New Tour Hub & Artsfest Added for
6th Annual Hilltown Open studios Tour
October 5 – 6th, 2024
The Hilltown Arts Alliance announced today that artists who have chosen the beautiful and historic Western Massachusetts Hilltowns as a place to live and work will be hosting visitors on October 5th and 6th, 2024 for the 6th annual Hilltown Open Studio Tour & Artsfest. This year the tour will be centered around Worthington, which is the highest town in the state and one of the prettiest, especially in fall.
The Tour Hub and Artsfest will be in the Worthington Historical Society with tall antique windows illuminating the eight artists featured there. Every hour on the hour during the event artists will be giving presentations. Guests are welcome to take in the fall scenery on the lawn and enjoy a food truck. Worthington also features two restaurants (Liston’s Bar & Grill) and The Goldenrod Country Inn) and a brewery in an old cow barn (Sena Farm ).
In addition to the eight artists at the Tour Hub, the weekend features work and demonstrations from 18 local artists in 12 locations around the Hilltowns from South Worthington north through Plainfield. Many of the studios are in centuries-old barns and historic buildings. The studio spaces are open 11AM – 5PM each day and the tour hub at 6 Williamsburg Road in Worthington will be open from 10:30 – 5PM to offer printed maps and suggestions about studios to visit.
“The rural Hilltown region is a hidden gem just 30 minutes from either the Pioneer Valley or the Berkshires,” says artist Kathryn Jensen who is coordinating the event as well as showing at the Tour Hub. “Artists from around the world – and the US – are choosing to live and create here because of the beauty and quiet as well as availability of space. This rural region is close to renowned cultural institutions like the Clark, Mass MOCA and all the arts connected to the many colleges. We invite the community to come out, enjoy a fall drive on our Scenic Byways like Rtes 112 and 143 and meet some artists.”
Award-winning fiber artist Kathy Ford, who moved here after stints in New York City and Amherst, turned the ground floor of her 19th century house into a workspace for making large-scale “quilts” that resemble color-filled exploded landscapes. She lives just across picturesque Ireland Street from renowned, and widely collected, wood-fired potter Mark Shapiro. North on Main Street in Cummington, narrative ceramicists Kadri Parnamets and Sergei Isupov (from Estonia and Ukraine) have made their home and work in an old mill on the Wild & Scenic-designated Westfield River.
“The Hilltown Open Studio Tour is really a chance to see some extraordinary renovated and reused spaces that only artists could create,” says Ford, a Harvard-trained architect. Plus, it will be at nearly the peak of fall foliage. Attending the tour is the chance to enjoy both the art and scenery of the Hilltowns in one weekend.”
New to the tour this year are: Marcia Hayden Hendrick (painter); Emmett Leader (ceramicist); Lawrence Preston (painter); Angela Sciotti Vincent (painter) and Kate Wills (ceramicist).
Returning artists include: Adrian Almquist (potter and fabric artist); Pleun Bouricius (photographer); Alexandra Cherau (printmaker); Valerianna Claff (watercolor); Olwen Dowling (printmaker and painter); Michael Falcone (painter); Kathy Ford (fiber artist); Leni Fried (printmaker); Lena Garcia (painter); Laurie Israel (painter); Sergei Isupov (ceramicist); Kathryn Jensen (watercolor); David Marshall (painter); Guy Matsuda (potter); Jen Parrish-Hill (artisan jewelry maker); Kadri Parnamets (ceramicist); Greta Gnatek Redzko (painter); Mark Shapiro (ceramicist); Molly Smith (painter and sculptor); Cyndy Sperry (painter and ceramicist); Susanna White (painter).
Printed maps will be available at each studio stop on the tour as well as the Tour Hub. An interactive tour map is located at hilltownartsalliance.org/tour-map. For the most updated information on artists and events throughout the weekend, go to hilltownartsalliance.org
The Open Studio Tour is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, both directly and through the Cummington Cultural District and the Cultural Councils of Plainfield, Cummington, Worthington, Chesterfield, and Westhampton as well as support from the Hilltown Community Development Corporation. Local sponsors include John Thomas Plumbing and Heating, Florence Bank, George Propane, High Field Farm, Liston’s Bar & Grill, Sugarledge Stone Quarry, Salmon Falls Gallery, and Old Creamery Co Op among many others.
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About the Hilltown Arts Alliance. The Hilltown Arts Alliance is a registered 501(c)(3) and is a volunteer-run nonprofit arts organization serving the beautiful hilltowns of Western Massachusetts. These lush rolling hills are home to an impressive number of accomplished artists. Our mission is to spread the word! The Hilltown Arts Alliance seeks to connect and support local Hilltown artists and makers in their creative endeavors.