New tour highlights Concord-area arts organizations and artists
Explore the arts in and around Concord on the Route 3 Art Trail, a new self-guided driving tour featuring arts destinations along the Route 3 corridor. The tour kicks off on Saturday, Nov. 7, with art exhibits, open studios, artist demonstrations, historic tours, family-friendly activities, refreshments and more at five different locations.
Adele Sanborn, owner of Twiggs Gallery in Boscawen, came up with the idea for the Route 3 Art Trail after NH Open Doors, a statewide self-guided arts tour held annually the first weekend in November, was canceled this year.
“I wanted to create a new tradition in our area,” Sanborn said, “and one of Twiggs’ missions is to create opportunities for our local community to visit and participate in the arts.”
Twiggs will be one of the stops on the tour, along with Making Matters NH, a shared workspace for makers and artists, in Penacook; Kimball Jenkins, an art school and gallery in Concord; and two artist studios in Penacook.
“Each venue will have its own twist, and it will be worth visiting all venues,” Kimball Jenkins executive director Julianne Gadoury said.
During the tour, Twiggs will celebrate the opening of its Sleighbell Studio, a holiday exhibit with a variety of locally made fine art and crafts for sale. Visitors can also pick up a free make-your-own holiday card kit.
Making Matters NH will give tours of its 8,500-square-foot facility, which includes a wood shop, metal shop, prototyping and electronics lab, fiber arts studio, photography studio and private offices and open studios for rent. Resident artists will have their studios open with some of their handmade items for sale.
Kimball Jenkins will have artist demonstrations, art and craft vendors, cookies and hot chocolate and self-guided tours of its historic buildings.
Also on the tour will be artist Jo Shields’ Penacook studio. Shields creates mixed-metal jewelry that incorporates recycled objects. She will be joined by two other artists: Keira Chin of Kickin’ Glass Designs in Concord, presenting handcrafted whimsical scenes made from man-made and natural beach glass, and Lizz Van Saun of Kast Hill Studio in Hopkinton, presenting mosaic work made with recycled china, stained glass and found objects.
Robin Hoyt will have her studio, Hoytie Toytie Baskets in Penacook, open with a wide selection of her handwoven baskets and will be joined by 18 other local artisans displaying and selling baskets, pottery, jewelry, quilts, knitting, cards, soaps, food products and more.
Sanborn said all locations on the tour will be “following the rules of Covid safety with masks and alcohol wipes available.”
With the arts being “especially vulnerable right now,” Sanborn said, collaborative ventures like the Route 3 Art Trail are one way for artists and arts organizations to survive and thrive.
“Galleries and retail stores that sell [artists’] work are pretty much closed, or their visiting traffic is hugely off,” she said. “We are [launching the Art Trail] in hopes of creating another way that the public can safely shop, learn and support the arts.”
“When Adele suggested this project we jumped at the chance to be involved,” Making Matters NH president Laura Miller added. “These days, when we are so limited by Covid, we need to work together to leverage our resources and talent.”
Sanborn said she plans to make the Route 3 Art Trail an annual event held in November and possibly in the spring, and to grow the number of arts destinations on the tour.
“Route 3 extends quite a distance that we have not tapped yet,” she said. “We would love to create lots more spots [and] more artist studios.”
Route 3 Art Trail
Where: Various locations in Concord, Boscawen and Penacook.
When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cost: Free
More info: twiggsgallery.wordpress.com/route-3-art-trail
Tour stops
• Twiggs Gallery, 254 King St., Boscawen, 975-0015, twiggsexhibits.wordpress.com
• Kimball Jenkins, 266 N. Main St., Concord, 225-3932, kimballjenkins.com
• Making Matters NH, 88 Village St., Penacook, 565-5443, makingmattersnh.org
• Jo Shields Studio, 5 Steeple View, Penacook, jo-shields.com
• Hoytie Toytie Baskets, 56 Washington St., Penacook
Exhibits
• “RICHARD HAYNES: WHISPERING QUILTS” Exhibit features a series of drawings inspired by traditional quilting patterns that tells the story of an enslaved family’s dangerous journey along the Underground Railroad, from a southern plantation to freedom in Canada. Currier Museum of Art, 150 Ash St., Manchester. On view now through Nov. 29. Museum hours are Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed Monday through Wednesday. Museum admission costs $15 for adults, $13 for seniors age 65 and up, $10 for students, $5 for youth ages 13 through 17 and free for children under age 13. Reserve in advance online. Call 669-6144 or visit currier.org.
• “MOMENTS IN NATURE” The New Hampshire Art Association presents oil paintings by BJ Eckardt. Concord Chamber of Commerce Gallery, 49 S. Main St., Concord. Now through Dec. 17. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
• “UNSEEN LIGHT” The New Hampshire Art Association presents infrared photography by Mark Giuliucci. 2 Pillsbury St., Concord. Now through Dec. 17. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
• “AN EXTRAPOLATION OF CLOSE OBSERVATION” The New Hampshire Art Association presents prints and paintings by Kate Higley. 2 Pillsbury St., Concord. Now through Dec. 17. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
• “SMALL WORKS – BIG IMPACT” Creative Ventures Gallery’s annual holiday exhibit featuring small works of art in various media, priced affordably for gift buying. Virtual. Now through Dec. 31. Visit creativeventuresfineart.com or call 672-2500.
Special events
• NHAA 80TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY New Hampshire Art Association hosts a silent art auction fundraiser and anniversary celebration. Virtual, via Zoom. Reception and auction opening on Fri., Nov. 19, 6 to 7 p.m. Bidding runs through Dec. 11. Visit nhartassociation.org or call 431-4230.
Tours
• NASHUA PUBLIC ART AUDIO TOUR Self-guided audio tours of the sculptures and murals in downtown Nashua, offered via the Distrx app, which uses Bluetooth iBeacon technology to automatically display photos and text and provides audio descriptions at each stop on the tour as tourists approach the works of art. Each tour has 10 to 15 stops. Free and accessible on Android and iOS on demand. Available in English and Spanish. Visit downtownnashua.org.
Theater
Shows
• NUNSENSE The Seacoast Repertory Theatre presents. 125 Bow St., Portsmouth. Oct. 25 through Nov. 8, with showtimes on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $30 to $48. Visit seacoastrep.org.
• THE BRITISH ROCK EXPERIENCE The Palace Theatre presents. 80 Hanover St., Manchester. Now through Nov. 14, with showtimes on Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at noon and 5 p.m. Tickets cost $39 to $46 for adults, $30 for seniors age 60 and up and veterans and $25 for children. Visit palacetheatre.org or call 668-5588.
Books
Poetry
• JANET SYLVESTER AND OLGA LIVSHIN Poets present their newest volumes of verse, And Not to Break (Sylvester) and A Life Replaced: Poems with Translations from Anna Akhmatova and Vladimir Gandelsman (Livshin). Hosted by Gibson’s Bookstore of Concord. Thurs., Nov. 12, 7 p.m. Virtual, via Zoom. Registration required. Visit gibsonsbookstore.com or call 224-0562.
Writing
• CALL FOR BLACK WRITERS New Hampshire-based theater company and playwright collective New World Theatre announces an open call to Black writers to submit monologues that reflect their personal experience of living while black, to be published in an anthology titled “08:46.” The deadline for submissions is Jan. 1, 2021. Visit newworldtheatre.org/08m46s.
Featured photo: “Sleighbell Studio” exhibit opens at Twiggs Gallery. Courtesy photo.