New Contemporary Art Space Airtight Garage Opens in Salem with Assemblage Exhibition
Artist-run gallery brings paid opportunities and free workshops to North Shore artists starting May 2026
Salem Welcomes New Contemporary Art Space
Airtight Garage, a contemporary art space and incubator, opens its doors in Salem this May with its inaugural exhibition “Assemblage.” Organized by artist and art writer Rachel TonThat, the new gallery addresses a gap in the North Shore’s creative ecosystem by offering paid exhibition opportunities and free resources for artists.
Located at 30 Northey Street in a converted garage studio, Airtight Garage borrows its name from the classic French comic strip about an asteroid whose pocket dimension houses innumerable worlds. The project emphasizes collaborative learning, artist-to-artist support systems, and material and conceptual experimentation.
Assemblage: Inaugural Exhibition Opens May 8
The first exhibition features work by six North Shore and Massachusetts artists: Amalya Megerman, Darren Alexander Cole, Dianne Jenkins, James Cennamo, Linda Ruel Flynn, and Monica Hamilton. Combining experimental film, sculptural installation, and outsider art, “Assemblage” explores the possibilities of contemporary art outside traditional centers.
Exhibition Details:
- Opening Reception: Friday, May 8, 2026, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
- Exhibition Dates: May 8 – 17, 2026
- Location: 30 Northey Street, Salem, MA 01970
- Admission: Free
Featured Artists
Amalya Megerman creates performance, installation, video, and sculpture using Jewish diasporic protective objects and rituals, organic material, familial objects and history, and recurring themes of body, family, hypervigilance, and security. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in 2016 with the Herbert L. Lucas Award in Sculpture and has been a member of Zero Space Collective since 2023.
Darren Alexander Cole is a moving image sound artist focused on site-specific works that mix emergent tools with historical ones through extended reality (XR) interactions. Through the lens of storytelling, Alexander seeks to center community, identity, and sustainability.
Dianne Jenkins is a Swampscott-based artist who creates work in both 2 and 3 dimensions, using thrifted, found and traditional materials celebrating the wonder of the ordinary. She studied at Pratt Institute, the Boston Museum School, and Charles River Studio.
James Cennamo was an award-winning editorial cartoonist for newspapers on Nantucket Island in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a musician with Govinda Sky and the author of River of Consciousness, a graphic memoir.
Linda Ruel Flynn is a life-long multidisciplinary artist working in paint, textiles, and paper. She studied painting at Syracuse University and her work has been shown at Fitchburg Art Museum, Springfield Art Museums, Fiber Art Center, and other regional exhibitions.
Monica Hamilton is a photographer interested in the tension caused by the difference between the truth of the photograph and the thing itself. She holds an M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Connecticut and currently works and teaches at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Filling a Gap in North Shore Contemporary Art
“There are so many platforms for creativity in the North Shore and across Massachusetts, but this space attempts to address the lack of contemporary art spaces and support,” says TonThat. “The gallery system in Massachusetts is often either a membership system or focused on selling art commercially. I did my MFA in Zurich, and between galleries and community art centers are what they call ‘offspaces,’ a term that isn’t really used here.”
TonThat explains that these spaces provided high levels of curation combined with a freedom and flexibility to experiment that galleries can’t offer. “I believe that this experimentation with support is key to advances in an artist’s practice, and I want to offer up my space and time as curator to fill this gap.”
Compensating Artists
A key component of Airtight Garage’s mission is providing paid opportunities for artists. All selected artists for the Assemblage exhibition receive $100 compensation plus reimbursement for reasonable travel costs.
“There are just not enough paid opportunities for artists, period,” says TonThat. “Transportation costs are also very rarely taken into consideration. I am harnessing all of my grant writing skills to help compensate artists in this space and contribute to the growth of contemporary art in the North Shore.”
Accessibility
Airtight Garage is located less than ten minutes walking from the Salem train station. The space is on the first floor with a small ramp and is wheelchair accessible. Transportation from the station can be arranged if there are any accessibility issues.
Contact:
Airtight Garage
30 Northey Street, Salem, MA 01970
Email: airtightgarage.offspace@gmail.com
Phone: (617) 640-6126
Website: www.airtightgarage.info
Instagram: @airtightgarage.offspace
