WellesleyWeston Magazine

WINTER 2012/2013

Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.

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family matters "a good thing to do to connect the community" While arguably enjoying less of the renaissance that Wellesley seems to be undergoing, Weston, too, has long offered support and instruc- tion in the visual arts and crafts. The Weston Arts and Crafts Association (WACA) is the most visible forum for the town's artists. "Weston has a number of artists hidden in the woodwork," points out WACA member and landscape artist Larry Grob. "The reengagement of artists is one of the agenda items [of the Association]," he adds. Two years ago, Grob was the artist-in-residence at Weston community farm Land's Sake. "I like to use art to build con- nections with the land," he remarks, stressing the connections that art can forge and noting that Land's Sake is home to many sculptures. "You have to look for them but they're there." A perennial home to the work of some of Weston's artists is the Josiah Smith Tavern. WACA organizes two annual events at the historic land- mark: an arts and crafts holiday show in early December and the Spring Awards Show – a juried event that includes the works of Association members and students from Weston's respected school art programs. For those seeking instruction in pottery, a well-known studio in town is Weston Clay Studios. Established 20 years ago by potter Phyllis Biegun, the studio offers children's and adult's classes privately, semi- privately, or for parties and bridal showers. Knitting aficionados, meanwhile, can sign up for classes at the Weston Public Library, or at 150 left: New students at Wellesley's Sew Easy displaying their first projects right: A Sew Easy student hard at work In Stitches, a retail store that serves a long-standing clientele of knitters and needlepointers. Weston's Recreation Department also offers art classes in a wide range of media to children and adults. Both towns have active garden clubs that offer workshops in floral design and flower arranging, an often less-noted art form that nonethe- less can be competitive. "Through garden clubs, you can do workshops and learn different techniques," says Weston resident Jessica Pohl who, with a team of other Weston residents, recently won first place at the New England Flower Show and has shown her work at a number of exhibitions, among them Art in Bloom at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. In addition, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Wellesley offers classes in floral design, as well as botanical painting. No matter the medium, artists stress the benefits that come with making local art a more visible and vibrant force in the community. "Putting up art that people are making is a good thing to do to con- nect the community. It's a way to communicate," says WCAP's Laura Fragasso. So what would she tell the area's established and aspiring visual artists? "Put a nail in the wall. Look at it while others look at it. Art doesn't always inspire beauty. It's something to respond to. " WellesleyWeston Magazine | winter 2012/2013 PHO TOS COURTESY OF SEW EASY

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