(Above: Artwork on Display at an empty storefront in downtown Rochester, NH)
The city of Rochester, NH has some fabulously unexpected places that host art displays. The Rochester Museum of Fine Arts has made great connections with the community, and showcases art all over the region. They organize film festivals, and have partnered with Rochester Main Street to display art in empty window fronts.
Right across the street from the Carney Building (pictured above) is The Franklin Gallery at Riverstones. The owner of both The Franklin Gallery and Riverstones Custom Frame Shop is Kris Ebbeson. Kris started out as the Framer for our local Ben Franklin Craft Store, the Franklin Gallery also started out in that store.. Sadly, the Ben Franklin in Rochester went out of business, closing the gallery and Frame shop down as well. Kris saw it as an opportunity to open her own frame shop, and Riverstones was born. While Riverstones has been open for a year, the gallery section has only been re-opened for 9 months. Kris was able to find a space big enough to host a gallery, and she asked the owners of the now closed Ben Franklin, if she could keep the gallery name, and they happily obliged. Although Kris is currently booking for the 2016 calendar year, she is always looking for new artists. If you are interested in showing at the Franklin Gallery, E-mail Kris at [email protected]. Kris also says to put “Franklin Gallery” in the subject line of your e-mail and she’ll get back to you in a timely manner. To keep up to date on the current shows; go to Riverstones Facebook Page. The current show at Riverstones is a group show from Berwick Art Association.
(BAA Group show at the Franklin Gallery)
While we are on the subject of the Berwick Art Association, recently, the BAA was approached by a committee member from the South Berwick Strawberry Festival. The representative asked our group if we could facilitate a large scale community art project. After he association voted to organize and facilitate the project, plans were made and items gathered. The idea was to have 8 inch squares painted on with sponges and acrylic paint.
(The process of making art)
We were able to hand string from the trees, and by the end of the day, we had quite the display.
(Flags in the trees)
The event is considered a huge success, and I believe the festival committee wants the community art project to be an annual event.
For information about next year’s Strawberry Festival please got to: website
