Artist Statement

The artist, Richard Haskins, sits at an easel while painting his folk art painting Days Gone By. He is wearing a tan baseball hat and black headphones, with a khaki shirt and he is facing the camera.

I am a self-taught artist born on April 4, 1962 in Tacoma Washington and currently reside in North Adams, Massachusetts. My acrylic paintings depict everyday life as seen through my mind’s eye. Whether a childhood memory or a current event, my paintings are unique yet familiar to the viewer.

Drawing on the people and events of my childhood primarily, my art is a mix of memories and imagination. This era has allowed me to return to a time when things were much simpler. A look back that generates new curiosity in viewers of all ages. Faceless people spring to life in colorful paint. Each piece is a world inhabited by my favorite icons and motifs, children, animals, fishing, the great outdoors, and New England. My goal is to create something unique yet familiar in a way that resists taking life too seriously. 

 I answered my first juried call in 2014 and was one of twenty four artists selected by Kate McNamara, Director and Chief Curator of the Boston University Art Gallery, for the show in Cambridge, MA. My paintings have since been exhibited in Boston, New York City, galleries throughout Western Massachusetts, and in online exhibits. 

AWARDS

THE AMERICAN ART AWARDS | 1st Place, Naïve Art - Other | 2020 Juried by 25 Best Galleries in America | USA

FUSION ART | 2nd Place, Traditional |2018 | Fusion Art Holidays and Traditions Art Exhibition | Palm Springs, California,  USA

PRESS

CIRCLE FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS | 2022
Spotlight - Contemporary Art Magazine, Issue #30

A detailed inset photo of a painting titled Days Gone By by Richard Haskins, there is a blue train and a Purina factory, Berkshire coal & grain, Sons of Italy, JJ Newberry, Aldo's and Sears. It's a Christmas scene and there is snow covering the roads 
Detail from "Days Gone By" Richard Haskins

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

ADAMS VISITOR CENTER|2024
Public Exhibition | Adams, MA, USA
NORTH ADAMS PUBLIC LIBRARY| 2023
Public Exhibition | North Adams, MA, USA
ARTBOX PROJECT MIAMI 3.0  | 2022
Miami Art Weeks Digital Art Exhibition | Miami Florida, USA
ARTWEEK BERKSHIRES | 2021, 2022
Open Studios | North Adams, MA, USA
ADAMS TOWN HALL ART LOBBY | 2018, 2021
Public Exhibition | Adams MA, USA
BERKSHIRE ART ASSOCIATION | 2018, 2021
10x10 Real Art Party | Berkshire Museum | Pittsfield, MA, USA
GREENPOINT GALLERY | 2019
Holiday Salon Show | Brooklyn, New York, USA
FUSION ART | 2018
Holidays & Traditions International Online Art Exhibition | Palm Springs, CA, USA
BERKSHIRE ART ASSOCIATIONS | 2018
Biennial Juried Exhibition | Lichtenstein Center for Arts | Pittsfield MA, USA
DOWNSTREET ART | 2018
Public Exhibition | MCLA Gallery 51 | North Adams MA, USA
GREENPOINT GALLERY | 2018
First Grand Salon Show of 2018 | Brooklyn, New York, USA
GREENPOINT GALLERY | 2017
Holiday Salon Show | Brooklyn, New York, USA
BOSTON FILM GALA | 2016
Allston, MA, USA
NEW NEW ENGLAND | 2015
Regional Juried Exhibition | Gallery 263 | Cambridge, MA, USA
FOLK | 2014
Regional Juried Exhibition | Gallery 263 | Cambridge, MA, USA

Folk art painting of a brightly colored hot air balloon about to take off with people in the basket at the fair. There are people all around and a sign that says 'free balloon rides", and four more balloons already in the air.

Upcoming Events

November 1, 2024 | ADAMS VISITOR CENTER | 9am-4pm | 3 Hoosac Street, Adams, MA, 01220