Hilltown Open Studios Tour Announces Full Slate of Arts Demonstrations & Live Performances for the Open Studio Tour Weekend

 

Hilltown Open Studios Tour Announces

Full Slate of Arts Demonstrations & Live Performances for the Open Studio Tour Weekend

 

Cummington, MA – The Hilltown Arts Alliance announced today their full slate of live artist demonstrations, talks and performances that punctuate the 5th annual Open Studio Tour. The public is invited to learn art techniques, meet with world-renowned artists and enjoy both music and dance performances as part of the weekend taking place September 30 - October 1st in the Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. All events are free. 

Thirty-two artists who make the scenic and historic Western Massachusetts Hilltowns their place to live and create will be opening their work spaces from 11AM to 5PM each day. During this weekend, the following live demonstrations and performances include:

Saturday

  • 11am: What I see, I paint | Jeanne Johns at Cummington Community House Tour Hub

  • 12pm: Relief prints using a copy press | Leni Fried  |  494 Stage Rd, Cummington

  • 1pm: Throwing large pots with stacked sections | Mark Shapiro  | 42 Conwell Rd

  • 1pm:  The Road to Cummington | Sergei Isupov at ProjectArt, Main Street, Cummington

  • 2pm: Back to black: the role of value | Kathryn Jensen at Cummington Community House Tour Hub

  • 3pm: You can paint a horse | Cyndy Sperry  | 257 Sugar Hill Rd

  • 4pm: Creating character with theatrical make-up | Beckie Kravetz at Community House Tour Hub

  • 5pm: Quartet jazz band | Lithia Quartet at Cummington Community House Tour Hub

  • 5pm: folk singer | Jitensha at Sena Farm Brewery

Sunday

  • 11am: Re-using old frames demonstration | Pleun Bouricius | 53 Old South St, Plainfield

  • 12pm: Blueprints: making botanical cyanotypes | Madge Evers at Cummington Community House Tour Hub

  • 1pm: The Road to Cummington | Sergei Isupov at ProjectArt, Main St, Cummington

  • 1pm: Prints using photopolymer intaglio plate | Nancy Doniger | 91 North Rd, Westhampton

  • 2pm: The alchemy of watercolor | Valerianna Claff  | 32 Munson Rd, Chesterfield 

  • 3pm: When red and blue don’t make purple: color mixing | Lena Garcia  | 105 South Street, Chesterfield

  • 4pm: Human Erratics: On and Off Screen Dance, with Doug Abrams, piano | Ellie Goudie-Averill  | Chesterfield Town Hall – 422 Main Road, Chesterfield

The tour has added more food options this year including Worthy-Que Smoke N’ BBQ at Sena Farm Brewery, Saturday and Sunday starting at 12 noon, and Holyoke Hummus at the Cummington Community House (Tour Hub), Saturday, starting at 11am.

“We’re very excited that so many of our artists will be not just opening their studios but giving the public a close up look at their process. Whether you have wanted to learn how to throw a pot or understand various printmaking techniques, there is so much to choose from,” says Hilltown Arts Alliance President and award-winning fabric artist Kathy Ford. 

“This year we wanted to broaden the representation of what is art in the Hilltowns and we are pleased to be including local musicians and dancers. We encourage the public to come, meet an artist and see how they live and work, then stay for the performances and local foods,” says Kathryn Jensen, watercolor artist and this year’s tour chairman.

A Tour Hub and gallery featuring representative works of each artist is being set up in Massachusetts newest designated cultural district: Cummington, MA. It will be held at the Community House at 33 Main St.  Printed maps will be available there and at each studio stop on the tour. An interactive tour map is located at: hilltownartsalliance.org/tour-map.

New to the tour this year are: Adrian Almquist, Nancy Doniger, Madge Evers, Greta Gnatek Redzko, Lena Garcia, Ellie Goudie-Averill, Marie Haas, Eric Jacobson. Barbara Konieczny and Molly Smith.

Returning artists include: Elena Allee, Ana Busto, Pleun Bouricius, Laura Bundeson, Valerianna Claff, Gloria Conwell, Michael Falcone, Leni Fried,  Alexandra Cherau, Sergei Isupov, Kathryn Jensen, Jeanne Johns, Beckie Kravetz, Guy Matsuda, Michael Melle, Kevin O’Connor, Olwen O’Herlihy Dowling, Jen Parrish-Hill, Kädri Parnamets, Mark Shapiro, Cyndy Sperry, John Walker, Jr. and Susanna White.

The Open Studio Tour is made possible with support from the Hilltown Community Development Corporation, Cummington Cultural District; Mass. Cultural Council, Hilltown Community Health Center. Florence Bank, George Propane, East Branch Studios, Cummington Supply, and Old Creamery Co Op.

For the most updated information on artists and events throughout the weekend, go to hilltownartsalliance.org

About the Hilltown Arts Alliance. The Hilltown Arts Alliance is applying to be a registered 501(c)(3) and is a volunteer-run nonprofit arts organization serving the beautiful hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. These lush rolling hills are home to an impressive number of accomplished artists. Our mission is to spread the word! The Hilltown Arts Alliance seeks to connect and support local Hilltown artists and makers in their creative endeavors.

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