Putney Craft Tour Celebrates 35th Anniversary; Launches on 11/29

Windham County in Southern Vermont is a place rich with artistic vision, talent and craftsmanship. It boasts five popular craft and artisan open studio tours spaced at different times of the year. The granddaddy is the Putney Craft Tour, which will have its 35th anniversary Thanksgiving weekend. It's the oldest continuous crafts tour in the U.S. and has served as a prototype for tours all over the country. The tour is also a participant in American Craft week, a nationwide celebration of American Craft.

The artists had been there, drawn into creative orbit in and around Putney in the late-1960s and early-70s for many reasons, including the back-to-the-land movement, the rise of American craft and the powerful cluster of creative souls brought there by Windham College, the Yellow Barn Music Festival, The Putney School and the Experiment in International Living.

There are several founding members of the tour who will be opening their studios again this Thanksgiving, as well as some new to the tour. One of the founders is Potter Ken Pick who arrived in Putney in 1969 after receiving an MAT from Antioch-Putney Graduate School, an education degree. But pottery was never far away from his heart, and in about 1973 he began to earn his living from his craft.
"There are still five or six of us here who were here from the beginning," Pick said. "We banded together in one location before we evolved the tour concept. It got more sophisticated as time went on."

This year we have 26 artists on the tour. It's never been more than 28. "There was a conceptual agreement that that size was good. We wanted to bring in new young people who arrived in the area," he says. He adds that the date of the Thanksgiving weekend was chosen carefully - it's the start of the gift-buying season."

"And, because it's Thanksgiving, there are a lot of people visiting family from all over the country," Pick said. "People are coming from all over the New England states. Most are actually non-Vermonters. They come from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and even from overseas."
Organizing the tour takes a lot of work.

"We start in January with the early organizing, looking at the previous year's tour, seeing what's working well or where we want to evolve," Pick said. "We get from 3,000 to 5,000 people for the three-day weekend. The people who are further out in the hills see fewer people than the people who live closer to town. Location and weather have something to do with it. But we've never had a tour that didn't happen because of the weather."

Carol Keiser, another of the original founders, says that "Artists and craftspeople open their studios to become part of the creative community and to provide an avenue for exposure; to let people know what they do and to provide them access to their craft."

Carol creates vivid painted tiles and paintings with lush landscapes, dreamy figures, fanciful images, and colorful still-lifes. She says she has been concentrating more on painting recently. "My paintings are more expressionistic; magical realism. I try to put in things like stars, moons, the sun; things suggesting the cosmos and iconic elements that suggest something." Much of her work is of places such as Italy, Mexico and Costa Rica and other locations where she travels. She will also have small drawings of nudes, done in gouache and Japanese brush ink in her studio, which is "like a small cottage," she says. "People always go 'wow! What a great place to work!' There's lots of light and color from the paintings and tiles."

Judy Hawkins, says preparing for the Tour is always critical to have the best presentation for her paintings to the public. She is energized by the wonderful interactions she has with visitors to her studio. Most of the time Judy works in isolation, with little feedback while new ideas percolate. Her approach to painting landscapes is based on her intuitive interpretation and recollections to create a sense of place. She has had a very successful year for private and corporate sales and her paintings can be seen at several galleries, including Bluestone Gallery in Philadelphia, chosen as one of 125 galleries representing artists on the new Amazon Art website.

Those connections are what it's all about, both for the artists and the people who visit their studios. Thousands of visitors move through the studios over the course of three days and engage with the artists, the real draw of such tours, as well as the distinctive, original pieces for sale.

Silver jeweler Jeanne Bennett, who has been on the tour for over 10 years, appreciates the feedback she gets. "It's nice to get the work out in public. I'm up in the woods and I love hearing everyone's feedback." In addition to first-timers, Bennett, like most of the artists, has repeat customers that come back "to see what's new and add to their collection."

Potter David Mischke also loves the interaction with customers. "It's wonderful to meet people, explain how you make the pottery. They learn that it requires more skill and experience to make a living than they realize. I had an open house before the crafts tour took shape. I made cookies and served a juice-wine-vodka punch. People stayed and had a great time."

There's no cookies or punch now, but Mischke says 500-700 people usually come each day to see and buy his functional stoneware pottery -- beige/brown exteriors and bright blue Chung glaze interiors.

More than anything the tour is great entertainment. Driving the back roads and finding the studios is an adventure in itself although the studios are well marked and maps provide clear directions. The studios are all within a 12-mile radius.

Putney also reflects the power of the creative economy. "It's not just the crafts studios who benefit, but area B&Bs, stores, restaurants, and retailers." Pick says. "Local shop owners say it's their biggest weekend because of the tour."

Randi Ziter of the historic Putney Inn is a fervent supporter of the Putney Crafts Tour.

"Beyond my small hotel, the tour has a dramatic impact," Ziter said. "It exemplifies the whole image of Vermont - quality artisans, quality crafters. It puts Putney on the map even in times other than the tour. So it's extremely beneficial. We're very dependent on making a name for ourselves and calling attention to ourselves. Economically, I see a little bit of an impact in our dining room, but it comes at a time when we're really busy as a residual to Thanksgiving. But in the larger, macro part of things, it's huge. It's a whole identity thing. It establishes us. It gives us credibility as a community."

Visitors may start at The Gleanery Restaurant, 133 Main Street, Putney for info, maps, and a preview exhibition of the artisans' works.

For detailed information on the craftspeople, a map, and links to accommodations and restaurants, go to putneycrafts.com.