Imaginary Friends
A group exhibit of artwork co-created by children and their adults
Imaginary Friends at A.P.E. Gallery in Northampton, MA
An installation of art for all ages that fosters rigorous collaboration between parents and their children. Taking seriously the creative potential of children’s play, a group of local adult artists experiment with making art in partnership with younger artists aged 1 to 12 years old.
Curated by Alexandra Ripp and Daniel Sack (Odradek Projects)
June 23-27, 2026
A.P.E. Gallery
126 Main Street
Northampton, MA 01026
OPENING RECEPTION
Tuesday, June 23, 4-6pm
Friends Lesedi and Gloria have been hard at work building a rocket ship with a garden and zoo inside to blast into space. Join us for the rocket launch (and opening of the group art show) on Tuesday evening, June 23rd. Be part of the launch by dressing up like an astronaut or an alien or an animal (real or fictional).
Artists Christina and Lesedi will be at the gallery on Tuesday evening and Saturday morning. If you want to meet up with us at the gallery at any other time during exhibition hours (see below), please text Christina and we’ll figure out a time.
EXHIBITION HOURS*
Weds, June 24, 10am-4pm
Thurs, June 25 + Fri, June 26, 12-6pm
Sat, June 27, 10-4pm
*Subject to changes and additions. For the most up-to-date information plus more on the artists and project, visit: https://apearts.org/arc-2026
Featuring art by:
Hallie + Ari // Christina, Nora, Gloria + Lesedi // Abigail + Adrian // Lisa, Bodhild + Lucia // Sarah + June // Lucia + Teo // Katie + Wyatt // Daniel + Thalia // Dante, Aleksandra, Anna + Daniel // Dixon, Amy, Grae + Sherman
About Garden Zoo Rocketship
When we embarked on this journey together, we had no idea what to expect. Uncertainty may be a feature of any collaboration, and with six-year-old artists in the mix, every moment was defined by it. We chose to embrace that, viewing our spaceship–and our shared creative process–as a portal into unknown territory. Both Lesedi and Gloria are poised to enter first grade against a background of profound instability–a statewide budget crisis, a vicious attack on students and public schools, and an ever more volatile world. It is no more possible for us to predict or control what their experiences will be in the coming years than it was to predict or control their engagement with the cardboard, plywood, foil, and screws that make up our project. All we can be certain of is that they are humming with life, and hope, and promise, just like our garden zoo rocketship. So are we, although age and height have modified our perspectives. We cling tightly to these precious things as we blast off into new terrain, in a world rife with uncertainty.
