main locations, the Winchester Farmers Market at the Jenks Center and Winchester Town Hall, and said home studios are always welcome.

The final roster shows what that looks like:

Town Hall is new to the event, and it now holds more artists than any other venue. The Griffin Museum, Studio on the Common, Teri Coté Boutique and the Unitarian Society all hosted in 2025, and none of them is on the 2026 roster. Lucia Rubini is listed twice, at her Park Street gallery and at a table at Jenks, so the 50 names across five venues add up to 50 different artists.

For accepted artists, the organizers set a $35 entry fee covering a six-foot table, a learning seminar and advertising materials. For visitors, the event is free.

The Clock Sets the Order

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. overall, but the two hubs don't share those hours. According to the organizers, the Jenks Center is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Town Hall from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you start at Town Hall in the late morning and save Jenks for later, you could arrive after the doors close. Going the other way works.

Jenks also has a second draw that morning. The Winchester Farmers Market finished its regular Town Common season on October 31. Its 2026 calendar lists November 21 as a special market day, "Open Studios & Indoor Thanksgiving Market." The town's FindIt listing describes the market at Jenks as offering fresh produce, other foods and work by local artists. The Open Studios roster bills the Jenks room for visual art and musical performances.

Here's one order that fits the hours:

1. 10 a.m., Jenks Center, 109 Skillings Road. Shop the Thanksgiving market and the 16 artist tables while the room is fresh.
2. Late morning, First Congregational Church, 21 Church Street. Seven painters, most of them working in watercolor.
3. Midday, Rubini Art, 22 Park Street. Lucia Rubini's gallery, a natural stop between the church and Town Hall.
4. Afternoon, Town Hall's Mauer Auditorium, 71 Mount Vernon Street. The biggest room, with 26 artists, open until 5 p.m. so you don't have to rush.
5. Anytime, 55 Woodside Road. Linda Forsythe's home studio, the one listed stop inside a private home, where she shows sculpture made from found objects.

What's on the Tables

The two hubs feel different, and that's another reason to visit both. Jenks leans toward handmade goods that make easy gifts at the start of the holiday season. Town Hall has more painting, plus a strong ceramics group and some unusual crafts.

At the Jenks Center:

• Stephen Goss and Earl Howard, both making wheel-thrown pottery. Goss describes his focus as functionality, the tactile experience and "the intention of contemplation."
• Jennifer Brandão Lima, mostly functional wheel-thrown ceramics.
• Charlie Shaw, described on the roster as making "fun and whimsical ceramic figures of creatures, critters, and all manner of beasts!"
• Ling Chen, handmade cloisonné enamel artwork and home décor pieces.
• Linda Dispensa, handcrafted beaded jewelry.
• Sue Kiewra, upcycled cashmere scarves, hand-knit items and aprons.
• Wendy Segal, upcycled bags, mosaics, vintage jewelry and Scrabble décor.
• Deb O'Brien and Ruth Lieberherr, paintings and cards. Ngaio Schiff adds collage, assemblage and bookmarks.

At Town Hall:

• Greg Wright Studio, blown glass.
• Daniel R. Schlossberg, ship models and nautical sculpture.
• Kiyomi Yatsuhashi, textile dyeing. Betsey Cogswell shows wet-felted wall hangings, scarves and bowls. Nina Lapchyk brings hand-painted silk and hand-felted scarves along with embroidered totes.
• Ezri Horne, Jesse Norris of Kraken Ceramics, William Poon and Elina Romanovna Makino, all making ceramics. Makino posts her work as "pottery on the fells."
• Sharon Stafford, contemporary basketry and studio jewelry. Mikayla Joy Hutchinson makes handcrafted silver jewelry.
• Kristine Dow's Fancy That Vintage Holiday Decor, a good find for anyone already decorating for December.
• Lily Chylek, storybook-style illustrated prints, cards and stickers that draw on fantasy, folklore and science fiction.
• Painters including Peter Bain, Kristine Kamikawa, Holly Khalil, who also makes lino block prints, Bryan Lockhart in gouache, Emmanuelle Le Gal in watercolor, and Rose Walsh-Cooke in oils.

First Congregational is the stop for watercolor. Susan E. Busher, Elaine Paradiso and Carolyn Latanision all work in the medium there, and Patricia Canney adds pencil drawings and shell ornaments to her watercolors. Tracy Vartenigian Burhans and Jenny Olsen show oil paintings, and Marisa Paterson works in fluid acrylics.

Where the Photography Went

In 2025 the Griffin Museum hosted the event's photographers, including Samantha Barthelemy, Jaina Cipriano and Sasha Knittel. On November 21 the camera work shrinks to a few tables. Nicole Luongo, who showed at the Griffin last year, has a spot at Town Hall, and Trish Gannon combines pastels and photography at Jenks.

The Griffin has its own show three weeks later. Its annual Winter Solstice Members Exhibition opens at 67 Shore Road on December 11 and runs through January 10, 2027. Every piece is an unframed print submitted by a museum member, no larger than 13 inches on its longest side and priced at $250 or less. Executive director Crista Dix told Winchester News that 305 prints hung in the 2025 edition, and she explained the price cap this way:

"By keeping the prints small and priced at $250 or less, we support a community of creative photographers, and make sure that anyone who wants to bring a new piece home, or give a photograph as a gift, can afford to."

Sales go to the artists first, and members can choose to donate part of their sales to the museum's year-end fundraiser. On closing day, January 10, participating members can trade prints with each other at the museum's print swap. Details are on the Griffin's exhibition page.

The two events fall on opposite sides of the Winchester Chamber's Stroll Week 2026, which runs from November 30 to December 6. The Chamber describes the Stroll as a Winchester Center tradition in the town's Historic and Cultural District, complete with a tree-lighting celebration. Last year, Open Studios and the Griffin's photographers shared one Saturday. This year, the art calendar runs from a morning at Jenks on November 21, through the Stroll, to the Griffin's opening on December 11.

If you visit the Jenks Center before Town Hall on the 21st, you'll be home with your pottery and produce before the Town Hall doors close at 5 p.m. If seeing local makers up close has you thinking about what a home in Winchester could hold, from a studio corner to a wall for a Griffin print, Karshis & Co. is always glad to hear about it. Let's Connect.