Category: Art & Theater

A community pillar

New gallery brings art hub to Concord

Mike Howat and Fallon Andrews had been deliberating their vision for about a year before officially opening the doors to PILLAR Gallery and Projects at 205 N. State St. in Concord on Saturday, Sept. 30. The pair will showcase art across a variety of media. Their inaugural exhibition, “Flora & Fauna,” is on display now through Friday, Nov. 17.

“I think there’s a need for it in the area,” Howat said. “There’s a lot of amazing artists and art-minded people and I think [there’s] a need for a place for professional artists to show their work and for the community to have a gathering place outside of bars and restaurants.”

Andrews adds, “With the New Hampshire Institute of Art dismantling over the years and there not being a lot of hubs for artists, we wanted to be a pillar in the community.”

Andrews and Howat met a few years ago through mutual friends. With over a decade of combined experience — Andrews having worked on different events throughout the state and Howat being a working artist and an art teacher for about eight years — the duo decided to team up to curate two salon-style exhibitions, Salon 2021 and Salon 2022, at Kimball Jenkins in Concord.

“It held over 700 works of art and over 350 or so artists,” Andrews said. “With that momentum going in the community and feeling like we just wanted to be something that people still could get excited about, that’s why we wanted to collaborate and work together to open this up.”

On their opening day, they debuted their first ever exhibition, “Flora & Fauna,”with acrylic work by Lauren Welch, fabric art and stoneware by local artist Rachel Montroy and ceramics by Cierra Vigue, among others.

“We wanted it to be something that caught people’s eyes and attention and be the opposite of what people thought of when people hear the subject, [flora and fauna],” Andrews said. “Normally around these parts you see traditional landscapes and things that are pretty digestible, and we wanted to do something radically different, and that’s why ‘Flora & Fauna’ is bright and it almost looks like a little alien world inside of this small sleepy town.”

Their upcoming exhibition “As the Light Wanes”follows the theme of the changing seasons and the losing of light that comes with descending into the winter months and will be on display from Saturday, Dec. 9, through January 2024. The gallery also includes a shop where stickers and prints are for sale, and Andrews hopes to start offering coffee, tea and treats in the coming weeks.

“We’re definitely really excited to bring something else to [this] side of the neighborhood,” Andrews said. “My goal in the next few years is to extend downtown Concord and really have it reach more of those suburban areas and really connect the whole city.”

PILLAR Gallery and Projects
Where: 205 N. State St., Concord
Hours: Sunday and Monday, noon to 4 p.m.

“Flora & Fauna”
When: On display through Nov. 17

Featured photo: PILLAR Gallery. Courtesy photo.

Memory Café

Currier program helps those experiencing memory loss and their care partners

On the first Wednesday of every month, Currier Museum of Art in Manchester holds Memory Café, a program for individuals experiencing memory loss along with their care partners.

“The Memory Café is something that the Currier has done for quite some time, but we stopped doing it during the pandemic,” said Corey Lyford, who administers and designs the program. “We were only able to relaunch the program this past June. It’s designed to be a really joyful art looking experience for people in early stages of memory loss along with their care partners. A care partner could be a spouse, an adult child [or] a friend. … Any and all are welcome.”

Each session starts in one of the studio spaces at the museum, where attendees gather for light refreshments and socialization to get to know each other before heading to the gallery.

Before Covid, the entirety of the session would take place in the studio, where the art would be presented on slides. While this approach made it possible to look at multiple pieces, including ones that were not in the Currier collection, the team felt it was important to offer the true gallery experience.

While looking at the art, program facilitator Lucie Chmura likes to encourage people to use the method of “slow looking.”

“People get to really take time and relax into looking at a piece of artwork, much longer in front of it than one normally would when moving through the gallery spaces,” Lyford said. “Folks get to think about engaging their different senses, such as looking at a painting and thinking about what [they] hear when looking at this painting. Are there any sounds that come to mind? Everything is very open-ended. There are no wrong answers. People don’t have to draw on memory. This is really about what we’re all experiencing together in the moment.”

When deciding what art to select for the program, Lyford said she and Chmura think about the conversations the pieces may inspire, going for ones that are likely common to everyone in the group, to create an enjoyable, positive experience for both those experiencing memory loss and those who are not. Prompts are used to help viewers engage with the piece and to enliven conversation.

“We’re trying to blur that line between a care partner and someone with memory loss,” Lyford said. “We’re trying to help people not feel stigmatized and not feel like they’re standing out [or] like the attention of the program is on the fact that they have memory loss.”

She says the purpose of Memory Café is to create a support system and build connections while enjoying a creative experience.

“We hope for people to find respite and to find the museum as a resource for them and to keep engaging with these creative opportunities even if they are in a place in their life where they may have felt like that wasn’t possible anymore,” Lyford said. “We want people to feel safe and that applies to the person with memory loss and also for their care partners. They can be going through some pretty difficult times, so we’re hoping that this provides a creative space for them and one that they’ll want to come back to and see familiar faces from month to month.”

Memory Café
When: The first Wednesday of every month. The next session is Wednesday, Nov. 2, from 1 to 2 p.m.
Where: Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester

Featured photo: Memory Cafe. Photo Courtesy of the Currier Museum of Art.

The Art Roundup 23/10/26

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

  • Bard-adjacent: Actorsingers presents the musical farce Something Rotten at the Keefe Center for the Arts (117 Elm St. in Nashua) on Friday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students. The production is set in the 1590s when brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom are trying to write a hit play that will get them out from the shadow of “The Bard” and are told by a soothsayer that the future of theater is singing and dancing and acting, according to actorsingers.org.
  • Spooky soiree: The Windham Concert Band and the Amherst Town Band will play a Halloween-themed selection of music including Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Trolls” and more on Sunday, Oct. 29, from 3 to 5 p.m. at Souhegan High School (412 Boston Post Road in Amherst), according to a press release. Costume-wearing is encouraged; the event is free.
  • Quoth the raven: “Nevermore,” an exhibit that “pays homage to the mesmerizing allure of the darkness,” is on display at the Mosaic Art Collective (66 Hanover St., Suite 201, in Manchester; 512-6209, mosaicartcollective.com) through Tuesday, Oct. 31, according to a press release. The gallery is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., and by appointment.

NH Furniture Masters
The New Hampshire Furniture Masters are collaborating with the League of NH Craftsmen for the exhibit “Connecting through Craft” on display through Thursday, Dec. 14, at the League of NH Craftsmen Headquarters Gallery (49 S. Main St. in Concord). The pieces in the exhibition were created during a partnership that paired New Hampshire Furniture Masters with League members, according to a press release. The gallery is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m., the release said.

On Saturday, Oct. 28, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., the Furniture Masters will hold a Signature Fundraising Gala at the gallery. Attendees can explore the exhibit, talk to the makers and bid on silent auction items as well as enjoy food, drink and live music from Hot Skillet Club (a jazz band trio), the release said. Tickets cost $50 and are available at furnituremasters.org/the-main-event.

  • Landscapes: The New Hampshire Antique Co-Op (323 Elm St. in Milford; 673-8499; nhantiquecoop.com) is currently featuring the exhibit “Celebrating the American Landscape” featuring pieces from the late 1800s to the present, highlighting The White Mountain School, the Dublin Art Colony and the Hudson River School, according to a press release. The exhibit is on display through Jan. 31. The Co-op is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Veterans’ art: New Hampshire Veterans Home (139 Winter St. in Tilton; nh.gov/veterans, 527-4400) will host an art show in the Town Hall great room on Friday, Nov. 3, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. featuring veterans’ art displays as well as live music, demonstrations and conversations with veteran and visiting artists (from The Galleries at 30 Main in Meredith), according to a press release.

Ceramics, signs and everything nice

The Great New England Craft and Artisan Show returns to the Hampshire Dome

By Mya Blanchard
[email protected]

Jewelry, upcycled lamps, books, sports apparel, jams, candles and more handmade products will be on display and for sale at the eighth New England Craft and Artisan Show on Saturday, Oct. 21, and Sunday, Oct. 22, at the Hampshire Dome in Milford.

Jody Donohue created the event back in 2016.

“My children were playing sports [at the Hampshire Dome] … and I had been helping out with that for years,” she said. “My youngest aged out of the program and they … [wanted me to] stay on and do other [events] there.”

After talking with the owner, she set up tables in the function room to promote the products of the venue’s members, an event so successful they decided to do it again the following year, this time bringing in outside vendors and opening up the event to the public.

“It blew up. It was packed,” Donohue said. “The owner, Rick, and I were sitting down afterward talking about it … and he said, ‘I dare you to fill the Dome next year.’ I said ‘Game on.’ He said, ‘No, you’re kidding.’ I said, “No, I’m not kidding.’ … That next October, the Great New England Craft and Artisan Shows was born.”

In addition to the crafts, there will also be live music, food trucks, including Carla’s Coffee and Yahso Jamaican Grill, and raffles. Cathedral Ledge Distillery will be providing samples, and Renaissance Massage will offer messages.

Returning to this show this year is Dana Selliken, an artist originally from Washington who does wall painting as well as chainsaw carved wall art.

“I’ve always been intrigued by chainsaw carvers,” she said. “They have a lot of that kind of stuff there. When I met my boyfriend, I talked about how intrigued I was, and it was fun especially when you saw women doing it.”

Nine years ago, in the town she and her boyfriend were living in, there was a chainsaw carver who sold carved bears on the side of the road who was happy to teach her the craft.

“I was always good at art at school [and] I always loved art classes,” Selliken said. “I’ve tried a different variety of things to do, but this is my niche now.”

Her carvings range from loons, cardinals and flowers to pumpkins and ghosts. She also makes figurines and Halloween and Christmas ornaments using the clay she makes from the sawdust.

While multiple shows are held throughout the year and at different locations, Donohue says that the Milford show features the highest-end products.

“We change it up,” she said. “My motto is ‘Never the same show twice, but always just as nice.’”

Products include painted gourds, chocolate, ceramics, natural photography, cards with designs made from aluminum cans, pet products, furniture and upcycled lamps made from various materials like a pipe from a sink, a piece of a railroad track, or a handle from a dresser.

“What makes us different from your local craft fair is the quality of the products [and] the intricacy that goes into creating [them].” Donohue said. “I think that’s why people keep coming back year after year.”

The Great New England Craft & Artisan Show
Where: Hampshire Dome, 34 Emerson Road, Milford
When: Saturday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 22, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Featured photo: Art by Dana Selliken. Courtesy photo.

Under one roof

Original play shows family through the generations

By Renee Merchant
[email protected]

Two local playwrights, Toby Tarnow of Hollis and Ellen Cunis of Amherst, share a personal story about family, community and strong women in their original play The Big White House on Main Street. The play premieres at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts in Milford on Thursday, Oct. 19.

The play begins with two Italian immigrants moving to Massachusetts in the 1920s to pursue their dream of opening a cafe and starting a family. Spanning five decades, The Big White House on Main Street is a piece of historical fiction inspired by Cunis’s parents and grandparents, who all lived together in a big white house.

Cunis said her grandparents owned the house and it was split into four apartments. Her grandparents lived in one apartment, her family in another, and her aunts and uncles lived in the other two.

“It was a place of community … music, and laughter,” she said. “We would sit on the steps of the big white house and sing.”

While The Big White House on Main Street is not a musical, Cunis said that there is spontaneous singing and dancing throughout the play, echoing the musical traditions of her family during her upbringing.

Cunis began to write her story as a children’s book. When she shared it with Tarnow, whom she had worked with in the past, Tarnow recalls saying, “I can see it — it’s a play, let’s do it.”

“The only pieces [from the children’s book] that remain are some of the narration,” Cunis said.

During their writing process, Tarnow is often at the computer, capturing the story, while Cunis acts out the scenes, which they said can be an emotional experience.

“Then we’re both crying, and we’re both laughing,” Tarnow said. “We’re both living it.”

Tarnow said that she pictures the set, the lighting and the sound, and she adds those elements into the script.

“Our plays flow one scene into another and we use lighting to create our moods and our scene changes,” Cunis said.

“It runs like a movie,” Tarnow added.

In all of their plays, Tarnow directs while Cunis acts — a dynamic that shapes their storytelling process.

“Those personas will always be a part of who we are, so they come out in the play through the writing,” Cunis said.

Tarnow said she takes an actor-focused approach to directing.

“I want to see what they feel and how they want to express the character,” she said. It’s a process, she said, of trusting the actor to become the character and then fine-tuning it.

Instead of telling an actor what their character should do in a scene, Tarnow said she asks them questions like, “What is your goal in this scene?” to help them elicit genuine emotion.

In this play, Cunis is the narrator — a departure from her work in other plays in which she portrayed characters within the story.

“It’s very different for me because the narrator is outside of the story,” she said. “So the challenge is to feel it. It’s not just saying words or setting up the story; it’s actually feeling it in the moment, which presents a challenge because it can be emotional.”

Writing and producing this play, Cunis said, has been filled with personal reflection, and a journey into the heart of her past. “It takes me to a place of great appreciation for the simple things in life — for family, for living in that house — and sharing that experience with people.”

The Big White House on Main Street
When: Thursday, Oct. 19, through Saturday, Oct. 21, with showtimes at 7:30 p.m., and a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Saturday
Where: The Amato Center for the Performing Arts, 56 Mont Vernon St., Milford
Tickets: $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors
More info: thebigwhitehouseonmainstreet.com

Featured photo: Tarnow, left, and Cunis, right. Courtesy photo.

The Art Roundup 23/10/12

The latest from NH’s theater, arts and literary communities

  • Art in the City: The Manchester Arts Commission is hosting an Open Studios & Art Walk on Saturday, Oct. 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participating galleries include Studioverne, Fine Art Fused Glass, Creative Framing Solutions, Mosaic Art Collective, See Saw Art, Brandy Patterson, Jason Baggetta, AR Workshop Manchester, Susanne Peterson Larkham and The Factory On Willow, according to the group’s Facebook page. Downtown visitors who find at least 10 of 14 pigeon mini-murals can also enter a drawing for gift cards to local businesses, according to a press release. Maps will be available for pick up in front of City Hall on Elm Street; an online map will be available on Saturday, Oct. 14, via the Commission’s Facebook page.
    Also, the Commission’s City Employee & Family Art Show is on display now at City Hall. The exhibit, which will run through Nov. 30, features works by dozens of artists — photos, paintings, ceramics and more, according to a press release.

Brigadoon
The Manchester Community Theatre Players will offer a modern take on the Learner & Lowe Broadway classic Brigadoon for the next two weekends. The show, which features classic songs like “Almost Like Being in Love” and “Bonnie Jean,” will run Friday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Oct. 22, with shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 22, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and $10 for ages 18 and under. Purchase tickets at mctp.info or at the door.

  • On stage this weekend: The Nashua Theatre Guild will present The Laramie Project Friday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Oct. 15, at the Court Street Theatre (14 Court St. in Nashua). The play tells the story of the murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 in Wyoming, the aftermath and the trial of the men accused of killing Shepard, according to a press release. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday, at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults, $18 for 65+ and students; purchase tickets at nashuatheatreguild.org.

Versa-Style Dance
The Los Angeles-based Versa-Style Dance Company brings its blend of hip-hop, popping, lock, krump, salsa, merengue and cumbia dance styles to Stockbridge Theatre (Pinkerton Academy, 5 Pinkerton St. in Derry; stockbridgetheatre.showare.com) on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. Their latest show, “Freemind Freestyle,” is performed to remixes of hip-hop, classical and electronic music, according to a press release. Tickets cost $25.

  • Crafts and corn: The Coppal House Farm (118 N. River Road (Route 155) in Lee; nhcornmaze.com, 659-3572) will host an Artisan Craft Fair Saturday, Oct. 14, and Sunday, Oct. 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check out the handmade offerings from local artisans and then head to the farm’s corn maze, also open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the fair is free; admission to the corn maze costs $10 for ages 13+, $8 for ages 5 to 12 and for 65+ as well as military and college students (ages 4 and under get in for free).
  • Halloween craft: Twiggs Gallery (254 King St., junction of Routes 3 and 4, Boscawen; twiggsgallery.org, 975-0015) will offer a free Halloween make & take on Saturday, Oct. 14, from 1 to 3 p.m. Mixed media artist Shela Cunningham will lead the activity making spooky bookmarks. The event is free with all of the materials supplied, according to a press release.

Lizzie
Dive In Productions will present the punk rock opera Lizzie, about Lizzie Borden and the murders of her father and stepmother, at the Hatbox Theatre (Steeplegate Mall, 270 Loudon Road in Concord; hatboxnh.com, 715-2315) Friday, Oct. 20, through Sunday, Nov. 5. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $28 for adults, $25 for seniors and students.

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