Summer Programming!

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Youth camps, 2-D skills workshop series, adult classes, and a Monster Hunt… it is going to be a packed summer!

Check out dates for youth art enrichment camps for 9+ here.

Build your skills in sketching, or explore illustration and watercolors in a series of 3 workshops.

Sign up for a a clay wheel throwing or sculpting class here

(Unfortunately, the stained glass and watercolor/drawing classes on hold in the summer due to the teachers’ schedules. If you are interested in signing up for Fall session, let us know now!).

Benefit Spring Cleaning Sale!

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Discount pottery all for a good cause!

Sale is live during normal studio open hours from March 28-April 2nd.  Closed Sunday and Wednesday. Open 12-8pm. Stop in for early Mother’s Day gifts, you gifts, or just to support a good cause and some local makers.

 

Pottery for a Purpose: 

Community-made Mugs & Bowls at $20 per piece. Proceeds go to The International Institute of New England. This organization creates opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship.  

Clay for Kids Scholarship:  

$1 pottery sale of old abandoned workshop pots that funds scholarships for kids to attend our after school or camp programs.  Fill a brown bag for $5!

Studio Member & Staff Spring Cleaning!  

Old designs, less than exciting glazes, small blemishes… all reasons to clear it out and sell it at a discount! Most work will be priced between $5 and $25. 

 

Share the event on Facebook!  

 

3 ways to get started

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If you are itching to get into the studio, here are the 3 ways to involved:

  1. Just try it out for a day. We offer 1-day workshops that are great introductions to the studio and the process. They are available for clay and stained glass every weekend, and we can offer mosaic, plant arrangement, and drawing and painting workshops by request. Though many workshops are full in the next few weeks, we often have space available in the Paint-Your-Own Handmade Pottery Room.
  2. Take a 10-week class. We offer a class session every season. They are longer and more in depth. You learn the whole process from beginning to end.
  3. Join as a member. This option is only open for the clay studio and only to those who have either been through 3-4 full class sessions with us, or who have several semesters of college level clay experience.

Booking a Workshop FYI

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Weekend workshops have been very full here these past few weeks, and look mostly booked until March!

This is partly because this is the busy time of year when folks are redeeming holiday gifts, and also because we keep class sizes small.  Classes are small so that 1) the instructor can better reach all the students, 2) because of the state of community health, we limit the number of people in the room, and 3) because specialized equipment is required for these classes and only so much stuff will fit in the room!

If you are interested in trying the wheel, stained glass, or one of our other offerings here, we recommend booking well in advance (meaning: reserve your workshop for the next available date now, even if it is not til springtime), OR get a group of 6 or more together and touch base via email about a private party.  Sometimes we can host private parties at a time that workshops are not normally offered, and sometimes we can bring in a second staff member to make it work.

Either way, whether you are coming in now or later, we can’t wait to work with you and get you started in the studio!

December Deals!

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Stop in for handmade gifts! We are open 12-8PM M, T, Th, F, S. We are open during classes or by appointment on Wednesdays.

We have knit hats, pottery, gift cards, charcuterie boards, stickers, and more – work from over 30 different makers is in the shop.

If you spend $35 or more in the handmade gift shop this month, you get to take home a free 2″ succulent plant. They are super cute.

If you spend $50 or more in the handmade gift shop this month, you get to take home a baby succulent AND you will get a $5 coupon that is valid for any future gift shop purchase up until February 14, 2022.

We will be closing for the holiday break from Dec 24th until January 2. Classes and normal hours resume January 3rd.

Small Business Saturday is Nov 27th

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We will be closed for Thanksgiving Family Time from Wednesday Nov 24-Friday Nov 26.

We will be open limited hours on Saturday Nov 27th from 12-4PM.

 

Get a free 2″ succulent with Handmade Gift Shop purchases of $35 or more!

 

The online shop is always open for gift cards, class registrations, and Take & Make project pack orders! The in-person handmade gift shop is far more robust and personal than our online shop, but some of the pottery is listed there.

550arts.com/giftshop

 

Thanks for a great Monster Hunt

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Thanks so much to all the friends and families who came out to hunt for monsters and give them a caring home! After feedback from volunteers, we’ve accepted the fact that the event has grown to the point where we need to make changes. Next year:

  1. We will start the event off with a kids-only (6 and under?) hunt in a downtown park. Hopefully, this will be better for kids and for parents! The public all-ages hunt will begin as usual after this throughout Elm Street.
  2. We will still make all the monsters, but we will only be hiding “Monster Coins”. Anyone who finds a monster coin can redeem it at Studio 550 for the monster numbered on the coin. In any given year we usually find out who found 70% of the monsters. We’d love to know where the other 30 went. We hope this encourages people to only take one, so that more enjoyment can be had by all!

Do you have any other suggestions? Email us.

 

 

Summer Monster Comic Contest

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Create a comic strip with a monster as the main character!

Stay creative this summer and win prizes

  • Design your own monster! Have fun with it!.
  • Your comic must be at least 4 frames, fill an 8.5×11 sheet of paper, and have a title  
  • Comics can be Black & White or colored, but they should look finished. 
  • It can be funny or serious
  • A winning comic will have a short story or joke that relates to the monster’s characteristics, for example a butterfly with ears for wings might be the conductor of a weird bug orchestra because they love listening to music.
  • Creativity, attention to detail, and storyline will be considered when determining the winners. 

Submission guidelines  

Deadline: 8PM on August 21, 2021 on Monster Hunt Day!  

Ways to submit:  1) Drop off your original on Monster Hunt Day 2) Email images to Info@550arts.com or instagram direct message images to @studio550 3) Facebook message images to Studio550ArtCenter (Parents should submit for kids under 12 and please note photo guidelines below). 

 

Include the following:  

  • The creator’s name, age, and title of your project, and contact information (parent’s info, if youth)

Answer the following questions. 

  • What is your monster’s name? 
  • What is your monster’s favorite thing to do? 
  • Does your monster have any special abilities or talents? 
  • (youth only) How much help did you get from parents on this project? (none, some, or a lot?) 

 

Photo guidelines:  

We would like to at least see one picture of the overall project (try to frame the page in the corners of the shot and use good light!) and also include 3 close up shots of your favorite details.  

 

Additional information: 

  • These contests are open all ages, though submissions will be divided by age before judging
  • This must be completely the person’s original work.   
  • Submissions, winning or not, may be shared on the Studio 550 Instagram or Facebook pages.  
  • If your project is in the top ten, the original will need to be dropped off at the studio to determine the winners. The top ten projects will also be displayed in our studio for 2 weeks. Specific dates TBD, but likely in the fall. 
  • Family friendly content only.

 

Prizes: 

1st: Clay Workshop for two

2nd: A Take & Make home art kit 

3rd: Paint Your Own Pottery for two (Free table fees, pottery chosen to paint is an extra fee)

Plus, great prizes from Double Midnight Comics and the Manchester Historic Association!

New Summer Classes! Comics/Cartooning and Watercolors

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We are positively delighted to welcome Dan Atherton to our line up this summer.  He will be teaching two classes on Tuesdays – Comic & Cartooning and Watercolors!

Both classes are open to teens and adults and are geared towards beginners.

Dan is a NH native who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Sequential Art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has contributed color works to DC and other comic titles, and created a webcomic for fun about Boston sports teams. He enjoys field sketching in a variety of media, and finds a special fondness for the unpredictability of watercolor.

Learn more about the classes here under “Paint & Pencil” class offerings.

Spring Cleaning Mother’s Day Sale!

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Find FABULOUS and UNIQUE Mother’s Day gifts!
Help us clear out old work to make way for the new!
Help raise funds for FIT-NH and Clay for Kids!
Price range: $1-$45, with many items $1, but most items $5-$20.
At the sale you will find:
– Discounted pottery made by staff and Studio members – bowls, cups, mugs, plates and more (all perfectly good, just older designs)
-Some “Seconds pottery” (items with small imperfections or blemishes)
– Older stained glass designs made by glass instructor Theresa Caulkins
– $15 “Empty Bowls” fundraiser bowls (all proceeds go to Families in Transition-New Horizons)
– $1 pottery to raise funds for Studio 550’s “Clay for Kids” Scholarship
– Plant pots and probably some plants!
Everything in the spring cleaning sale will be handmade, but If you are looking for something a little more unique, you can also shop out handmade gift shop, with artisan-made jewelry, pottery, glass, and more.
COVID INFO: All guests MUST wear a mask to enter and SANITIZE their hands before shopping. We will limit shoppers to 4 people to the room.