NEW WILMINGTON Local artisans will open traditional arts gallery
The gallery also will showcase weaving and quilting works.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Three local artisans are opening a gallery here to teach and promote traditional arts.
Creative Traditions Artisans' Workshops and Gallery is set for a grand opening celebration Saturday and Sunday. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
The 7,200-square-foot building is on Pa. Route 158, just north of New Wilmington, behind Amish Oak Furniture Showcase. A driveway just before D.M. Campsey Feed & amp; Seed leads to the building.
The three artisans who will have workshops in the building are Jim Moose, New Wilmington furniture designer and maker; Donna Kissinger, a Sharon metalsmith; and Pat Logue, a Sharon potter.
Custom furniture
Moose, who along with his wife, Sherry, owns a custom furniture-making business called Moosewood Furniture, has exhibited his pieces at the Hoyt Institute in New Castle and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown.
He also has designed and built stage props for several productions of the New Castle Regional Ballet, including a Cinderella pumpkin, a swan sleigh and a character called Mother Ginger.
Kissinger earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Slippery Rock University and specializes in nonprecious metal jewelry. She is a rostered artist of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and has a studio at 495 Sharpsville Ave., Sharon, which she will continue to maintain.
Logue, a graduate of the Pittsburgh Art Institute, specializes in tile work and sinks. He has been exhibiting his work at regional art shows for years.
Moose said the gallery also will showcase the work of 13 other artisans in other media including weaving, Raku pottery, stained glass, watercolors, soaps and lotions, quilting, beaded jewelry, blown glass and batik, a method of dyeing designs on cloth. He said they hope to eventually bring other artisans needing work space into the building.
He added that they hope to maintain a high-quality operation and will be putting out a call for artists and accepting applications for new artists to display work in the gallery. Special shows are also planned.
Classes offered
Creative Traditions also will offer classes in woodworking, drawing, pottery and handbuilding ceramics. Regular hours after the grand opening will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
For more information, call Creative Traditions at (724) 946-8980.