(Photographed by Staff Photographer Katelyn Pereira)
Staff Photographer: Katelyn Pereira
Email: kpereira18@umassd.edu
From live music, yummy food, and rows and rows of art on every table, Grata Retro is an event held in the fall to celebrate UMass Dartmouth’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
The students can sign up to have a table or even bring their own table, selling various creative merchandise such as prints, stickers, crafts, and even take down commissions.
This year, Grata Retro was held on September 26th, and due to the weather, it was held inside.
I had the pleasure of experiencing Grata Retro for the third time this year. Last year, I was also interviewed about my experience at Grata Retro, and I wanted to metaphorically “pass the torch” and continue talking about this event that is held so dear to myself and many other CVPA students’ hearts.
I learned a lot about how important this event is to art majors and how it impacts them as we learn to navigate our future careers. I spoke with many students on Thursday, and every single person seemed to agree—Grata Retro is important to CVPA, and nobody wants it to go away.
I was able to interview several of the students tabling at the event, and this is what they had to say.
Jubetsy Rivera, Graphic Design, 2025
Is this your first time tabling at Grata Retro? What are some first impressions?
“Yes, this is my first time tabling ever. I love it—everyone’s so supportive and friendly, and it’s just a nice space. It feels welcoming.”
Do you think this event is important to the UMass Dartmouth community? Why?
“I definitely think it’s important. I think it’s good to show that the students do something more than just go to school here, and it’s a way to connect with other creative minds.”
What is your favorite part of the event so far?
“I think just connecting with other people who appreciate you and your work, honestly!”
Is there anything you hope could be added to future Grata Retro events?
“I think the general event is good. I mean, I personally didn’t know about it until, like, two days ago. I got the table two days ago. I think there should be more promotion because it’s such a fun event.”
Aidan Finnegan, Art Education, 2026 and Abel Ledoux, Art Education, 2026
Is this your first time tabling at Grata Retro? What are some first impressions?
Aidan: “Yes, this is my first year tabling for grata retro. So far, being a tabler, it seems very exciting. Everyone seems very passionate about what they’re putting up. But I have been to Grata Retro in the past, and it’s just a great space and community where people can share what they’re working on and what they’re passionate about.”
Abel: “It’s NAEA’s first table in a while. So this is how we wanted to get out there again and kind of bring the club back into the light.”
Do you think this event is important to the UMass Dartmouth community? Why?
Aidan: “I think it’s important to the people in CVPA for sure. I don’t know if the word was really spread. I’ve seen the flyers in LARTS and everything like that, but I spend most of my time there. And I know since freshman year, people talk about Grata Retro like, ‘What’s that?’ ‘cause they don’t know. You kind of see it on your way out of class, and it’s something unavoidable. There’s live music. It’s really loud, there’s lights, there’s tables everywhere. I think it’s important for us here to get to know each other and share each other’s passions.”
Abel: “- And it’s a good way to build on professional art-selling abilities or understanding how marketing can work. I feel like other colleges don’t really have those things. They don’t really have socials like this. They have research-based presentations, but they might not have something of this kind of artistic fun level.”
Noah Sullivan, Psychology, 2027
Is this your first time visiting Grata Retro? What are some first impressions?
“This is my first year at Grata Retro. There’s a very positive energy here, honestly. It feels like a very great place for artists to get empowered and start to get into selling their crafts. I’ve seen a lot of people ask for commissions for artists as well, so it’s also a great way for artists to network.
Do you think this event is important to the UMass Dartmouth community? Why?
“I think this event is super important for the community. Again, it just empowers everyone who is selling here. You don’t have to be—to my knowledge—an art major to participate in grata retro. So, if you do art and you’re not an art major, you can still come here and sell your stuff. I think this event should be advertised more to get people to want to come here for the most part. I see that it’s advertised on the little bulletin boards and around CVPA. If it was advertised a bit more widely, then I think people who aren’t art majors would come here and want to buy stuff.”
What is your favorite part of the event so far?
“Alright, I’m going to sound sappy. So a lot of my friends are art majors, so for me, it’s nice to get out there and support our artists.”
Is there anything you hope could be added to future Grata Retro events?
“I know that it was supposed to be outside this year, but it ended up being inside. Maybe a larger venue would be pretty important. Maybe a larger area for artists to put up all their stuff. I know it’s mainly to empower students, but it wouldn’t be a horrible idea to maybe get the teachers involved. You know, get them to promote their student’s work. I don’t think they should sell stuff, but I do think that having them here and having them supporting them would be great.”
Siomarilis Santos, Graphic Design, 2027
Is this your first time visiting Grata Retro? What are some first impressions?
“This is not my first year at Grata Retro. I went last year as well. Impressions so far—it feels like a great place for artists to come and to sell their things and for everyone to get to know each other and to make new friends.”
Do you think this event is important to the UMass Dartmouth community? Why?
“It is. It’s something that I believe should definitely stay in UMassD cause it brings people together, and it’s able to help the art community here because it’s slowly shrinking. I feel like we need more exposure and more people to know about events like this because not a lot of events happen in CVPA.”
What is your favorite part of the event so far?
“The artwork. And the plushies. There’s so many plushies, and I just wanna buy so many!! I’m broke!”
Is there anything you hope could be added to future Grata Retro events?
“Hopefully it gets bigger, and we have a bigger space. But at least the faculty started to show more interest and care more for it. Because it’s something that means a lot to the students, even though they might think it doesn’t. But it’s something we need to expand upon; probably give a bigger space for these students that want to participate and help them be able to sell their art.
Overall, the event is a great way to keep the CVPA community alive and active. It’s an amazing opportunity for aspiring artists to share their art with their fellow students.