Date Nights at the Wheel and Other Adventures: CraftStudies is Back, Now in White River Junction

Funkalicious Deli is out; CraftStudies is in. The hands-on arts education center celebrated its Grand Opening last Saturday at its new Maple Street location in White River Junction, Vermont.

Not that CraftStudies is a newcomer to the Upper Valley. It was founded in 1952. Craftspersons, students and members of the public may remember its former longtime (60 years!) location in Hanover NH in the same building as the League of NH Craftsmen, in a subterranean space with a coziness that begged for a little more elbow room.

Executive Director Lisa Brahms explained that between the League’s closing of its store in Hanover and the shutterings due to COVID, many people wondered if CraftStudies had gone extinct. Not so. After some time spent considering new locations, CraftStudies chose the White River Junction space as a natural fit.

And what a space it is, with immense windows fronting onto Maple Street and letting in an abundance of natural light. Room enough for the over 300 (after which they stopped counting) members of the public to troop through throughout the day to check out the renovations that transformed the vibe from deli to crafts center. Attention has been paid to accessibility, with ramps favored over stairs, and that rarity in the neighborhood—parking spaces.

During my visit on opening day, artists were giving demonstrations, including at one of the many pottery wheels. I watched small groups of adults and kids fashion clay tiles (below) that would later be fired and used to assemble a decorative and functional backsplash behind the studio’s sink.

Classes are scheduled and ready to go for the summer: Jewelry Design (“metals that move”), Broom Making, Recycled Papermaking, Shibori (described as a Japanese art of tie-dyeing), Tapestry Weaving, Natural Dyes of the Upper Valley and more. There’s even one called “Date Nights at the Wheel.” And kids can participate in numerous summer camps.

Feeling artsy? The website will tell you everything you need to know.

(Photos courtesy of CraftStudies)

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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.