A scenic drive through northeastern Pennsylvania’s spring countryside and the chance to visit ten local artists and see their studios – that’s the adventure in store for you June 3-4, 2017, during the Susquehanna River Arts Open Studio Tour. The tour route is only 41 miles, and the hours are from 11:00 am until 5:00 pm each day, so plan to visit the artists in any sequence you wish, and enjoy a leisurely lunch as well. Susquehanna River Arts has a downloadable brochure including details about each artist, directions to each studio, its address, and phone number. If you visit all 10 studios during the tour, you will be entered in a drawing to win free art. Your first (or last) four stops are right here in Bloomsburg and its environs.
Donna Shaffer calls her style of painting and sculpture Abstract Naturalism. She draws inspiration from simple objects, movements, and colors found in nature, and her sculptures incorporate natural materials such as wood and clay. You’ll find Sara Mika’s art quilts and fiber art at her Mock Pie Studio. She hand paints and embellishes her one of a kind quilts, which typically are small format designs mounted on canvas. Annie Barnhardt works in many media, depending upon the subjects. Her recent themes include birds, landscapes, children, and words. Original art and prints also are displayed at Artspace Gallery.
Geisinger Mural
It’s a two for one stop in Lightstreet where you can visit long-time artists Peter Grimord and Joan Gallup Grimrod. His works range from drawing and photography to sculpture, while she uses drawing and printmaking techniques, together with additions like beads and threads, to combine ‘whimsy and the macabre’.
Robert Holborn Brown’s Premier Studios is located in Danville, PA. He relies on various contemporary and vintage photographic processes to create his art. His travels inspire subjects range from architecture and the environment to people and abstract compositions. To the north of Bloomsburg, you’ll find two studios in Orangeville. Abigail Smith Kurecian, MuddBunny Studios, creates dramatic, but whimsical hand-thrown stoneware inspired by pattern and color from her artistic background. Gail Fox displays her art and natural stone, sterling silver jewelry at Forever Green and Pickering Winery. In addition to crafting jewelry, she is known for her equine drawings and landscape paintings of the region.
Farthest from Bloomsburg are two stops in Benton, PA. You will find BlackBear Pottery & FIne Art, with Sandra Tranor’s artistic ceramic pieces created with varied glazes and clays using both hand and potter’s wheel, and Whitmore Arts Studio with William Whitmoyer’s work in pencil, acrylics, and glass.
There’s no better way to spend the first weekend in June than exploring the art for which our corner of Northeastern Pennsylvania is known, and the landscapes it inspires. Just give us a call or go online to book your lodging here at the Inn, Farmhouse, and Brewing Co. at Turkey Hill in Bloomsburg. At the end of the day, you can return to the Inn to enjoy the art of fine dining in our Farmhouse Restaurant, and our hand-crafted artisan brews from the Brewing Company.
Susquehanna River Arts Open Studio Tour
Date & Time: June 3-4, 2017 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Images courtesy of Columbia Montour Visitors Bureau