FREEDOM GALLERY: Full Speed Ahead

FREEDOM GALLERY: Full Speed Ahead

Old Home Week over, it's time to go full speed ahead, and so it has begun again.
Turning an old barn (1865) into a full fledged gallery has more steps then the new ones going from first to second floor. Turning one section into a full fledged studio was minimal to that is left, but  I learned the steps...electric wiring, insulation, walls and ceiling to cover the wiring and insulation, floor rehab, heat, lighting...but one learns quickly that a barn is extensive! 

Stacked and ready to go...

Old Home Week with its lawn party and exhibit were coming attractions of the gallery and event space that will emerge from this effort, but far from the finished product. 

Tuesday after old home week brought a delivery truck that seemed as long as the driveway, and a stack of lumber for the next stages. Electricians arrived to string yards and yards of wire. A gallery needs track lights, ambiance lights, storage and workshop lights on the second floor (and more track lighting incase we expand?) and foam board insulation appeared, only of the several types of insulation that will eventually be part of this whole project.

Insulation between first and second floor.

Sorting things out, preparing for insulation.

 With wiring in place, insulation goes in, section by section, and then the coverings.

Of course the old wall had thirty years of seasoning, and the ceiling/second story floor had over 150 years of seasoning and wear, so the new boards to go above the studio door, and on the ceiling, had to get some "artificial seasoning." 

Today, a rainy day, was exactly the right time to have a painting party! 
Not landscapes or portraits or still life's as one might expect of a gallery intended for fine arts, but boards for ceiling and walls!
Rainy days are good days to prepare ahead. Notice the ceiling about half finished...but those 1865 beams and posts are showing!
Wires hanging down waiting for the track lighting...but progress is obvious...and

Next week is another week! 
Coming attractions?  Actual lights? The slider, cleverly disguised from the outside as the traditional barn doors, but maintaining the look inside as well and opening a full 8 feet...design idea from friend and Freedom neighbor, Ed Boyer...(Thanks Ed, I'll need help on the second floor as well regarding the work bench area too) Floor to be sanded and polished? 
storage area? wall and floor insulation?   Keep watch here. It's all coming in installments.

And Me?  I'm painting paintings instead of boards, and imaging the next painting in the "hut" series, dreaming of the series after that and stashing notes and ideas for the classes I'm taking and the classes I'll be teaching... 

Keep checking back for progress and announcements!

FREEDOM GALLERY: Interlude

Freedom Old Home Week Lawn Party

My "other house" sold! 
Capital available, time to get ripping on renovations...Full speed ahead! 

But wait!
Freedom Old Home Week is the first week in August, this year being the 119th year for the event.  For almost thirty of those years, there has also been the tradition of the opening event, the Friday evening lawn party, held on the lawn of "The Great White Barn."

Me pointing to Peg Scully's  "painting corner." 

Joel's Wall

Mary Hockmeyer, former owner of the barn and house at 8 Elm Street, started the lawn party tradition. What better place to hold the opening of Freedom Week Festivities than the lawn of the barn located in the center of town. For the first seven years I lived in Freedom, that lawn party was one of my favorite events, so when neighbors and acquaintances in Freedom learned I was to be the new owner, the big question was, are you going to have the lawn party? My answer, "Of course, I can't think of anywhere better!"

Sarah's Wall

New owners of course put their own stamp on things...mine was to have four other artists in town share my space with me, announcing, as it were, that the barn would be a gallery. This year ALL Freedom artists were invited to bring three works of art. A recent book I'd read, Show Your Work, inspired me to spread the message. We managed to add 6 artists to the fold, including 4 excited "newbies" to the world of exhibiting, with plans to expand to the second floor next year! 

Terri's Space and Ian Marshall's Memorial

Think of the complexity of closing down construction...interrupting the work, cleaning and clearing the space completely for the exhibit, than full speed ahead again two weeks later. My contractor, Ray DesMarais, understands about artists. His wife is one.  

Interludes and deadlines...because another, bigger exhibit is on the planning board for October 13/14/15.
Probably the official opening, as well!

Deadlines...exhibit interludes! 
Mind changing!
(I expect working with an artist is not always easy, we're known to be quirky)

Thank you to all the artists who participated and to Ray DesMarais for engineering the "interlude" seamlessly.  

NEXT EXHIBIT will feature White Mountain Scenes from photographers and artists who live,  hike, play, and practice their art in the region they live in. Possibly on view as early as October 9, there will be a special preview for Appalachian Mountain Club members the weekend of October 13, 14, 15, followed by the official opening of the Freedom Gallery.

Keep watch on this blog...

Coming to the gallery as well:
Freedom Rings in the Holiday, November 17,18  will again feature mainly local artists.

Yoga in Freedom will expand its offerings and switch from Town Hall to the gallery as soon as the down stairs is heated sufficiently and work upstairs finished. 

Classes on "Creating on Purpose," "Finding and freeing your creativity," and other classes will be offered starting in January.