Category: Art & Theater

Local printing company celebrates creativity of craft beer labels

On Thursday, April 20, printing company Amherst Label in Milford will display the art of the beer can label with a showcase called “Canvas,” featuring artwork from 18 craft beers brewed in New England and New York.

“We’re always about shelf appeal and asking, ‘How do you tell your story,’” said Amherst Label’s president, Nye Hornor. “These breweries have knocked it out of the park.”

Hornor and his team will welcome 150 guests at the opening show. At the time of reporting, approximately half of the slots had been filled for the opening.

The plan is to have the artwork on display for a year, Hornor said. He hopes to either have private showings for small groups or have another larger gathering later in 2023 to continue celebrating the artwork.

This is not the first art show Amherst Labels has hosted, Hornor said. For the company’s 40th anniversary it hosted professional artists. A few years later, before the pandemic, it held small shows of artwork by employees and their family members.

With this year being Amherst Label’s 45th anniversary, Hornor wanted to do something special.

“We have a passion for breweries,” he said, noting that labels tell a story. “Breweries make a story on their can and we have put it in a gallery.”

Hornor and Ruth Sterling, who is the marketing manager at Amherst Labels, reached out to their clients and had them choose the 18 label designs that would be featured in the show. Five of those designs come from New Hampshire breweries, including a design from Nashua’s Rambling House Food and Gathering and one from Concord’s Feathered Friend Brewing.

The artwork is set up with a 11- by 14-inch print of the artwork on the can, the can itself, and a quote from the artist telling the story behind the design. Visitors can scan a QR code to see more information about each of the artists and the art on display.

In addition to looking at the cans, visitors will be able to taste the beers that are displayed, have some tasty snacks and take a tour of the printing facilities.

While the show highlights the artists who design the cans, Hornor said it was important to recognize all the skill and effort that go into making each beer look perfect.

“Press men are artists,” said Hornor. “We have artists in house that work on artwork on a daily basis to … match up what the artwork is meant to look like and have it at the end of the press as art.”

Canvas
Where: Amherst Label, 15 Westchester Drive, Milford
When: Thursday, April 20, from 2 to 6 p.m.
More info and to RSVP: www.amherstlabel.com/canvas-rsvp

Featured photo: The label for Formation 3 by Feathered Friend. Photoshop image by Tucker Jadczak.

NH Philharmonic brings Drawn to the Music back for 15th year

For 15 years the New Hampshire Philharmonic has worked with schools across the state, encouraging kids kindergarten through grade 5 to listen to classical music and draw something inspired by it.

“This year we had over 700 drawings from nine schools from all over the state,” said Toni DeGennaro, the executive director of the Philharmonic. “We get the drawings, pick 300 winners and have concerts … on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., with each school represented on a certain day.”

Kids who were selected will get a chance to hear the music they listened to, Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, and see the art they created projected on a screen over the orchestra. The artwork is divided evenly across the two performances, so 150 drawings will be featured each show.

Winners of the competition are invited to attend, as well as their parents or guardians and their art or music teacher who helped them with the project.

When it comes to the artwork, DeGennaro said she was impressed to see how creative the students were. Each year the kids are given a series of scenes they use to inspire the artwork. Since Appalachian Spring is a ballet, DeGennaro said, there were more options for scenes.

“We give them scenes, so they picked which ones they wanted to draw,” DeGennaro said. “There’s some of the bride, some of the duel for the bride…. Lots of brides and farmer pictures and it’s really cute.”

Drawn to the Music isn’t going to be the only competition where winners will celebrate, said conductor and music director Mark Latham. Evan Huang, a high school senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., will be performing Piano Concerto No. 2 by Frederic Chopin.

“It’s very romantic and full of various emotions; he plays it extraordinarily sensitively,” said Latham. “He deserved first place of the competition.”

Huang was the grand prize winner of Sempre Music Competition in 2022, a national competition in which students of all ages compete for a chance to solo with the New Hampshire Philharmonic, among other prizes.

While classical music can seem intimidating at first, Latham said his main goal with the Phil is to make it more accessible to every generation.

“Some think classical music is stuffy and my philosophy is try to make it a great time,” Latham said. “If [kids] want to jabber or applaud at the wrong time, if you let loose on how you feel about something, that’s excellent.”

After the concert, kids will be invited on stage for “touch an instrument,” the Phil’s take on touch-a-truck, to help expose young children to music and to make it more inspiring, DeGennaro said.

DeGennaro said that Drawn to Music is one of her favorite events, not only to see young people engaged with classical music but also because of the awe and excitement that she sees on kids’ faces.

“We are so kid-friendly, if kids are running around in the halls, that’s great. We’ll drown them out with the music,” DeGennaro said. “Just the sound of the 70-piece orchestra in that little concert hall is mesmerizing. It’s a great experience for them.”

Drawn to the Music
When: Saturday, April 15, and Sunday, April 16, at 2 p.m.
Where: Siefert Performing Arts Center, 44 Geremonty Drive, Salem
Price: Adults are $30, seniors are $25, students are $8, and students of Salem are $5
Visit: nhphil.org

Featured photo: Drawn to the Music projection 2018-2019. Courtesy photo.

NH Antique Co-op welcomes spring with “In Full Bloom” art exhibition

By Mya Blanchard

[email protected]

The sun is out, the snow is melting and flowers will soon be sprouting with spring now upon us. New Hampshire Antique Co-op in Milford is ringing in the season with the “In Full Bloom” art exhibition, which will be on display through Aug. 31.

Co-owner Jason Hackler described the March 24 opening celebration as a “garden style party,” with cucumber sandwiches, Champagne and lemonade. The family-owned antique shop has been hosting art exhibitions since 2007, with “In Full Bloom” being its latest.

“As New Hampshire Antique Co-op is now in its 40th year in business, we decided [it would] be perfect to do a show to celebrate the spring and summer seasons, symbolizing continued growth,” Hackler said. “The show is … an exhibition on paintings of floral still lifes and garden landscapes … done from the 17th century all the way up to the present.”

Some of the artists whose works are on display at the exhibition include German still life painter Adelheid Dietrich, Emil Carlsen, New Hampshire native Lilla Cabot Perry, a neighbor and friend of Claude Monet, as well as Laura van Pappelendam.

“These are works directly from [van Pappelendam’s] estate, which is really cool,” Hackler said. “There’s some really great, bright floral landscapes and still lifes as part of her works and these are the first time some of [them] have been offered.”

A total of 12 of van Pappelendam’s paintings are on display, one of which is hung on her own personal easel.

In addition to the impressionist-era paintings, contemporary artists will also have their work on display. One such artist is Carol Robey. After retiring from working in pediatrics, Robey began studying under Paul Ingbretson, an artist who learned from The Boston School, a group of painters in Boston during the 20th century.

“What they did, which I love, [was add] impressionist color more to the standard representational art and [made] it more interesting that way,” Robey said.

Robey’s attraction to painting still lifes and floral pieces stems from her interest in gardening.

“As a doctor, I did a lot of science and I actually studied a lot of botany in college,” she said. “I love being able to get the … correct details of a flower, for example, so that … a person who’s looking at it will recognize what it is, [while] at the same time … making it beautiful, so I have to … make it expressive as well as accurate.”

Robey, a friend of Hackler’s, was ecstatic when he asked her to be a part of the show.

“Emil Carlsen and Marguerite Pearson are two of my absolute favorites, so to be among them is absolutely a huge honor,” she said.

The “In Full Bloom” exhibition invokes a fresh, spring-like atmosphere.

“It’s supposed to feel light and airy, and bright and cheery,” Hackler said. “Paintings within this genre express color [and] beauty, as well as a sense of respect, awe and wonderment for nature.”

“In Full Bloom” art exhibition
Where: New Hampshire Antique Co-op, 323 Elm St., Milford
When: On display now through Aug. 31; open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More info: Visit nhantiquecoop.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.