Artistic Luminaries: Three Local Icons Exhibit

Artistic Luminaries: Three Local Icons exhibit is on view from December 11 through February 23, 2026. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and students.

For decades, friends Willoughby Bill Elliott, Severin Sig Haines, and Marc St. Pierre shaped studios and classrooms at the Swain School of Design and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Their work and teaching helped define the South Coast’s creative identity. That influence continues today.

Elliott’s landscapes focused on light, perception, and change. St. Pierre combined maps, geometry, and gesture. His teaching balanced structure with chance. Haines explored landscape through color and form. His work showed how emotion and structure can coexist.

Teaching grew from studio practice. Discipline and curiosity mattered. Students learned to make art and to think more deeply about how they see the world.