Artist in Residence: Katie McColgan
July 13–August 31, 2026
Exhibition
September 11–November 20, 2026
The Brookline Arts Center is pleased to have Katie McColgan as our 2026 Artist in Residence. Katie will explore rug tufting as a collaborative, process-based art form that bridges her studio practice and teaching. Building on her experience as a ceramics instructor at BAC, she will transform the gallery into an active studio where visitors can observe the creative process and participate in the making of large-scale tufted works. Katie will be working on site on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays throughout the residency.
Durning the residency, Katie will create a new body of work while leading workshops, open studio sessions, and collaborative projects that invite students and community members to engage with tufting. Her practice explores themes of repetition, material transformation, and sustainability, incorporating recycled tufting materials into new works.
The residency will culminate in an exhibition of completed rugs that highlight both the finished pieces and the collaborative process behind their creation, celebrating art as a shared experience and fostering new opportunities for creative connection within the community.
- Mon, July 27 | 3:45–4:45pm
- Thur, July 30 | 1–2pm
- Mon, Aug 3 | 3:45–4:45pm
- Thur, Aug 6 | 1–2pm
Open Studio hours offer visitors the opportunity to observe artist-in-residence Katie McColgan at work and learn more about her creative process. During this time, she will be available to answer questions and discuss her practice, but will not be providing instruction or hands-on participation.
Thursday, Aug 13 | 6–9pm
Join artist-in-residence Katie McColgan for a free collaborative, community rug tufting workshop where participants will contribute to a shared textile artwork. Learn the basics of tufting, explore this unique fiber art technique, and help create a one-of-a-kind community-made rug. No experience needed!
Fri, Sept 18 | 6–8pm
Join us for the opening reception celebrating the work of 2026 Artist-in-Residence Katie McColgan. Explore the exhibition, meet the artist, and celebrate the culmination of a residency centered on creativity, collaboration, and community.
Close-Up of Residency Work—2026 Tufted rug
Close-Up of Residency Work—2026 Tufted rug
Her work explores the relationships we form with the objects, spaces, and fragments that stay with us. Small, familiar forms become stand-ins for emotional experiences, allowing her to navigate memory and feeling through tactile processes. By making, she gives physical form to things that are difficult to hold onto, while acknowledging that objects can only briefly evoke memories before they soften into fleeting emotions.
McColgan's sculptures play with desire and hesitation, often appearing inviting—even edible. Sharp, fragile, or precarious elements interrupt that impulse, creating a tension between attraction and repulsion, sweetness and risk. These contradictions mirror the complexities of memory, longing, vulnerability, and the desire to hold onto things that are already changing. Positioned between abstraction and familiarity, her work invites viewers to form their own connections and interpretations.
Interested in moments on the edge of transformation, McColgan explores the space just before something perfect dissolves, crumbles, or slips away. Color plays a central role in this tension. Brightly saturated hues exist alongside washed-out tones reminiscent of sun-bleached plastic toys or faded keepsakes. Through layering, fastening, and releasing, McColgan creates works that simultaneously preserve and let go, leaving space for viewers to return again and again to a familiar state of tension, possibility, and reflection.
Katie’s Portfolio Site