Artists gather at 17ROX artist studios in Keene. Photo by Jennifer Paone.
On Sunday, August 25th, at 10AM, Arts Alive invites the arts community and arts lovers to join a Field Trip at The Craft School at Mill Hollow Works in Keene, NH. Participants will meet the co-founders Heather Holloway and Wade Smith, who will share the story of the Mill Hollow school, from its beginnings as Elm Farm and why heritage crafts are so impactful, to how the school operates and different ways to get involved as an artist or creative. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided.
Afterwards, participants will have the opportunity to watch a performance by Firebird Morris, a English folk dance group that performs molly and border dances in costume at festivals and community events. Participants will also be able to take part in a steam bending demonstration and activity with the craft school, and tour the premises, which border a farm. Weather permitting, the Field Trip will take place outdoors. Registration is $15 at monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips and $10 for Arts Alive members.
Artists meet at 310 Marlboro in Keene to hear from Berlin-based muralist Polina Soloveichik on her work-in-progress on the building. Photo by Taryn Fisher.
As an arts service organization, Arts Alive offers Field Trips, a series of casual, friendly mornings designed for exploration, learning, and connection, to local artists and arts lovers looking to expand their creativity and network. During Field Trips, attendees 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.
Heritage crafts is a large discipline that practices skills and knowledge of traditional materials, function, design and techniques that have been carried through two or more successive generations. The school at Mill Hollow Works teaches boatbuilding, carving, textiles, and basketry, among other crafts to cultivate empowerment, community and self-reliance. Because Mill Hollow Works is known primarily for their traditional boatbuilding, woodworking and carpentry programs, the school will offer an easy woodworking activity. Following a 5-10 minute demonstration, Field Trip participants will be able to make their own wooden bracelets from steam bending cherry birch and fastening the wood together with copper clench nails.
Jordana Korsen of Hot Glass Art Center in Marlborough leads participants in making glass ornaments at an April 2024 field trip.
Previous field trips to visual and performing arts venues in New Hampshire’s Monadnock region and Brattleboro, Vermont include 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, and individual artists’ studios.
Previous attendees have expressed the value of this program through feedback appreciating “Learning about the artists and organizations in our community,” “Meeting other people involved in the arts and comparing stories,” and “Seeing studios and artists and spaces. Sharing thoughts.”
This Field Trip is $15 and $10 for Arts Alive members. To register for the event and future trips, visit monadnockartsalive.org/artist-field-trips. For information about accessibility, please call 603-283-0944 or email nina@monadnockartsalive.org.
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.
