This year’s Route 3 Art Trail provides paths to creativity
This year’s Route 3 Art Trail will take place Saturday, Nov. 7, and will include 20 sites, from Concord to Franklin. Erika Rydberg-Hall of the Concord Maker Space is the coordinator of this year’s Art Trail.
“It is a network of creative spaces,” Rydberg-Hall said. “It’s a one-day event and it’s a driving experience where you can visit up to 20 sites that are a part of the art trail itself. Every [stop along] the Art Trail celebrates some aspect of the creative economy art community from Concord to Franklin. Participants are invited to stop at any of the sites. There are artist demonstrations. There is always something creative aligned with each stop as you go along the trail. You just show up wherever you have the most interest. The interesting thing about this year’s [Art Trail] is we have 20 stops, four or five per community. …You could choose and pick one community. You could choose and pick what you’re interested in. And if you go to five, then you can enter the raffle. So that’s kind of cool, too.”
The creative activities will include everything from demonstrations of expert crafting skills, Rydberg-Hall said, to hands-on participation activities.
“At the Eleventh Letter Writing Gallery, they are having a postcard-writing opportunity,” she said, “where folks will be able to participate in both the creation of an exhibit for the gallery and to write postcards. The idea is that folks are writing postcards to somebody that they’re grateful for and sending it home. … Carol [Ellis] at Laborata Gallery in Penacook, for example, typically does some metalworking demonstrations. Ben [Braggins], who has knitting metal and often sits at the Makerspace, will be making jewelry as he’s talking to folks.”
One of the goals of the Art Trail, Rydberg-Hall said, is to embrace creative arts that don’t necessarily fit into a traditionally labeled niche.
“Heidi Pauer at Penumbra here in Concord will do intuitive poetry. You walk into the shop and Heidi will talk with you a little bit and interact with you, and then write a poem about her interaction between you and what she experiences. I think that’s kind of a cool interactive opportunity that’s happening on the trail.
Another goal of the Route 3 Art Trail is to inspire visitors, Rydberg-Hall said.
“Sometimes it’s just getting exposure to different kinds of creativity that inspires somebody to go and pursue that thing themselves. And I know a number of the spaces along the trail that we partner with are also teaching spaces, so places like Kimball Jenkins … where people will have the opportunity after the trail to also learn a new skill … So I think that’s just a wonderful thing to emphasize that we have all these spaces in our community where folks can participate and learn a creative skill that maybe they’ve never tried before. And just knowing that those resources exist is really inspiring and encouraging to try new things.”
2026 Route 3 Art Trail
When: Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: At 20 sites in four communities. See route3arttrail.com.
Concord: Penumbra (10 N. State St., Concord, 731-9469; 24c Main St., Goffstown; penumbra.shop), George S. Wallace Bag Maker (132½ N. Main St., Concord, 931-9570, georgeswallacebagmaker.com), 781-296-3316, The Eleventh Letter Writing Gallery (146 N. Main St., Concord, theeleventhletter.com), Kimball Jenkins Estate and School of Art (266 N. Main St., Concord, 225-3932, kimballjenkins.com).
Penacook: Jo Shields’ Studio (5 Steeple View, Penacook, 731-4427, jo-shields.com), Laborata Studio (1b Merrimack St., Penacook, 568-9925, laboratastudio.com), The Wild Bean (316 Village St., Penacook, 568-1190, thewildbeanshop.com), Sweet Dreamz and Fox Hardware (325 Village St., Pennacook, 581-8112)
Boscawen: Concord Makerspace (197 N. Main St., Boscawen, 565-5443, concordmakerspace.org), The Art Porch Gallery (181 King St. (front porch), Boscawen, 406-9003), Chadwick Hill Rustic Furniture by Doug Egounis (187 King St., Boscawen, 724-9963), Black Forest Nursery (209 King St., Boscawen, 796-2756, blackforestnursery.com), Gadzooks Glass (232 King St., Boscawen), Garden Sculptor Susan Douglas (231 King St., Boscawen, 724 3593)
Franklin: Eagles Aerie (31 N. Main, Franklin, 520-2640), Franklin Public Library (310 Central St., Franklin, 934-2911, franklinnh.gov/franklin-public-library), Analog Coffee (366 Central St., Franklin), Downtown Crepes (42 Franklin St., Franklin, 912-7373, downtowncrepes.com), The Waterhorse Irish Pub (361 Central St., Franklin, 671-7118, thewaterhorsepub.com)
Featured photo: Photo courtesy of the Bookery.