Category: Visual Arts

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.

Music, dancing and kinky boots

The Palace Theatre presents Kinky Boots

Dancing, music and the iconic red boots will take the stage for The Palace Theatre’s production of Kinky Boots from Friday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Nov. 5.

“Ever since the Kinky Boots musical was on Broadway [in 2013], it has just been one of those big, splashy, exciting musicals that many people would go see,” said Shane Hurst, the assistant director of the production at the Palace. “Time and time again it has proven to be, first of all, very entertaining and just a good musical, but then it also brings in a lot of different types of audience members. … It is a story of friendship, perseverance [and] about celebrating who you are and accepting other people.”

On the brink of bankruptcy, things don’t look great for Charlie Price and his men’s shoe factory. He fears he will have to close his doors, until he meets a drag queen named Lola.

“Through a series of circumstances they begin a friendship, and Lola tells Charlie that there is not a big retailer of drag queen professionally made boots,” Hurst said. “Charlie kind of has a spark in his brain and takes that back to the factory and says, ‘We can save the factory if we just pivot a little bit.’ Instead of making men’s shoes, which isn’t going so well for them, they rebrand and Charlie and Lola come up with the name ‘Kinky Boots’ and start manufacturing professionally made, sturdy, danceable drag queen boots.”

The musical, the book written by Harvey Fierstein and the music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, has won six Tony Awards and a Grammy. The Palace Theatre is pulling out all the stops with a video wall on the back wall of the theater, and a bigger-than-ever costume budget allowing for multiple costume changes, sequins, glitter, wigs and makeup, Hurst says.

“No matter who you are, you are going to find yourself on stage and relate to one of the characters in the show. I think it’s a show that very carefully changes an audience’s mind,” he said. “I think a lot of people are going to go in with the word ‘kinky’ and think it’s going to be a sexy, bold, brassy show — which it is — but behind all of that glitter is a lot of heart and a beautiful story about love and loving your neighbor.”

Kinky Boots
Where: Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St., Manchester
When: Friday, Oct. 13, through Sunday, Nov. 5; showtimes on Fridays are 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., plus Thursday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Tickets range from $28 to $49

Featured photo: Kinky Boots dress rehearsal. Courtesy photos.

The Art Roundup 23/10/05

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

  • Just keep swimming: The Community Players of Concord will present their Children’s Theatre Project’s Finding Nemo Jr., with a cast of actors ages 7 to 16, on Friday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. at the Concord City Auditorium (2 Prince St. in Concord). Tickets cost $15 to the show that runs about an hour, according to communityplayersofconcord.org, where tickets are on sale now.
  • Book shopping: The Hudson Friends of the Library hold a book sale on the second Sunday of each month at the Hills Memorial Library building (18 Library St. in Hudson; 886-6030, rodgerslibrary.org). Do a little browsing Sunday, Oct. 8, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Book raffling: The Friends of the Bedford Library will hold their annual Books, Baskets and Beyond raffle. Buy 10 tickets for $10 or 25 for $20 and then select the baskets — featuring books, book-lover items and sweet treats — you hope to win. The raffle runs online through Friday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m. Find the link to the online form on the Friends’ Facebook page. There is also a raffle of a signed Tom Brady Patriots jersey, with tickets for that raffle selling for $10 per ticket.
  • Open studios, part 1: Get a peek inside artist studios in Peterborough, Dublin, Jaffrey and other Monadnock-region towns in the Monadnock Art Open Studios Art Tour this Saturday, Oct. 7, through Monday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. A map to the 65 participating locations is available at monadnockart.org.
  • Season preview: The New London Barn Playhouse (84 Main St. in New London; nlbarn.org) will host a preview of the 2023-2024 Northern Stage Season’s productions with scenes from Selling Kabul, Constellations, The Play that Goes Wrong and a new adaptation of A Christmas Carol, on Friday, Oct. 6, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The Northern Stage is located in White River Junction, Vermont; see northernstage.org for more. The event is free and open to the public, seecenterfortheartsnh.org.
  • Theater insider: Kurt Steelman, founder of Steelman Productions in Keene, will be the “Stories to Share” speaker at the Jaffrey Civic Center (40 Main St. in Jaffrey; jaffreyciviccenter.com) on Friday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m. Steelman worked as a stagehand at his father Barry Steelman’s theater Cinema 93 in Concord; today his Steelman Productions provides management and labor for live events of every scale, according to a press release. The event is free; register to attend at bit.ly/3E35bsA. Or attend virtually via www.youtube.com/channel/UCvvRObxjqvVsgZ8iOP1UOEw/live.
  • Open studios, part 2: The Center for the Arts will hold a Lake Sunapee Region Open Studios Saturday, Oct. 7, and Sunday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, according to a press release. The studios of 17 local artists will be open throughout New London, South Sutton, Warner, Andover, Bradford, Springfield, North Sutton and Sunapee, featuring paintings, jewelry, photography, mixed media, printmaking and sculpture. There will be a kickoff event at Prospect Hill in Lake Sunapee Harbor on Friday, Oct. 6, from 4 to 8 p.m. featuring new art by current artists. “Open Studios brochures including the list of participating artists, locations, and contact information, as well as a map of the studios, are available to pick up at The New London Inn, Morgan Hill Bookstore, Tatewell Gallery, in New London, and at all artists studios. Visit the Center for the Arts website to view the interactive map to use during Open Studios weekend.centerfortheartsnh.org/open-studios,” the release said.
  • Artist reception: The exhibit “Seen and Heard” featuring works from the Women’s Caucus for Art Northeast Regional Juried Exhibition (nationalwca.org; see wcanh.org for more on the New Hampshire chapter) is currently on display at the Art Center (1 Washington St., Suite 1177, in Dover; 978-6702, theartcenterdover.com). An artist reception for the exhibit will be held Saturday, Oct. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and you can see the online gallery at theartcenteronlinegallery.com.

Art at the Currier

Current and upcoming exhibitions at the Currier Museum of Art

This fall the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester will present works by classic and current artists in a multitude of media and styles. “Fabricating Modernism: Prints from the School of Paris,” which debuted on Sept. 7, will be joined by “Heart of a Museum” on Thursday, Oct. 19, and “Abstraction in the Currier Collection” on Wednesday, Nov. 15.

“I think one of the great things about [‘Fabricating Modernism’] is not only is the art really wonderful, but it comes from a private collection from a person who put most of it together by himself,” said Kurt Sundstrom, a curator at the museum. “He promised the whole collection years ago as a gift to the Currier upon his passing. It was a great honor to work with him, to watch his collection grow and now for him to share it with us.”

The School of Paris refers to 20th-century artists who were from, or worked in, Paris.

According to Sundstrom, these artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, were key in innovating modernism. He says the exhibition explores the themes of modernism instead of focusing on a narrative.

“First of all there’s color theory,” Sundstrom said. “You don’t [have to] paint tree leaves green; you can paint them blue. If you want to … elicit an emotion you can use color that way also.”

He also notes how Picasso’s frustration with the two-dimensional canvas led him to develop cubism to portray three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface.

c“I think part of the strength of this exhibition … is that it provides context for the development of these different styles in conversation with each other,” adds Rachael Kane, curator of education and interpretation. “Prints are hard to display — they age really quickly in light, so we often can’t keep as much of our print collection out as we’d like to, so something like this is a really special moment to be able to see some of those artistic linkages between work that is already regularly on display around the museum.”

“Heart of a Museum” features work by artist Saya Woolfalk, whose career has shown interest in science fiction, empathy and imaginative human connection and often involves images of the human body, according to Kane. Her display will feature projections, hanging glass and ceramic objects and custom wallpaper to create an atmospheric quality that Kane says her work is known for.

“A lot of it relates back to this idea of wanting to establish this historically grounded and personal connection to the history of the institution,” she said. “I think a lot of her work is really personal for her [and] a lot of it is a reflection on how she sees herself and people like her reflected in these spaces and wanting to get at the heart of that in her own way.”

“Abstraction in the Currier Collection” will also feature work from underrepresented groups with a high proportion of art by female artists like Joan Mitchell. According to Kane, this show is a great opportunity to see the abstract work that the Currier has to offer that people don’t often get to see.

“This is an important time of year for the museum,” Kane said. “I think we’ll see a lot of really celebratory and special events connected to these shows and I think it’s such a range of material it really offers something for everybody.”

Cover photo: Pablo Picasso, Portrait de Jacqueline de Face II, 1962. Courtesy of the Currier Museum of Art.

Currier Museum of Art
Where: 150 Ash St., Manchester; currier.org, 669-6144
Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. plus 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays for Art After Work (when admission is free)
Admission: $20 for adults, $15 for 65+ and student, $5 for ages 13 to 17, 12 and under get in for free

“Fabricating Modernism: Prints from the School of Paris”
On view through Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024

“Heart of a Museum”
On view from Thursday, Oct. 19.

“Abstraction in the Currier Collection”
On view from Wednesday, Nov. 15

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