Events @ Hera

Landscapes

Landscapes by Roberta Richman, a founding member of Hera Gallery, is on View at the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County in Wakefield, RI from September 1st 2026 - May 1st 2027.

IN FLUX: MORE NOTES FROM THE COAST
Works by Barbara Pagh & Kathie Florsheim

On view Nov. 21-December 19, 2026
Opening Reception: Nov. 21 6-8pm
In person Artist Talk December 3rd

Kathie Florsheim and Barbara Pagh have been exhibiting together at Hera for six years. While Barbara has been a long-standing member of Hera, Kathie joined in 2019, following an invitational show in the gallery. Their concurrent interest in the coast brought them together, as they spent time sharing past work and work in progress in preparation for their first exhibit together, during Covid, in the summer of 2020. Notes from the Coast, the title for their first show, became a moniker for the next three shows, in which they explored other aspects of that liminal space. Although working in different media, they freely exchange ideas and an occasional ice cream cone at Brickley’s. With those ice cream cones came an ongoing conversation about their work, which led to a residency on Mt. Desert Island, in Maine, photographing the changing tides and all that the tides leave behind, and another show at Hera in 2023, titled Wrack Line: More Notes from the Coast. In the summer of 2025, they took Notes from the Coast to the Coastal Ecology Center Gallery, Wells Reserve at Laudholm in Wells, Maine. Their upcoming show, In Flux: More Notes from the Coasts, affords them another opportunity to explore a space that is both physical and emotional, ever changing and always fascinating.

BERNADETTE HACKETT: MEMENTO MORI
On view Nov. 21-December 19, 2026
Opening Reception: Nov. 21 6-8pm

Bernadette Hackett was a founding member of Hera Gallery, and we are pleased to present this exhibition of her work in the Back Space Gallery.

Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1934, the first chapter of Bernadette’s life was shaped by her Catholic upbringing. At 17, she entered the Society of Medical Missionaries intending to become a medical practitioner. 

Finding that this was not the path for her, she began the second chapter of her life as an artist. She completed a BFA in Painting from University of Rhode Island in 1973, and a year later she collaborated with other like-minded women to found Hera Gallery. In time, she became recognized as being at the forefront of the feminist art movement, a stimulus to the art scene, and the maker of provocative works. Working for the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, she served as Head Counselor for the Governor’s School followed by teaching at the Center for Career Education in the Arts. In 978 she moved to New York where she remained working as a graphic designer for publishing houses until her retirement in 1992.

With retirement she moved to Maine, and here her graphic design abilities were applied to a host of accordion books made for special friends. For Bernadette, this form of making art was truly an “act of love.” 

Motivated to create a series of chronicles, she began integrating favorite quotes into her collages. Many of her collages raise questions about the power of men, ways in which different religions justify beliefs, and how acts of inhumanity are rationalized. Four Chronicles in the series, created in 2000-2001, became a record of what mattered to her - expressed with visual power and meaning.

Bernadette’s love for making art carried through to the end of her life, Bernadette passed away at the age of 89, leaving us with her intention: "I hope that shining through my artwork is my spirit as an image maker trying to convey a small part of my world, to share a tiny segment of my soul..."

The opportunity to have an exhibition of artwork, drawn from her later years, creates a full circle of her life as an exhibiting artist which began at Hera. Titled “Memento Mori,” which reflects the fact that we all must die, her message is this: “There is no guarantee you will live to the end of your life and so each day must have a little memento mori in it.”

COZY CRAFTS: Needle Felting Ornaments

Thursday December 10, 2026 6-8pm

Tickets $25 per person, includes all materials and a cocktail GET TICKETS

Grab a drink and get cozy with artist Uli Brahmst as she guides you through needle felting a handmade ornament. Choose a sweet little bird or a classic star to take home. No experience needed! Your ticket includes all materials, step-by-step instruction, and a cocktail.