Happening at RiverArts: Salons, Classes and Artist Roundtable Discussions

Learn something new & have fun in 2021! Chestertown RiverArts offers a full slate of covid-safe programs for the winter and spring months, with new art practices, exciting guest speakers, and more. Visit the website at community.ChestertownRiverArts.org, subscribe to the Daily Dose email newsletter, and follow on social media for updates on the offerings below and more!

A RiverArts Salon is a place for lively, physically distant but socially connected conversation that goes a little bit deeper than small talk. Salons grow community connections and increased understanding every Tuesday from 5 to 5:45pm. RiverArts Salons have become increasingly popular, with guests including local luminaries from Washington College and the Eastern Shore arts community as well as global artists and scholars from Boston University, The Museum of Natural History in New York, and Hochschule für Musik Detmold, in Detmold, Germany and more.

On Tuesday, January 26, 2021, Buck Duncan, President of the Mid-Shore Community Foundation talks about the Dock Street Foundation’s Hopeful 2021 campaign and what citizens of the Shore can do to be hopeful, give back, and engage during these times. University of Auckland health researcher Paul Ware brings a perspective from another hemisphere on February 2 to lead a conversation about cultural differences between the global East and West, focusing on New Zealand and Taiwan.

Salons will continue on Tuesdays throughout the spring. Guests will include Salvadoran musician, painter, and ceramicist Fredy Granillo, theoretical astrophysicist Eve Armstrong, Jan Elvin and David White of WC-ALL, and author and founder of Black Minimalists Yolanda Acree, among others. Register at community.chestertownriverarts.org/programs/category/Salon.

Do you ever wish you had a personal consultant to help you frame your work? Have questions about pricing, selling, or how to navigate the “new normal” as a working artist? New monthly Artists’ Roundtable discussions offer peer-to-peer support and a place for local artists to share ideas and experience on essential topics. Hosted by RiverArts Gallery Director Sue Wilson, the series will begin on Wednesday, January 27 at 6pm with “Framing your Work to Exhibit.” Presenting your work professionally is a crucial part of success as an artist. From picking the right mat or frame to design, money and time saving tips and tricks, and simple how-tos, Sue will draw from her over 25 years of experience to answer your questions.

February will also bring engaging classes and opportunities to learn something new. Through a combination of Zoom sessions and detailed homework lessons, painter Deena Ball presents an in-depth exploration of watercolor painting on the first three Wednesdays in February. Later in the month, local multi-hyphenate artist Vanna Ramirez offers a one-hour drawing primer, So You Think You’d Like to Draw. And we’re excited to offer two fun free classes that support hands-on creativity at home with the camaraderie of others in our community — a “yarnstorming” session with guidance & tips on making items to contribute to Adkins Arboretum’s March event, and a TGIF-style paint night to complete a “paint at home” kit together. Kits will be available on the RiverArts website.

Register for these and other classes at community.chestertownriverarts.org/programs/category/Class. RiverArts is committed to accessible programming and to compensating artists and instructors fairly and offers virtual classes on a pay what you can basis. Those with limited funds are welcome to enjoy full access to the class for a donation of any size. Those who are able are invited to pay more, to support accessible art experiences for all.

The community is the reason RiverArts exists. Executive Director Maria Wood writes, “We are pleased to serve both our founding members and those who are just discovering RiverArts. We believe Art in all its forms is essential for expressing our responses to the good and bad we find in the world, and for building bridges from where we are to where we need to be.” RiverArts is committed to action, and loves working together with community members and their considerable talents, experiences, and ideas to build the kind of world we want to see, to make everyone’s lives more creative, colorful, and connected.

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Chestertown RiverArts is a community arts center serving Kent County, Maryland and beyond. RiverArts’ mission is “growing community, creativity, and connection through the Arts.” Visit RiverArts online, call 410.778.6300, or email info@ChestertownRiverArts.org to find out more.