Mini-Mural Monster Search

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Find mini-monster murals in downtown between August 29th to Sept 16th. After the clay monster hunt on August 27th, the fun continues!

During those two weeks, nine businesses will be hosting a mini-monster mural. Find all monster murals and be entered into a drawing for a gift card from one of the participating businesses. No purchase necessary, just a keen eye and a love for the hunt. Please check the individual businesses for open hours before stopping by.

Click here for a PDF of the official Monster Map. You can also pick one up at any of the participating mini-monster businesses during the dates of the hunt 8/29-9/16.

The businesses hosting a mini-monster mural (from North to South) are:

Terracotta Room: 1361 Elm St

Boards & Brews: 941 Elm St

Beeze Tees: 36 Hanover St

Shadow & Soul Emporium: 20 Hanover St

Diz’s Cafe: 860 Elm St

Bookery Manchester: 844 Elm St

Wild Orchid Bakery: 836 Elm St

Granite State Candy Shoppe: 832 Elm St

Pop of Color: 816 Elm St

Studio 550: 550 Elm St

The mini-mural will be painted by these local artists: Jyl Dittbenner, Fallon Rae, Rachel Litzinger, Nicole Rocha, Debi Funk, and Tamara Morris, Monica & Leah Leap, and Jazmine Jade.

All monster murals will be together on August 27th at Studio 550’s Monster hunt and then will disperse across downtown. They’ll come together again the weekend of Sept 17-18 at the Manchester City Arts Fest for the drawing of the winners. They’ll be ready for hugs and photos!

Monster Hunt 2022 – with a twist

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Find one. Keep one. Discover Downtown & win prizes from small businesses.
For the 10th year, Studio 550 is again making 100 unique red clay monsters and releasing them downtown.
We hope that by bringing art to the streets, we can encourage people to slow down and find joy in walking their city in search of the out-of-the-ordinary.
They will be hidden in public spaces on Elm Street from Studio 550 up north to Bridge St. All Monsters will be placed in public places with a lot of foot traffic and in locations that are easily visible to pedestrians. Typically, monsters like to hide in places that people see every day, but normally do not have a reason to keep looking. A windowsill, the corner of a bench, or a flower planter are all places Monsters like to hide, but they could be anywhere.  They love public art.
The hunt begins at 10AM, is open to all ages, and goes very quick!
From 10AM-12PM Studio 550 is hosting a number of low-cost monster-themed activities.
Anyone who finds the single colorful monster automatically wins a free 1-day workshop at Studio 550.
Share this with friends! The FB event link.
CHANGES FOR 2022:
1) There will be a “kids under 5” mini-search in the green space in front of the DoubleTree Hotel before the public hunt along Elm Street. Kids hunt starts at 9:45AM.
2) We are hiding “Monster Medallions” in lieu of the actual monsters. Trade in your medallion at Studio 550 on the day of the hunt to get your real monster!
3) NEW: Mini-Monster Mural hunt. Find all 9 mini-monster murals hiding in downtown businesses between August 29th and the Manchester City ArtsFest on Sept 17-18 and be entered to win a prize. Details coming soon.

Other business partners hosting Monster specials/events that day (contact them for details):

Bookery Manchester

 

 Monster book reading, Monster themed booklist
Beeze Tees Monster games, monster merch
Cafe la Reine – Downtown Monster themed beverage
Dancing Lion Chocolate Artful handmade chocolate coin
Manchester City Library Bookmobile Live at 550 Elm St
Granite State Candy Shoppe Super cool monster sundae
Queen City Cupcakes Monster cupcake
Studio 550 Art Center Monster medallion trade in, raffle, Monster craft bags for sale, Monster clay sculpting, pottery demos, sidewalk chalk, Monster plant habitat
Shadow & Soul Monster themed vinyl stickers & enamel pins
Wild Orchid Bakery cookie monster donut special, cookie monster latte

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!