Touchstone Center for Crafts announces spring programs
Anna Koplik works on her blacksmithing in a studio at Touchstone Center for Crafts.
Stephen Yusko forges in the Hartmore Blacksmithing Studio at Touchstone Center for Crafts.
Jake Erie works in the Susan Brimo Cox Glass Studio at Touchstone Center for Crafts.
Intern Taylor Fentz creates in the Fine Metals Studio at Touchstone Center for Crafts.
Touchstone Center for Crafts interns work in the Ceramics Studio on the campus.
Artists Ron Donoughe and William Pfahl paint outside the Robert Little Studio at Touchstone Center for Crafts.
Touchstone Center for Crafts is gearing up for its season, announcing classes, as well as deadlines for scholarships and internship applications.
Dean Simpson, marketing manager for the Farmington center, said they will be offering two-hour virtual workshops on Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Participants can join on Zoom and will have exclusive access to the recorded demonstrations. The workshops will begin in March and continue throughout the summer.
Simpson said they typically start their in-person workshop season in the spring, but they will be starting at the end of June this year, due to the pandemic.
Touchstone is partnering with National Road Heritage Corridor to offer a Plein Air Painting event on May 15, during the Annual National Road Festival, at Christian W. Klay Winery in Chalkhill. Professional painters Ron Donoughe and William Pfahl will provide painting demonstrations and instruction.
The center also recently opened applications for artists looking to participate in a residency for two to four weeks. The residency is for artists looking for a place to concentrate on their own work, whether it be painting, ceramics, glasswork or another craft.
鈥淚t is an opportunity for artists who may not have had an opportunity to work in a studio space because of COVID or maybe just need somewhere to go that蘑菇视频 cut off from the world and just concentrate on their work,鈥� Simpson said.
Through the residency program, they provide lodging for the artists and time in the campus studios, he said.
Anna Koplik, a blacksmith from New Jersey, found the program after getting recommendations from instructors at another craft school she went to after graduating from college. She interned at the center initially, and then returned as a resident artist in 2018 and 2019. She said it was helpful that she was able to meet with other resident artists to collaborate with them and get their opinions of her work.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 a really good opportunity to step back from the way you think about your work in terms of just being in a rut of making the same thing over and over again or trying to make things just because you have orders coming up or you have deadlines,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can go to a space where your only demand is what you want to do, and you can make just because you鈥檙e excited about something and are surrounded with people who are excited for you and for what you are making and encourage you to try something else.鈥�
Koplik said her creations usually consist of tools, like hammers and blacksmithing tongs, as well as utensils and other small handheld functional objects, sometimes exploring those functional objects in a non-functional, more artistic way.
Touchstone is also applications for their internship program, which starts in May and goes through September. Those who receive the internships will help manage the studios and teach classes and small workshops throughout the season. The application deadline is March 15.
Additional scholarships are offered for Fayette County residents to attend workshops this year due to the donations they received through the Fayette Gives fundraiser. Those scholarship applications are also due March 15.
This year, the center蘑菇视频 Teen Week, a free artistic getaway for teens, will start July 18. Applications for Teen Week are being accepted until April 15.
Simpson said they are not allowing visitors at this time due to the pandemic, but they hope to open the campus up to visitors again later in the year.