To the editor:
I’d like to believe the Monadnock Region can support community arts education. The closing of Sharon Arts Center is devastating to me and to many others; I’ve been taking ceramics classes there for 24 years, and friends there are like family. Some of us met last week to discuss possible solutions to revive SAC.
Obviously, our first choice is to save the arts program in Sharon. But how can it sustain itself? Maybe by promoting more classes for children, teens and intergenerational groups to a wider area.
The building in Sharon has an excellent ceramics studio. The large Fushigama wood kiln should be a huge asset. Built about five years ago, it has already attracted students and professors from around New England, including MIT, Harvard, Colby-Sawyer, FPU and ConVal.
Besides ceramics, Sharon has a glass flameworking and jewelry studio, several light-filled painting studios, a fiber room with floor looms, a couple of general-purpose studios, a kitchenette, and a large office space with a reception area. It would be a shame to have all this go unused.
We have many talented artists in the area – painters, glassmakers, jewelers, and weavers, etc. – ready and willing to teach. We have students and homeschoolers. What we need is for some arts-interested entity to invest in SAC.
A big question is how will New England College market the properties? Will the downtown Peterborough store and gallery will remain affiliated with the school? We’re looking for any way to keep our community together and are eager to help make that happen. I certainly hope 70 years of Arts Education doesn’t go down the drain.
Selinda Chiquoine
Sharon