WEEDS LIKE US – Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAG | The Art Gallery Presents

WEEDS LIKE US

A Solo Exhibition by Claire Millett Lima

September 4–27, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 5–8 PM

TAG | The Art Gallery, Boston, MA

BOSTON, MA — TAG | The Art Gallery is pleased to present WEEDS LIKE US, a solo exhibition by mixed media artist Claire Millett Lima, on view September 4–27, 2026. Through film, painting, textiles, sculpture, photography, and installation, Lima creates an immersive environment that asks visitors to reconsider familiar ideas about nature, human intervention, value, and belonging.

What makes a plant a weed? What transforms a painted wall into vandalism while another becomes public art? Who decides what belongs?

These questions form the foundation of WEEDS LIKE US, an exhibition centered on landscapes and forms of life that are frequently overlooked, dismissed, or labeled as unwanted. Lima turns her attention to roadsides, railroad tracks, construction sites, graffiti-covered walls, disturbed ground, and the resilient plants that emerge within these human-altered environments.

At the heart of the exhibition is a large-scale film installation framed by towering phragmites reeds, creating a space where visitors are invited to sit, slow down, and become immersed in the landscape. Rather than approaching these environments as damaged or failed, Lima asks us to look again—to notice their complexity, adaptability, and unexpected beauty.

Throughout the exhibition, plants growing through cracks, along edges, and within industrial and urban spaces become points of departure for larger questions. Lima examines the language we use to classify the world around us: native and invasive, beautiful and ugly, wild and cultivated, wanted and unwanted. By questioning these categories, WEEDS LIKE US considers how language shapes not only our relationship with nature, but also our understanding of value, community, and belonging.

Lima’s process begins with close observation and field research. She photographs landscapes, collects plant materials, and transforms what she gathers through hand processes including weaving, felting, wrapping, and fiber construction. Her textile works combine photography, natural fibers, and found plant materials, while her paintings and sculptural works draw attention to environments that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

Rather than positioning weeds as simple symbols of either destruction or redemption, Lima approaches them as complex inhabitants of landscapes profoundly shaped by human activity. Their persistence becomes an invitation to examine the assumptions we bring to the places—and lives—we encounter.

The exhibition also includes An Ongoing Conversation, a collection of books, maps, photographs, notes, and observations gathered during the development of WEEDS LIKE US. These materials offer visitors insight into the questions, discoveries, and research that informed the exhibition. Visitors are invited to contribute their own reflections in response to the question:

“What are you noticing now that you weren’t noticing before?”

Raised in coastal Newport, Oregon, Claire Millett Lima is a mixed media artist whose practice spans sculpture, textile, photography, painting, film, dance, and installation. At sixteen, she left traditional high school to pursue an independent path of learning, an experience that helped shape her ongoing curiosity about systems, labels, and assumptions surrounding intelligence, success, and belonging.

Lima has exhibited throughout Massachusetts, including at the Fitchburg Art Museum, Cambridge Art Association, Somerville Museum, ArtsWorcester, Gallery 263, 13FOREST Gallery, and The Umbrella Arts Gallery. Her work has received recognition including selection for exhibition at the Fitchburg Art Museum and Second Place in ArtFluent’s OF THE EARTH exhibition.

Through WEEDS LIKE US, Lima asks visitors not necessarily to arrive at definitive answers, but to practice something increasingly rare: paying attention.

Visitors may leave the exhibition seeing their own neighborhoods differently—the plants emerging through sidewalk cracks, weeds growing beside chain-link fences, graffiti across forgotten walls, and the quiet beauty of places they may once have passed without a second look.

Special Program

WEEDS LIKE US: Art, Ecology & After Hours

Saturday, September 12 | 6:30–8:30 PM

As part of the exhibition, TAG will host a special after-hours evening with Claire Millett Lima featuring an artist talk and conversation, wine and light refreshments, interactive Scavenger Bingo, music curated by the artist, and time to explore the exhibition.

Designed as an experience rather than a traditional artist talk, the evening brings together art, ecology, conversation, and community, inviting visitors to engage with the exhibition through curiosity, observation, and play.

Free and open to the public.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

Claire Millett Lima: WEEDS LIKE US

September 4–27, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 5–8 PM

TAG | The Art Gallery

Boston, Massachusetts

Special Event:

WEEDS LIKE US: Art, Ecology & After Hours

Saturday, September 12

6:30–8:30 PM

Free and open to the public

Artist: Claire Millett Lima

Artist website: clairemillettlima.com

ABOUT TAG | THE ART GALLERY

TAG | The Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery dedicated to creating opportunities for artists, expanding their visibility, and connecting contemporary art with diverse audiences. Through exhibitions, artist talks, educational programs, collaborations, and community events, TAG provides a platform for meaningful exchange between artists and the public.

PRESS CONTACT

TAG | The Art Gallery

Claudia Fiks, Director

Boston, MA

About TAG | The Art Gallery

TAG | The Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Boston’s SoWa Art + Design District and operated by the New England Art Center. Dedicated to raising the visibility of emerging and established artists, TAG presents thought-provoking exhibitions, educational programs, artist talks, and community events that foster meaningful connections between artists and the public.

For media inquiries, interviews, or additional information, please contact:

Contact 

Claudia Fiks 

claudia@newenglandartcenter.com 

774-551-6824 

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