This community meeting on 9/25 at the Peterborough Town House addressed the closing of the Sharon Arts Center, particularly - a space for art makers and teachers and community to come together to learn and create art and craft. Sharon Arts Gallery and Sharon Arts Fine Craft Store were not the focus of this meeting, but did come up in discussion.

Jessica Gelter, head of Arts Alive! started the meeting with a quote: “Art and love are the same thing, the process of seeing yourself in things that are not you. “ She added, SAC was a place where people found home and found each other. But at this point, we need to know what the arts community wants. “We need help, brain power and passion.”

Paul Looney displayed the former SAC’s mission, basically to foster the relationship between arts and the community. Then he reported on several art communities in the northeast that are running in the black and some of the strategies they use to fund themselves.

The Gilford, CT Arts Center , near Long Island Sound, runs 80 classes but also raises 30-35% of their funds from donations. Their website includes examples of events for fundraising. These should be fun, and Paul cited offering alcohol as being conducive to fund-raising. Their website shows the levels of donors’ contributions. This center, as well as some of the others, clean out their studios in December and turn them into holiday sales spaces. During the year, they have Pop-up events where the community can come to try various crafts. Gilford also runs an Arts Fair for three days or so, but online sales seem to be rendering this model obsolete.

Goose Mill Studios, in Needham, MA, features artists’ condominiums and serves a large group of artists. (33 condos, none of which are residential). The covenants require they are used just for artists. The pottery element is split between a for-profit store and non-profit classes entity. Memberships are available for pottery space use.

The Wesleyan Pottery in Middletown, CT, considers themselves a cooperative. Weaving and jewelry are also big there. They have approximately 90 members who have access to equipment and who help with diverse tasks, for example, landscaping. They have a very small staff. Weekend workshops are a regular feature.

The Wheelhouse in Brattleboro, an offshoot of Clayworks, also in Brattleboro, is for-profit. They offer private studio space for rent, common space, and even day passes. Several levels of membership are available.

From his research, Paul Looney recommended that classes for children and beginners are essential. An electric kiln would be okay for beginners, but a gas kiln is important for more advanced students. A wood kiln would be nice! Fund-raising could include sales of books and equipment. Workshops featuring outside artists would draw students as would open studio hours. He thinks publicly appreciating/citing levels of donors’ contributions would be an added incentive for giving funds.

Roy Schlieben, the director of MAxT, Monadnock Maker space, described their structure. MAxT has shared workshops you can access with a $40/month membership, 24/7. Currently they have 8K sq. ft. with all kinds of equipment for a variety of art.

MAxT focuses on continuing education, new workforce training for highschool students and for others who are transitioning into new or different jobs. It is also a creative community for businesses and entrepreneur programs. Roy would like to see SAC grow on to a new generation and would like to support whatever is next for SAC. What MAxT could offer is a board, insurance, and staff, all the critical infrastructure that would fit Sharon Arts’ goals. They put the artists in control and provide the infrastructure that “takes the pain out of being an artist in the community!” They have a very full workshop and are continuing to expand.

Roy’s research indicates they could set up a ceramics studio for about $40-$50K. When asked whether they could take over the Sharon, NH facility, he said it would have to make sense financially. MAxT is currently expanding into another 2K sq. ft. space, about half of which could be used for ceramics.

What they need to know is who would be using this facility? (What is the market, and what could they charge?) They would definitely be looking into classes and workshops as well as available studio space.

Breakouts:

The meeting then divided into three main breakout groups. One for trying to keep the Sharon Arts facility going, one to access the MAxT facility, and one group to begin something entirely new.

Here are distilled notes from the break out groups’ conversations about the possible future of the Sharon Arts community.

Community needs

Connection, identity, feel, and brand of Sharon Arts Center should continue, whatever the format or space it lives in
Space that feels like a destination and acknowledges the region’s rich history of artistic practice
Space for making - individual and cooperative spaces
Space for showing work and celebrating art
Space for teaching workshops
Workshops for entry level and more advanced levels of makers
Leadership & vision
Visibility & strong communications
Stable funding - some combination of memberships, endowment, community donations, grants
Federal, State or Municipal partnership and resources as an economic driver of the creative & tourism industries
Affordable housing connected to the development of this creative community
Community partnerships to serve populations with limited access to art-making (retirees, young students)
There is a national trend of centralizing creative activity in downtowns to further leverage economic activity that participation in programming can bring to a town. It may be advantageous to think about a more centralized location for the new vision.

MAxT partnership benefits

MAxT has administrative, membership management program, marketing, nonprofit, and other systems in place to take the possible burden of office/organizational tasks
MAxT is willing to make space, at least 1,200 square feet, for a pottery studio, and already has fiber arts, wood working
MAxT already organizes pop up maker markets for artists to sell work
MAxT is willing to be a hub for pop up workshops and events - but doesn’t need to be the location
MAxT could serve as an umbrella organization for this project

MAxT partnership drawbacks

Cost for installing plumbing, etc. to accommodate ceramicists: $50,000
Equipment would need to be acquired or purchased to accommodate some art forms formerly at Sharon Arts Center
Atmosphere may be too loud, feel to industrial, not have enough natural light for some of the former Sharon Arts artists and makers

Closing:

What is the next conversation? Do we need to use a spreadsheet and quantify what each person wants? Do we want a workspace, retail space, and/or exhibition space? We will need a partnership with people who have money, but first we need an idea that’s more solidified.

Carter Hammond said “We can take something from everything that’s been brought up and incorporate it. Sharon Arts Center is just a name and we need to remove the name from the buildings. MAxT is the contemporary version of what SAC was in the ‘80s. How do we identify as a community and who do we want to be? We need to think more outside the box.”