You can’t spell Dartmouth without art.

Nearby New Bedford and Providence get a lot of credit for their art scenes, but tucked into the quiet backroads of Dartmouth and the streets of Padanaram Village are a few gems that clearly contribute to the area's artistic presence.

In the Russells Mills Village district alone, there are three locations open to the public that visitors can get their fix of painting, pottery, ceramics and more.

At the Gustin Ceramics located at 231 Horseneck Road, outsiders can visit “by chance . . . or appointment” to see what artisan Chris Gustin and his studio assistants are up to.

Gustin and company create custom, handmade ceramic tiles for architects and designers nationwide and around the world, with other types of original work also made on-site.

Every year, the property pays host to two or three “kiln firings” in the outdoor Japanese “anagama” wood kiln, with artists and potters from all over coming to partake in the action. Pots are available for purchase following the firing.

Also located on the premises is a gallery that typically features about two shows a year aside from Gustin’s work. Currently, some work that served as the inspiration for the current River Project is featured in the second floor studio.

“We’re always moving back and forth,” said Gustin of the several aspects of the location. “It’s kind of an exciting studio.”

Just down the road, illustrator and painter John Borowicz has just reopened his home studio. There, a variety of his works can be seen, as well as a collection of others’ that he and the family have collected along the way.

Borowicz said he’d closed down the 889 Rock O'Dundee Road studio, which once served as the fire station in the village, while he and his wife, Wen, raised their three boys Kazimir, 10, Maksym, 6, and Tadeusz, 3. With the studio/gallery now back open to the public, the boys will get an inside look at the other side of the art world.

“The kids are excited,” said Borowicz. “It’s good for them to have people come in and see how an artist operates.”

“You never know what you’re going to see here,” added Borowicz. “From cows and landscapes to more contemporary work will be up and around.”

The Borowicz studio was also once the home of Salt Marsh Pottery, which is now just a bit up Russells Mills road, where it’s been since 1986. Owned by Betsy and JP Powell, the potters have been in business for over 40 years.

There, they take things like flowers, baby hand and foot prints, and other keepsakes and press them into clay that’s then hand-painted over.

“They’re sort of a decorative art,” said Betsy Powell, who noted that the entire process takes about a month to complete. “Whatever somebody wants to immortalize in clay — it’s a wonderful present for posterity.”

At the Norton Gallery on Elm Street in Padanaram, the walls are filled with a variety of local artists and photographers, with much of the work capturing the nautical feel of the village it has resided in since 1983.

Local artists like Robert Duff, Betty Ann Morris and Sandra Hall are featured, and continuing the New England feel are the local maps and charts that are available. The gallery also specializes in custom framing.

Just around the corner on Bridge Street is Gallery 6 1/2, an artist-owned shop that’s been just over the bridge for about two years.

Focusing on fine art and distinctive craftwork, the gallery is owned by Dartmouth resident and jewelry designer Sarah Morse, natural history-assembler/photographer Barbara McDowell, glass artist Whitney Cornforth and jewelry designer Caroline Bailou,

A number of other artists’ works are featured in the gallery, with the four owners acting as a jury as to what photos, paintings, glassware, sculptures and more of what they think best fits their quaint but busy atmosphere.

“We’re looking for more artists and consigners,” said McDowell, another Dartmouth resident whose work can be seen throughout the gallery. “We are discriminatory about the work that comes in. It’s us that are invested, so we have to think about it.”