Celebrating Open Studios

Celebrating Open Studios

by Arlene Distler

In this, the 20th anniversary year of Open Studio Weekend, participants will be invited into the buildings, barns, homes and assorted structures that make up the work spaces for 263 artists and artisans from all regions and corners of Vermont.

The history of Open Studio is that of an idea who’s time had come––it was instantly embraced. In 1993, the “Year of American Craft”, the Vermont Craft Council published a guidebook for Vermont crafts,a resource listing craftspeople throughout the state. In what, writes Anne Majusiak, seems, looking back, almost like an afterthought, the Guide had a tiny icon indicating craftspeople who would open their studios during Memorial Day weekend. The theme was Craftspeople Are Your Neighbors.

The idea was first proposed by Charley Dooley, a craft festival producer, who was then serving as Board President of the newly formed non-profit organization. VCC Director Martha Fitch calls Dooley “a guy with big ideas.” Dooley, still active today in ventures that bring together the public and local producers of Vermont-based products, says “local visitors are an important part of OSW. It’s educational, and keeps crafters, who may be holed up in their studios at all hours in touch with their community.” Majusiak concurs: “Open Studio is an attempt to satisfy the curiosity about what exactly goes on in those studios” that may be way out on a dirt road or ensconced in towns and villages.

However, though its original purpose remains, Open Studio Weekend has also become a way to spread the word about the depth of creativity in Vermont to further reaches. Says Martha Fitch, Director of VCC, Open Studio Weekend provides “a way to increase the visibility of artists and crafts people in Vermont”. It fosters “an appreciation for the creative process and the role that artists and craftspeople play in the vitality of Vermont’s communities.”

As a bonus May is a time in Vermont that is beautiful but underappreciated, with apple trees, lilacs, and many perennials abudding or ablooming.

The artist’s or craftsperson’s studio is a kind of sacred space. As Judith Reilly, an award-winning fabric artist from Brandon, Vermont, eloquently states in her essay, The Studio, “a studio is an attitude and a sanctuary”, a place where the creative individual discovers “the true inner creative self.” In this laboratory of truth and beauty as it pertains to the artist’s and artisan’s journey, we get to share in the process. We experience the sights that may have inspired a painting, the colors of the landscape the artisan may have echoed in a scarf or shawl. While not always that direct, being in the surroundings of an artist’s workspace affords us an intimate connection with the made object.

And if you desire something you don’t see, you can talk with the artisan, receive that extra bit of attention to address your individual needs and desires.

Who, in these face-paced, hard-working, techno-centric times, does not need to balance all that with the rewards of the patience and devotion it takes to be an artist or artisan?

The distinction of being the “granddaddy” of Open Studio belongs to the Putney Craft Tour, now going into its 34th year. A small town just north of Brattleboro in the southeastern corner of the state, Putney has long been known for the density of creative types within its borders.

Several areas of the state have created their own “mini-tours” with maps and guides to their specific area. One such endeavor is “Artisans of Southern Vermont”, listing 30 craftspeople. One of them is Bob Gasperetti, a furniture maker from Mt. Tabor, who will be honoired by VCC this year for taking part in every single Open Studio since its inception. Gasperetti is known for his use of beautiful woods and his mastery of traditional joinery.

Also honored as 20-year participants are Harry and Wendy Bessett, glassblowers from Hardwick. Although their studio is open year-round, it is during Open Studio Weekend, says Wendy Bessett, that local people in particular make it a point to stop by. Says Bessett, “I hear over and over the gratitude for the opportunity to see the studio. There’s a sense of appreciation that they are not being marketed to, but that it’s a way of having a chance to see and learn.”

The tiny town of Readsboro at the mid-southern border of the state has taken the open studio experience one step further, inviting local people into their studios for hand-on experience, with several different artisans and artists participating each year, as well as being open for Open Studio.

Happily for the public the creative journey is one that many artists/artisans enjoy sharing.

The arts take patience and perseverance. And a lot of love. For me, these are the gifts, the gentle reminders (proddings) of Open Studio Weekend.

What better way to escape the pressures and pull of the workaday world than to bask in the joy of creativity?