Despite the pandemic the New Hampshire Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art was able to successfully mount several exhibits in 2020, and develop new techniques to reach audiences. Our biggest show of the year was “A Closer Look” at the Jaffrey Civic Center in Jaffrey, NH, October 16 – November 13, 2020. Our exhibitions committee volunteers negotiated with the Jaffrey Civic Center director to fulfill the requirements of all pandemic protocols, which at that time was a constantly moving target. Would the Civic Center be open? If so, would they allow us to have an opening reception? And what would a reception look like during COVID? We finally got the OK for the show including a reception to be held outdoors with a limited number of people, invitations sent only to participants (no publicity to the general public) and a rain date a week later. The opening reception invite included a list of COVID instructions.

That Saturday started out rainy, but by afternoon was cloudy and cool in the mid 50’s, just comfortable enough to be outside. It was a classic Fall New England afternoon in a quaint New England town, and worth the drive just to see the waning, but still spectacular Fall foliage. Masks were mandatory and social distancing was encouraged. At this point, NH had a very low percentage of positive cases of just 1.2%. Jaffrey, tucked away in the southwestern part of the state almost under the shadow of Mt. Monadnock, had less than 5 current cases of COVID. Statistically it was one of the safest places in the country to hold an event. Only 20 people were allowed inside the building at a time. Food brought to the opening by participants was wrapped as individual servings and spread on tables on the large brick patio out front. A musical duo played folk tunes on the other end. Hand sanitizer was everywhere. 

Concerned that few people would feel comfortable to visit the exhibit, we gathered photographs of the artwork from the participants and created an online slide show on our WCANH website. We had done this for an earlier exhibit in the summer which did not have a reception, “Narratives” at Vynn Art Gallery in Meredith, NH. We also posted some of the artwork on the WCANH Facebook group. For our Annual Fall meeting we created a video of the slide show to music and posted it to our new WCANH Youtube channel. We have never done so much online recording in the past and now we wonder: will this be a common task for all our shows in the future? Keeping an easily accessible public record of our exhibitions is certainly worthwhile.
With the NH positive COVID percentage now rising sharply, we don’t foresee an opening reception happening anytime soon. Will the next opening be on zoom? Will we chat with wine and cheese from our own fridge, and watch a slide show of work that will never physically hang in a gallery? Is AR – Augmented Reality – in our exhibitions future? Stay tuned.

Coping with COVID 19 in the gallery world

I have been a full-time working artist in Boscawen, New Hampshire for well over 10 years, and a “part time” artist for at least 30 years. I work in the field of calligraphy and mixed media, with a special love for encaustic and collage. In 1994 I was offered the opportunity to create a totally new studio space and a gallery space.  This was my dream! I wanted to offer local artists a chance to display their work, open spaces for art and craft workshops, and a working space for art groups to meet.  I was hoping that If I could remind adults of how important and fun the arts are in their lives, that they would get excited at nurturing their creativity and remember to support the art and music programs in our local school district.

With that in mind I created TWIGGS Gallery in 2015.  I was able to purchase our old town office building for one dollar and move it across the street for the main building and then added a space on for the gallery and full cellar.  With this move it created a wonderful open space on the main floor of the building with great light and flexible hanging areas, a small retail area for my calligraphy and fun gifts and papers, and three workshop spaces.  My studio is on the lower floor with a spacious area that allows me plenty of room to work on multiple pieces at a time.

One of the smartest moves I made was hiring Laura Morrison (yes, our WCA president) to be the TWIGGS’ gallery director.  She brought with her the skills to put together shows, create and plan advertising and social media, and develop our full line of classes.  What fun we have had together…..and in the process of growing Twiggs Gallery into a creative venue we have joined the Capital Regions rapidly growing art community.

And no, it has not all been easy.  Certainly 2020 was a challenge.  Faced with how to handle COVID 19 and all its restrictions meant a huge number of changes. In March we had to totally cancel our 32 spring classes, but what was incredible, was well over 90% of those that signed up rolled their class fees over until fall.  That truly kept us operating for a very tough six months.  We did receive a PPP grant which also helped, but we still had to cut back our hours to lower our overhead. Throughout the spring and summer, we found that people were reluctant to go out in public.  We also realized that we had to change our show dates and postpone other shows for 2021.

By August we had created layouts in our workshop rooms that would accommodate six feet social distancing, mandatory masks, and plenty of sanitizer wipes.  Our shows were regulated with ten people in at a time and the “bribing” of individually packaged foods and chairs to sit and talk amongst fellow visitors outside on the lawn.  It was a struggle.  We filled our smaller in person fall classes, but teaching had to be changed with demos only and no hand’s on interaction.  In November we were able to have an extraordinary artist’s event, the Route 3 Art Trail, with local craftspeople opening their studios within the area, creating a new opportunity for the community to have a hands-on chance to see artists at their craft, and to be able to touch and purchase crafts. 

Because COVID 19 turned back into a fast-spreading disease in November, we made the decision to close again from mid-December to mid-April 2021.  We are in hopes that by March we will be able to see if the vaccines are being given efficiently and helping.  We also hope that the State loosens the restrictions on crowd entry.  We will still be prepared with free masks, hand sanitizers, and well-ventilated areas.  I will be applying for another PPP loan, as our 2020 losses were considerable, and hoping the state of NH will be offering some more additional help for brick-and-mortar galleries and stores.  We are learning to be flexible and realize that our plans may again change in the spring, and plan to allow easy changes in our class schedule, show schedule, and opening dates.

Creating TWIGGS and my studio has certainly been a learning experience, but it has allowed me to see a dream to fruition and keep me in my wonderful studio to further expand my creativity.  Looking forward to a new world when COVID 19 is no longer a threat to each of us.

 Everyone is invited, tell your friends!

Our annual Spring Meeting will be Sunday

April 18 at 3:30pm on Zoom.

Kimberly Ritchie, a NH artist and Associate Professor of Art at Plymouth State University, will talk about her work “Endangered, Invasive, and Undiscovered [Species].”

Kimberly Anderson Ritchie is the coordinator of the Printmaking Program at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH. From the PSU description: “Ritchie’s curiosity, love, and respect for the natural environment has directed her artistic practice, which focuses on a visual response to the natural environment. Her main focus is producing artwork that brings attention to an array of environmental issues.”

She has exhibited her work throughout the United States, attended artist residencies, participated in numerous printmaking portfolio exchanges, presented at conferences, and is involved in University and community service.

Professor Ritchie says, about her own work that she is “trying to bring the beauty, mystery, and conservation of the land back into our daily focus through the image-making process.”  She writes that the artwork is her way of “internalizing the natural world and expressing her concern.”

You can see more of her work here: http://www.kimberlyandersonritchie.com/work.html.

Email info@wcanh.org for the passcode.

Kimberly Ritchie, watercolor, India Ink on Mylar mounted on paper, 30 x 40 inches

     Do you want to learn about an online class, see a unique technique demonstrated or hear some supportive feedback on your art? Art pods are the key. Not a member? Not a problem! Everyone is welcome at the five art pods currently offered by WCA/NH: the Artist’s Meeting Place in Boscawen, the Plymouth Pod, the Lakes Region Pod in Laconia, the Monadnock Pod and the Zoom Pod that has no location.

So what happens at an art pod? A facilitator offers announcements about WCA/NH meetings, exhibitions, scholarship or grant opportunities, upcoming classes and more. Next, artists are invited to show and describe their art work if they wish (no pressure). This is not a critique, but a time for positive encouragement from peers. Some perks: artists can gain information about a technique they would like to try, find inspiration from viewing others’ artwork, and acquire new ideas. The art pods are close-knit and welcoming. Members have even taken museum trips and coordinated art exhibitions together.

Here is a letter and photos from our member, Diane Louise Paul. We are thrilled that WCA/NH could provide funds for professional development in the name of our long-time and dearly-missed member Edith Weiler. Check out the program here: https://www.wcanh.org/the-edith-weiler-professional-development-grant/

I wanted to say thank you very much for The Edith Weiler Scholarship for Professional Development. I used this scholarship to attend a virtual three day online class on metal stamp making and stamping put on by MetalWerx school: https://www.metalwerx.com. The Instructor was Matthieu Cheminee.

I learned how to make my own one of a kind handmade stamps that I will be using in my leather  and  with the new metal work I am doing. This class immensely helped me grow as an artist to be able to create my own one of a kind handmade designs, elevating my work to a new level. I feel so blessed to be part of this great community. I had joined WCANH before the Pandemic and had no idea how much this one decision would make in my life. It opened many doors as an artist and helped me get through this pandemic – especially with our monthly pod zoom meetings, seeing and talking about our artwork with others helped me get through many dark days. I look forward to the bright future of learning more about art through this great and caring organization.

Diane Louise Paul Leather Artisan

Hand-Crafted Leather & Repair

DLPleather.com

You are challenged to do 15 minutes of creative activity every day for the next 100 days! If you’d like, you can document your activities in a journal, notebook or social media. If you miss a day, you will need to start over. It can be anything creative, in any medium as long as you spend at least 15 minutes every day on something creative. It could be a quick sketch, a commission, a piece for an upcoming exhibit, a card for a friend, play a musical instrument, decorate a cake, write a poem. I just has to be something creative. The goal of the challenge is to help you get out of the winter doldrums through art.

And in 100 days it will be Spring!