Nashua will host ArtWalk 2012 on Sept. 29-30
By TERESA SANTOSKI Staff WriterCourtesy photo. "Alice," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. "Free Space," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. "Twin Gold," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. Dual metal earrings by Gail Moriarty Designs. Moriarty, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. Earrings by Gail Moriarty Designs. Moriarty, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. A piece by Renaissance Glassworks. Located in Nashua's Picker Building, Renaissance Glassworks is one of many studios participating in ArtWalk 2012.
Courtesy photo. "Alice," a mixed media collage by Bonnie Guercio. Guercio, who has a studio in Nashua's Picker Building, is one of many artists participating in ArtWalk 2012.
IF YOU GO
ArtWalk 2012
WHEN: Noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30.
WHERE: Downtown Nashua and the Millyard.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit www.cityartsnashua.org. For more information about downtown Nashua?s Fall Restaurant Week, visit www.downtownnashua.org.
As Christmas draws ever closer, so does the dread of braving the crowded malls in search of the perfect gifts.
From what City Arts Nashua board member Bonnie Guercio has seen, those familiar with Nashua?s arts community have a little shopping secret: the annual ArtWalk.
ArtWalk 2012 will be held from noon-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, and noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, in downtown Nashua and the nearby Millyard.
As a mixed-media collage artist with a studio in the Picker Building, Guercio noticed that a number of people who visited the building during last year?s ArtWalk returned in the weeks leading up to Christmas. In addition to buying completed pieces, they also requested commissions.
?Most of the people in the Picker Building, just about everybody has somebody come back because they saw them in the ArtWalk,? Guercio said. ?They like what you created and now they?re ready to acquire that.?
To buy something that?s original and handmade in your community ?says something nice about your ideas of gift-giving,? Guercio said. It ?becomes a nicer, more thoughtful gift.?
?Our gift dollars are shrinking, and so I think people are putting a bit more thought into their gifts.?
ArtWalk, organized by City Arts Nashua, is an opportunity for the public to connect with the city?s arts scene through open studios, tours, activities, musical performances and conversations with the artists.
?It helps people know that there are wonderful artisans, craftsmen, that they can count on,? Guercio said. ?You don?t have to go to Boston or Cambridge or someplace like that to find some really very well done art.?
In addition to the Picker Building, which houses more than two dozen artists, major ArtWalk venues include 55 Lake St. Studios; the Hunt Memorial Building, where members of the Nashua Area Artists Association will display the work of its members; and Indian Head Plaza, which will host independent artists.
Something a little different will greet visitors to ArtWalk?s northernmost venue ? the Nashua Historical Society ? where about 20 pieces of very weighty Nashua history will be on display and available for purchase.
They?re the city?s iconic triangular manhole covers, which the society has previously auctioned in groups and is now selling to boost its fund for educational programs.
The Speare and Abbot House museums will be open for tours as well.
On Main Street, a number of businesses also will open their doors, Guercio said, ?so artists that have no studios can be inside to display their artwork. They don?t have to be outside in a tent.?
For example, Renaissance Downtowns at 88 Main St. will host Positive Street Art, which will display its ?Views From a Cell? cellphone photography exhibit.
The exhibit will be judged by Mark Levesque, of Mark Emile Photography.
All photos will be for sale, with the proceeds going to support future Positive Street Art projects.
?We have an amazing amount of support from the businesses downtown this year,? Guercio said. ?I think the businesses on Main Street are very receptive to including the arts community in the business world.?
Several art-focused tours also will be conducted during ArtWalk.
Historian Alan Manoian will lead a tour of some of Nashua?s architectural highlights, beginning at Bicentennial Park at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Nashua Sculpture Symposium will guide interested attendees through the city?s downtown sculptures, also beginning at Bicentennial Park, at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Yvonne Dunetz will lead a labyrinth walk at the Rotary Common Park on South Main Street at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. She also will discuss the planned Gallery on the Wall, which will be on an exterior wall of the Adult Learning Center, near the park.
Rotary Common Park will host children?s activities, courtesy of the Rotary Club of Nashua. Children?s face painting will be offered at 55 Lake St. Studios throughout the weekend and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua will provide art activities for the young ones Saturday at Indian Head Plaza.
More grown-up artists will appreciate demonstrations at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, 98 Main St.: Nuno Felt with Melinda LeBarge at 1 p.m. Saturday and glass art with Aaron Slater at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Nashua Public Library will have some arts-related events, with a movie screening part of this year?s Nashua Reads program, at 2 p.m. Saturday and a slideshow by Nancy Baker exploring patterning in art at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Live music will be featured at the major ArtWalk venues.
It will include performances by the B Street Blues, Adrien Chan, Cold Stream, Eclectic Woodwind Quintet, Figure 8, Monument Square Brass Quintet, Siroteau, Stagecoach Women?s Chorus, Rahel and John Volpe.
As if all of this wasn?t enough of a draw, ArtWalk will coincide with the end of downtown Nashua?s Fall Restaurant Week. Participating restaurants will offer discounts or special menu items.
For more information about Fall Restaurant Week, visit www.downtown nashua.org.
?It?s almost like a festival of all kinds of arts,? Guercio said. ?You can spend a weekend just appreciating all the wonderful things that Nashua has to offer.?
For more information about ArtWalk, visit www.cityartsnashua.org.
Teresa Santoski can be reached at 594-6466 or tsantoski@nashua telegraph.com. Also, follow Santoski on Twitter (@Telegraph_TS).
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