After just a few weeks in business, Groton’s newest business, Groton Open Studio, is off the ground and flying after hosting a busy art reception for Groton artist Sharon Wooding on Monday. Open Studio is at 30B Hollis Street.
Co-owner Miranda Hersey said “Dozens of creative folk, friends, and supporters came by to admire Sharon’s stunning encaustics while enjoying good conversation and a lot of laughter. If you haven’t had a chance to see Sharon’s paintings in person, you can see her work at Open Studio through the end of February.”
She said that Monday’s opening is followed by the studio’s regular Tuesday and Wednesday free Creative Community hours sessions. The public is invited to bring laptops, journals, sketchbooks, needlework, or portable art projects and keep company with creative friends and neighbors, for half an hour or the entire session (Open Studio’s free weekly Creative Community Hours are every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 pm.). Open Studio provides focus, wifi, and good cheer. Light refreshments, coffee, and tea are available.
The Creative Community hours were the impetus for the new business. In an press release, Miranda Hersey and co-owner Ellen Olson-Brown said that after years of working in their homes, they
“Noticed that they were each struggling to get their creative work done at home and decided to do something about it. As anyone who has ever worked from home knows all too well, it can be a challenge to stay focused on the task at hand with all the distractions of home and family just inches away. In addition, working from home usually means working alone, without the collegiality and inspiration that come from working alongside other people.”
In the summer of 2011, wishing to foster that sense of collegiality while completing her certification as a creativity coach, Hersey hosted a creative open house at her home. Friends and the friends of friends brought their laptops, sketchbooks, scrapbooking supplies, and needlework projects. Fifty minutes of every hour were spent quietly working, with the last ten minutes set aside for socializing and sharing ideas.
“When I went to the first creative open house, I felt like an unspoken dream had come true,” says Olson-Brown, an educator and the author of four children’s books. “There’s only so long you feel like you can take up space at a coffee shop, and as much as I love the library, sometimes it’s too quiet. At home, I’m popping up every few minutes to answer the phone, let the dog out, or multitask. At the creative open house, I finished more writing than I usually do in a week, made new friends, and was inspired by the interesting work other people were doing.”
The creative open house continued monthly, and Hersey and Olson-Brown began meeting weekly, initially to work on individual writing projects. They asked themselves, “What if we could share our combined experience and sense of excitement and possibility with other people?”
In the fall of 2011, Hersey and Olson-Brown taught their first creative life design workshop at the Blackbird Café in the Mill Run Plaza in Groton. Response to the workshop was so positive that the pair decided to find a permanent home for additional workshops, creative open house time, and other creative projects.
“The space at 30B Hollis is perfect for what we have in mind,” says Hersey. “We call it the little space that’s big on possibility. As a certified creativity coach, I’ll be seeing my individual clients and small groups at Open Studio. And collaborating with artists, writers, musicians, teachers, and businesspeople, who live in Groton and the surrounding area is a major goal. We’ll display the work of visual artists, and we’re scheduling book readings and booksignings, musical soirees, and a variety of classes to begin this winter.”
Details are available at openstudiogroton.com.
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