Sharon Arts Invites Public to Hands-on Pottery Demonstrations
In Gallery- Saturdays July 9^th, 16^th and 23^rd Noon-2pm

Good things come in threes, they say, and that certainly applies to the three artist demonstrations scheduled for Sharon Arts Downtown Galleries select Saturdays in July: 9^th, 16^th and 23^rd from Noon to 2:00pm in connection with the exhibition “A Common Peace”: The New Hampshire Potters Guild Biennial Exhibition now running through August 25th.

Garden Goddess by Liz Fletcher (Mason, NH)

• Saturday, July 9^th, Shana Brautigam, of Rindge, NH a teaching artist at Rooted in Clay studios in will demonstrate the art of handbuilding with clay. Shana is listed on the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Arts in Education and Community Arts Rosters.
• Saturday, July 16^th , James Mitschmyer of Sharon, NH will demonstrate techniques for printing in clay. Following a degree from Maine College of Art in ceramics, James studied at The International Workshop for the Ceramic Arts in Tokoname, Japan. He uses various throwing and hand-building techniques to communicate spiritual ideas. James is the Clay Studio Manager at Sharon Arts where he is also on the faculty.
• Saturday July 23^rd Liz Fletcher of Mason, NH, will complete the triad with demonstrations of clay sculpture. A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art, Liz has been working in clay as a sculptor, potter, and teacher. She has won many awards and for seven years she worked full-time as a studio potter in the New Hampshire woods, selling her work around the northeast.

“A Common Peace”: The New Hampshire Potters Guild Biennial Exhibition is generously sponsored by Sequoya Technologies, LLC of Peterborough, NH.

All Demonstrations will be held in the Exhibition Gallery in Depot Square, Peterborough from Noon to 2:00pm. The public is invited and encouraged to interact with the artisans about their work and process in the air conditioned comfort of the exhibition space. Further information is available by calling (603)924-2787 or visiting www.sharonarts.org.

*                                  *                                  *

Clay artist Shana Brautigam of Rooted in Clay (Rindge, NH)

About Sharon Arts

The mission of Sharon Arts Center, a non-profit organization, is to engage the community in the artistic process, to support and serve artists and craftspeople, and

"Pinched pot" handbuilt by Shana Brautigam (Rindge, NH)

to foster the relationship between artists and the community through education, exhibitions, the promotion and sale of art and craft, as well as through special programs and events.

Sharon Arts Center offers a wide variety of art classes and programs in the school facility in Sharon, NH, a Fine Craft Gallery, a Juried Artist Member Gallery, and an Exhibition Gallery at Depot Square.

The Sharon Arts Fine Crafts Exhibition Gallery is accessed through Depot Square and 30 Grove St. in downtown Peterborough. The Craft Gallery is located in Depot Square in Downtown Peterborough. Store & Exhibition Gallery hours are: Monday – Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 11 – 5 PM.

Sharon Arts is sponsored in part by: The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, The Susan A.&  Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation, The Bean Foundation, The Max &  Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation, The Putnam Foundation, The Kingsbury Foundation,&  art lovers like you!

About the New Hampshire Potter’s Guild

We are an inclusive organization for people working in clay. We have an address but no central location. We meet several times a year with organizational meetings, workshops, discussions and activities to share work and ideas. We have a commitment to education and community action. We’ve been in existence for several decades and are always looking towards the future.

The purpose of the NHPG is to get together in the interests of ceramics whenever necessary or desirable for fellowship and good times, exchange of ideas and methods, collaboration in work and exhibitions, encouragement to students, and promotion of standards of ethics, aesthetics and craftsmanship. www.nhpottersguild.com

Grand Opening for NH Potters Guild Biennial at Sharon Arts,
Friday, July 1^st, 5-7pm

• SEE OUR FREE PUBLIC PROGRAMS RELATED TO THIS EXHIBIT
  

Sharon Arts Center a non–profit art organization in Peterborough, NH is partnering with The New Hampshire Potters Guild for their upcoming biennial exhibition. The New Hampshire Potter’s

Reconstruction Book by James Mitschmyer

Guild is an inclusive clay organization devoted to the clay community of New Hampshire. Committed to education and community action, the Guild meets several times a year for organizational meetings, workshops, and discussions of methods, collaboration on projects and exhibitions, and more. The organization’s 2011 Biennial takes place at Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery, in downtown Peterborough NH with an opening Friday July 1^st 5-7pm and continuing through August 27^th, 2011. This exhibition is generously sponsored by Sequoya Technologies Group, LLC of Peterborough, NH.

“Sharon Arts Center is thrilled to once again partner with the New Hampshire Potter’s Guild,” said Gallery and Store Director Camellia Sousa. Sharon Arts Center had previously hosted the 2007  biennial, Message of Mud. “Sharon Arts has a very strong clay program and a long history of  producing some of the region’s most accomplished clay artists- students who learn with us and potters who make a living selling their work at our non-profit gallery.”

New Hampshire Potter’s Guild Members participating in the 2011 Biennial include:
Susan Babine  (Goffstown, NH);  John Baymore (Wilton, NH); Patsy Belt (Wilton, NH); Shana Brautigam (Rindge, NH); Jeff Brown (Seagrove, NC); Loring Cheney (New Ipswich, NH); Jameson D. Copp (North Hampton, NH); Steve Cunliffe (Henniker, NH);  Janet Duchesneau (Temple, NH); Linda Fletcher (Candia, NH); Liz Fletcher (Mason, NH); Ellen Friel (Amherst, NH); Ursula Fries-Herfort (Meriden, NH), Andy Hampton (Chichester, NH);  Michélle Hastings (Seagrove, NC); Cheryl Haynes (Sanbornton, NH); Wendy Jackson (Newton, NH); Al Jaeger (Deerfield, NH); Jane Kaufman (Durham NH); Julie Lombard (Concord, NH); Maureen Mills (Portsmouth, NH); James Mitschmyer (Sharon, NH); Karrie Mitschmyer (Sharon, NH); Rachel Montroy (Auburn, NH); Deb Moran (Kingston, NH); Mary Myers (Hancock NH); Miranda Nelkin (Keene, NH); Sarah Nolan (Goffstown, NH); Corrine Null (Bedford, NH); Kari Olstad (Farmington, NH); Cyndi Payne (Bedford, NH); Letitia Pellerin, (Keene, NH); Robin Peringer (Nashua, NH); Sarah Petipas (Foxboro, MA); Sue Russell (Newbury, NH); Steve Russell (Newbury, NH); Jessica Seaten (North             Hampton, NH); Patricia Anderson Soule (Concord, NH); Alan Steinburg (Brattleboro, VT); Linda Sten (Madbury, NH); Theresa Taylor (Barnstead, NH); Sibylle Tornow (Merrimack, NH); Ron Tornow  (Merrimack, NH); and Gerry Williams (Dunbarton, NH).

Cup by Steve Cunliffe

A series of free clay artist demonstration are scheduled at the Downtown Gallery, located at 30 Grove St, in Peterborough, and are scheduled as follows:

Clay Artist Demonstrations at the Gallery
Saturdays, 7/9, 7/16, and 7/23 from noon-2pm
Free and Open to the Public
7/9- Shana Brautigam of Rooted in Clay: Hand building
7/16- James Mitschmyer : Printing in Clay
7/23- Liz Fletcher: Clay sculpture

Further information may be obtained by calling Sharon Arts at 603/924-2787.

*                                  *                                  *

This exhibit generously sponsored by

*                                  *                                  *

About Sharon Arts

The mission of Sharon Arts Center, a non-profit organization, is to engage the community in the artistic process, to support and serve artists and craftspeople, and to foster the relationship between artists and the community through education, exhibitions, the promotion and sale of art and craft, as well as through special programs and events.

Sharon Arts Center offers a wide variety of art classes and programs in the school facility in Sharon, NH, a Fine Craft Gallery, a Juried Artist Member Gallery, and an Exhibition Gallery at Depot Square.

The Sharon Arts Fine Crafts Exhibition Gallery is accessed through Depot Square and 30 Grove St. in downtown Peterborough. The Craft Gallery is located in Depot Square in Downtown Peterborough. Store & Exhibition Gallery hours are: Monday – Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 11 – 5 PM.

Sharon Arts is sponsored in part by: The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act, The Susan A. & Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation, The Bean Foundation, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation, The Putnam Foundation, The Kingsbury Foundation, and art lovers like you!

About the New Hampshire Potter’s Guild

We are an inclusive organization for people working in clay. We have an address but no central location. We meet several times a year with organizational meetings, workshops, discussions and activities to share work and ideas. We have a commitment to education and community action. We’ve been in existence for several decades and are always looking towards the future.

The purpose of the NHPG is to get together in the interests of ceramics whenever necessary or desirable for fellowship and good times, exchange of ideas and methods, collaboration in work and exhibitions, encouragement to students, and promotion of standards of ethics, aesthetics and craftsmanship.

www.nhpottersguild.com

MaryAnn and Ken Sullivan of Temple, New Hampshire were the “highest bidders” on a one-of-a-kind  handmade ceramic vase created by published ceramicist and Sharon Arts faculty member,

Silent Auction winner Ken Sullivan (Temple, NH) with James Mitschmyer's Ceramic Vessel with brushwork!

James Mitschmyer. The black and white vase, standing about 24” high and showcasing Mitschmyer’s accomplished Asian-inspired brushwork of trees and mountainous landscapes, was a popular item during a silent auction at the Spring Open House on April 16^th, dedicated to raising money for the Sharon Arts School’s ceramics program. This was the first silent auction event at the School of Art and Craft in 3 years. The Open House event helped to raise funds towards studio upgrades for the Ceramics program at Sharon Arts, including a new slab-roller for students who specialize in handbuilding. Funds acquired will also support new kiln parts, and glaze purchases to expand the resources available in the Sharon Arts clay program.
“The excitement and enthusiasm that was generated from the spirit of the auction was exactly the kind of atmosphere that Sharon Arts is always nurturing- both the students and the patrons were pleased to see the auction support our cause, knowing that ceramics students will benefit from the fundraising for years to come,” said Alexandra Wall, School Director. “We hope to have future events entail the same level of participation and excitement. I look forward to having visitors to the School again, rallying to support our programs and facility.”