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Grab your crafting buddies! Make glass mosaics or paint handmade pottery!

Book table time and you can each choose your own project!

Save a seat at the table! https://www.550arts.com/classes/pyo/

Mosaics:

• Make a puzzle where there are no wrong pieces and anything goes.
• Sift through lovely and colorful glass to find what you want for your arrangement.
• Finished projects can be wall decor or coasters.
• Glass edges have been “softened” so the activity is open to youth as well. We’ve tested the mosaics with as young as 6 and it worked out, though we wouldn’t recommend any younger.
• Just like PYOP projects from the MYOM (make your own mosaic) space will be left here with us to finish with grout and an optional hook in the back for hanging.

Paint your own HANDMADE Pottery:

• Pick a pot
• Paint your design on it with underglaze paints
• That’s it! Leave it with us and we will clear glaze and fire it so it is food safe and ready for you to use and love again and again.

 

The Monster Hunt returns to Manchester August 24th

Find a Monster. Keep a Monster. Discover Downtown. 

 

Downtown Manchester, NH- On Saturday, August 24, 2024, the Monster Hunt returns to Downtown Manchester. This is the 12th year of the family-friendly outdoor art hunt, where Studio 550 makes 100 red clay monsters and hides them downtown.  

 

Studio 550 hopes that by putting art out in the streets people will find joy in walking their city in search of the unexpected. 

 

Monster Finders get the immediate reward of being able to keep the monster. All searchers are asked to keep only one, even if they see more, so the joy can be shared by as many people as possible.  

 

The public all ages hunt begins after a kick-off meeting at 10:50AM at City Hall Plaza. At the meeting you’ll get the rules, tips, and prizes before you head off on the search! The hunt goes until they are all found (which is pretty quick).  

 

Monsters will be concentrated in the heart of downtown on Elm Street between Bridge St and Studio 550 at 550 Elm. All Monsters will be placed in public places. Typically, they like to hide in places that people see every day, but normally do not have a reason to keep looking. Monsters LOVE public art. 

 

From 10:45AM-1PM Studio 550 will be hosting a number of low-cost hands-on activities at 550 Elm Street.  In addition to a medallion-for-monster trade-in and raffle to win a Studio 550 Gift Card, visitors can also make their own clay monster, try the pottery wheel, and make a plant habitat for their new found friend. There will also be sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and rock painting.

 

Monster Medallions: We are hiding reusable Monster Medallions in lieu of the actual monsters. Bring your medallion to Studio 550 at 550 Elm St that day to trade in the found coin for your one-of-a-kind monster. 

 

Kids-only Hunt: There will be a mini-hunt for little ones before the public hunt! The DoubleTree Hotel at 700 Elm has graciously allowed use of the green space in front of the Center of NH. The mini-hunt begins at 10:30AM and is for littles 5 and under.  Look for the colorful pennant flags! There will be 25 monsters available in this youth hunt, and all hunters get a free monster sticker, whether or not they find a clay monster.

 

Sweet Treats: To sweeten the deal, a handful of downtown businesses will also be offering specials or activities to those who find a monster. The Manchester City Library BookMobile will be at City Hall Plaza (no monster required!), Queen City Cupcakes will have a limited supply of monster cupcakes, and Dancing Lion Chocolate will have an artful chocolate coin for anyone who finds a monster. 

  

No purchase is necessary, but Monster-Seekers and Monster-Finders are encouraged to stay downtown to eat and to discover what our city has to offer. 

 

Questions about the hunt can be directed to 603.232.5597, info@550arts.com. More information can also be found on the Studio 550 website  https://www.550arts.com/about/monsterhunt/ and FB Event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1125846722052264

Crazy enough, just as soon as they were offered, the evening pottery classes have already filled up. Please email info@550arts(dot)com to be added to the evening class waitlist. Things do shift last minute and sometimes spots open up, so let us know if you’re interested!

Other classes to choose from:

• Stained Glass
• Soft Pastels
• Acrylic Painting
• Drawing
• Watercolor Painting
• Clay – Pottery Wheel (daytime and saturday classes)
• Clay – Hand Sculpting (afternoon and evenings)

Adults and teens 15yo+ are welcome to join. Learn more here. 

There is still space in Oil Painting, Watercolors, Acrylic Painting, Drawing, and daytime stained glass classes.

 

All clay hand building classes are full, and all pottery wheel classes are full.  Please email to be added to a waitlist.

 

Spring Session begins early April. Online registration opens 3 months prior.

For the whole month of November, Take-and-Make kits are 20% off!

Order one here: https://www.550arts.com/classes/diy/

We will be closed for the Thanksgiving weekend (including Small Business Saturday), so staff can enjoy much loved quality family time! We are encouraging others to do the same with some interactive take-home activities. Not only do you get the fun of doing the activity with loved ones, but you also have the sweet memento afterwards.

You can choose:

• an open-ended clay kit (1.5lbs of clay + tools) to make a mug, planter, dish, sculpture, etc.
• A set of two glass mosaic coasters (you choose the glass colors)
• Paint your own handmade Pottery (choose from a selection of pottery made right here in Manchester, NH to paint your designs on)
• Holiday ornaments to paint with acrylic paints (a variety of 8 holiday themed shapes)

Online pre-orders are encouraged, as we are often teaching and may not be able to put together drop-in orders right away.

The last day to pick up any kits before the thanksgiving break is 8PM November 21st.

Order kits online, pick them up in the shop (or ship to home), and have fun making some hands-on crafts with your family over the holidays! Some kits (the clay sculpting and the Paint your own Pottery) will require a return trip to the studio to drop off the work to be fired and again to pick up the finished work. The mosaic glass coasters and the painted holiday ornaments do not need to be returned to be finished.

BONUS! Any group that makes it a party with 8+ of the same kit, gets a bonus gift! (for example, if a group of 8 wants to paint pottery, each person can pick their own shape and colors and it still qualifies. However, if four want to make sculpt with clay and four want to make mosaics, no bonus.)