Creativity and the Arts in Central PA: A community blog

PA Guild of Craftsmen Calls Lancaster Home

2013-02-12T11:00:00Z

The arts scene in Lancaster is lucky to have the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen headquarters located on the 300 block of North Queen Street, one of the coolest blocks in the city. How did we get this lucky?

The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen was started in the 1940s along with several other state craftsmen guilds. In a recent podcast interview the PA Guild’s Program Director, Nick Mohler, explained that the craftsmen guild initiative was started by Eleanor Roosevelt to help men and women become more self-sustaining during World War II when most of the factories in the United States had shifted to the war effort. A few of those state guilds remain today, and Pennsylvania is one of them. Their mission is “recognizing that the making of craft enriches all” and their members include artists who make all types of handmade goods, such as furniture, kitchen ware, woodworking, decorative art, and much more.

The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen spent 27 years leasing a building in Tyler State Park located in Bucks County, just north of Philadelphia. A half-dozen years ago or so the state conducted an audit of the state parks and the result was a mandate for the PA Guild to engage in millions of dollars of renovations to a building they didn’t own.

Opening night at 335 N. Queen St. (July 2012)

Lucky for us, the PA Guild had been producing a craft show for many years at Franklin and Marshall College and had been dealing with CB Dombach, a local Lancaster business that rents tents and awnings. This network along with the rising arts renaissance in the area led the PA Guild to choose Lancaster has it’s home base. They temporarily rented some space from CB Dombach until their new location, 335 North Queen Street came up for sale in the spring of 2012. The PA Guild jumped on the opportunity to claim the building and was open for business less than four months later. The new building includes the guild headquarters, a retail store with work from over 100 members, and workshop space open to the general public.

PA Guild of Craftsmen gallery (December 2012)

The Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen boasts 1,500 members in 33 states (you don’t have to live in Pennsylvania to participate). They live out their mission through support for individual members, operating four regional fine craft fairs, and offering over 70 hands-on workshops each year right here in Lancaster. The PA Guild has added another unique dimension to the arts scene here and we’re proud to have them call Lancaster home.

More information about the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen can be found at their website, or you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter. Contact the guild at 717-431-8706 or handmade@pacrafts.org.

Jason Mundok is a podcaster, blogger, and musician from Lancaster, PA. Along with Steve Carlson, Jason operates WoodStoveHouse.com, an online publication aimed at featuring the arts and those who make the arts happen in and around Lancaster, PA. Find Wood Stove House on Facebook and Twitter.

Tellus360: Serving Up Music and Art in Lancaster

2013-01-31T03:00:00Z

For me, Tellus360 kinda came out of nowhere. One day, about a year and a half ago, someone asked me if I had stopped over at Tellus 360 yet. “Tell what?” I replied. I had no idea what she was talking about at first. Out of curiosity, I stopped by their East King St. location and was amazed at the interesting diversity of products in the store, including beautiful re-claimed wood products, from furniture to the electric guitars hanging in the front window. It all seemed very environmentally aware, and that was cool, but I’m not much of a shopper so I left without thinking much more about it.

Photo by Chetroy Productions

The Districts at a sold out Tabletop Session in December 2012

Fast forward a few months and I caught wind of some monthly concerts spinning up at Tellus. They were branded "Tabletop Sessions" and sounded like something that would be right up my alley. I finally made it to one back in January 2012 that featured Lancaster’s Leticia Joy and Jessica Smucker, and Pittsburgh touring artist Joy Ike. The front room of the store had been transformed into a quaint listening room for the evening and the community responded. The place was packed and filled with great energy. Attendees were invited to bring their own adult beverages and a snack to share. It had the feel of a house concert, but in a store. And that’s not easy to achieve.

According to the Tellus360 website regarding the Tabletop Sessions, "Our goal is to highlight up and coming music that has a heart and a soul, to be inclusive to all kinds of music and musicians and to highlight musicians who sincerely believe in their music. Tellus360 is a venue where everyone can come and truly appreciate quality music." Mission accomplished!

Why stop at just a monthly local concert series? Over the past year they've expanded their musical offerings, hosting Lancaster Music Friday events and a smattering of ticketed concerts with national touring acts like Shovels and Rope, Carsie Blanton, and Andrew Combs.

Gallery360

They also opened Gallery360 in the back section of the building where they "strive to bring thought provoking contemporary work to Lancaster’s ever growing art community." The gallery was created as a place of inspiration for artists and visitors with the hopes of being a catalyst for conversation. The Gallery360 website states, "We believe that Lancaster, Pennsylvania is on the path of unlimited artist growth and we want to continue in that tradition in a whole new way."

The current exhibit at Gallery360 is Sarah Butzer's photography show By Nature in Black and White which runs until February 16. Sarah Butzer is a photographer from Lancaster, PA currently studying at Millersville University.

No music events are currently scheduled as Tellus360 works on plans to make the venue even better. Stay connected with them online, on Facebook, and on Twitter for news and updates about all things Tellus360.

Creatives "Working" in Lancaster

2013-01-11T11:00:00Z

Creative Works of Lancaster is on a mission “to fuel and sustain [Lancaster] city’s cultural renaissance.” Over the past three years they have aimed to fulfill that mission through a variety of creative events, mostly in, but not limited to, the world of theatre.

The first Creative Works project was a roaming art gallery that had group members prancing around Lancaster’s First Friday in October 2010 literally wearing paintings…that were for sale…many of which were actually sold! Later that month, the group premiered its first performing arts production, a sock puppet version of the classic Hitchcock film, Psycho, which they performed at Lancaster Dispensing Company (DipCo), a quaint tavern in the heart of downtown Lancaster City that hosts live music on the weekends.

Creative Works cast rehearses Room Service (2012)

Since then Creative Works of Lancaster have produced a variety of events, including FREE outdoor plays each of the past two summers in Lancaster’s Musser Park, new play readings by local playwrights every other First Friday, productions of two very edgy Christmas plays, and a sock puppet parody of Francis Ford Coppola’s classic 1972 film, The Godfather, appropriately called The Sockfather.

Makin' puppets for The Sockfather

Just this past December, the group continued its sock puppet series with the hilarious Jaws to the World: A Holiday Sock Opera. This parody of the 1975 Steven Spielberg film, Jaws, included a cameo by David Bowie, and narration by none other than Santa Claus himself. Not only was the classic thriller reinterpreted as a holiday comedy, it was also converted into a musical. The show peaked during a parody of "Bohemian Rhapsody" creatively titled "Carcharodon Rhapsody", a reference to the Great White Shark’s genus.

Creative Works of Lancaster is one of many small groups of creatives that are making a huge difference in the Lancaster creative scene, but their blend of incredible writing, innovative approaches to working within limited budgets, and courage to take risks have defined a really unique niche for the group. Check them out online, connect with them on Facebook and Twitter, and be sure to check out one of their upcoming events. It’s the best way to really find out what Creative Works of Lancaster is all about.

Wood Stove House and a Brief Introduction

2013-01-02T01:27:09Z

Photo by Russell Frost

During the second half of 2008, a couple friends, my wife, and I worked through The Artist's Way, a 12-step program for recovering creatives. We were all quickly approaching our 40s and needed a kick in the creative pants. The process was life changing for all of us, and it left us inspired to take some action. That led to an idea to start hosting house concerts at our small Cape Cod that sits on the Western edge of Lancaster, PA.

Our first concert featured Lancaster songwriters Jessica Smucker and Jeff Bryson (Vinegar Creek Constituency) performing a rare duo show. We had converted an add-on family room into a concert hall for the evening and filled it with a couple dozen music lovers. The evening was magic and the Wood Stove House concert series was born.

Less than a year later we hosted our first touring musician, Jason Wilber (John Prine, Iris Dement). A friend and fellow podcast fan suggested that I record an interview with Wilber in my home recording studio, "just in case" I wanted to launch a podcast to promote the concerts. I took a stab at putting together a show and fell madly in love with the format. Around the Wood Stove (our weekly podcast series) was launched a few weeks later in March 2010.

In the two years that followed we continued to produce house concerts, podcasts, and even recordings for local bands. We later added a blog, public concerts, theater events, and even a Creativity Conference. We organized into a small for-profit company and Wood Stove House became a laboratory for Steve Carlson and me to explore a variety of arts-based events and productions. As we launch into 2013, our focus has turned to our website, WoodStoveHouse.com, where we will be further developing a platform of discovery for arts enthusiasts throughout the region.

On this blog, I will be focusing on profiling those who "make the arts happen" in Lancaster and the surrounding areas. I'll be featuring the amazing creative folks who are promoting concerts, hosting visual art shows, producing theater, and making things happen in this incredibly rich region for the arts. I hope you discover something new here to inspire you. If you have suggestions about arts facilitators near you that need some attention, please drop a comment and let me know.