Arts Alive invites artists and lovers of the arts to build community, engage in creativity, and explore arts spaces around the region with Field Trips. On Saturday, November 9th, from 10am-1:30pm, Field Trip participants will explore forest drawing, harvesting and working with clay, and envisioning other programs that artists and community leaders can create at The Center at Orchard Hill in Alstead, NH. The event is $10 ($5 for Arts Alive members) to cover artisan coffee and baked goods. Registration is online at monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips.
As The Center at Orchard Hill finds itself at the intersection of what was and what will be, the possibilities for new programming are great. Anyone who has a vision for bringing life to their communities through the arts, or who just enjoys being creative with others, is welcome to come imagine possibilities for creative and educational community, and share their own needs as artists and families.
Andres Institute of Art Field Trip participants connect over coffee at Craig Stockwell’s studio.
The program for the day will begin at 10am with an informal introductory circle, where participants will get to know each other as artists and lovers of creativity over Alstead’s famous Orchard Hill Breadworks pastries and coffee from East Alstead Roasting Co. The Field Trip will then progress into a tour of The Center at Orchard Hill’s community farm, orchard, camp and school grounds, Old Settlers Pottery, and Orchard Hill Breadworks. The tour will highlight flexible exhibit, performance, and meeting space, as well as residential and kitchen space, personal studios and the all ages art studio. Any artists and community organizers who attend are encouraged to envision the ways in which they can use the space to host events of all kinds. The center has a land and community focus that shines through regular programs, special events, residencies, camps, and more for all ages and abilities. Weekly groups include Quaker meetings, meditation, yoga, dance, and singing, as well as a cooperative preschool and after school teen arts program. The center also supports performances, residencies and single or multi-day retreats.
Barb Davis harvesting natural clay! Photo from The Center at Orchard Hill.
After the introduction and tour, guests can choose from two activities during the field trip: a drawing class or a ceramics class with resident artists. The first, “Forest Drawing” with Sammy Burhoe, will take participants into the center’s fields and trails to observe, interpret and represent forest observations. The second, “Art From The Earth” with Barb Davis, will lead participants through two actions: harvesting natural clay, then using the clay to create a small sculpture. Both activities will be adapted in case of rain, and strong footwear is recommended.
Registration online at monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips is $10 ($5 for Arts Alive members) and goes towards fresh coffee and pastries for the morning program. The Center at Orchard Hill is generously providing instruction and materials for participants, as an accessible arts program for the community. For information about event accessibility, call Arts Alive at (603) 283-0944 or email the Program Coordinator at nina@monadnockartsalive.org.
Field Trips are a series of casual, friendly mornings designed for local artists and arts lovers to engage in exploration, learning, and connection. These trips often have a hands-on, creative component and coffee with fresh pastries is a staple. Participants dive into local arts spaces and businesses they may not otherwise explore, meet and connect with new people in their community, and learn about available resources and opportunities for social, creative, and professional expansion in and around the Monadnock region.
Mill Hollow Works Field Trip participants make shaker-style steam bent wooden boxes with the craft school’s co-founder Wade Smith.
Previous attendees have expressed the value of the Field Trip series through feedback appreciating “Meeting artists and exchanging creative ideas for new projects,” “The chance to try a new art form,” “Meeting other people involved in the arts and sharing stories,” and “Connecting with other artists.”
Arts Alive Field Trips have taken artists and arts appreciators to visual and performing arts venues across New Hampshire’s Monadnock region and Brattleboro, Vermont, including DublinArts & Muse Gallery, MAXT Makerspace’s Ceramics Center, 17ROX Artist Studios, Historic Harrsiville and Harrisville Designs, the Keene Public Library’s Kingsbury Makerspace, The Stone Church, Mitchell Giddings Fine Arts, First Proof Press, Epsilon Spires, The Craft School at Mill Hollow Works, and individual artists’ studios.
Arts Alive is supported in part by National Endowment for the Arts, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, and this program is supported by a generous gift from C & S Wholesale Grocers.
