And it was GRAND indeed!

The parking lot was filled to capacity and the front desk busy every moment! It was the Lost River Artisans Co-op’s GRAND re-opening after moving. There were outdoor vendors, despite the chilly dampness, and the Chamber of Commerce officiated at our ribbon cutting with the lovely  Jordan Robinson (who we hope will be the next Miss West Virginia). And I just happened to wear purple that matched the big wide ribbon-- truly a wonder! The food was a hit, the kettle corn yummy. On top of all that, we learned a lot about what works and doesn’t in our new space!

You’ve heard about the move before, and the amazing community participation it involved. It really does take a village, but it works the same way when we are scattered around the beautiful rural countryside! Members and volunteers worked incredibly hard to make the opening a huge success. People donated wonderful raffle prizes and the museum continues to be ever more interesting. With the co-op adjacent to the museum now, people wander from one into the other. Local people point out their homes in old photos, or tell stories about ancestors or farming practices prompted by the artifacts. What a rich culture Appalachia has, to say nothing of this little corner of West Virginia and the Lost River Valley! People even share stories about our 60 year old “big red building,” in which their fathers or uncles worked during its former lives as a sink factory and a feed store.

Our display men, Albert Hutchings, and co-op member John Geiger (who goes through life moving things around to make everything more beautiful) have truly worked their magic on the place. The co-op has 44 talented, juried-in members now, so we have an incredibly diverse and creative wealth of great items with an emphasis on the heritage arts.  People made signs for along the road, and put out traffic cones to slow down traffic. Julia Flanagan, the only octogenarian I know who introduces herself as a stripper and a hooker, demonstrated her hooked rugs. Tom Reid, our other demonstrator, showed us how he puts together intricate stained glass pieces. It was indeed a great grand opening! Come on by! (See more at Lostrivercrafts.com and you can also follow us on our Facebook page. So go ahead and give us a like.)

Open co-op!

The Lost River Artisans Co-op and Museum spent the winter moving—and no small task that was! Their new space is a 60-year old building that once housed a marble sink factory and then became a feed store. After being empty for years, the co-op and museum have rented the center section and worked very hard to make it functional, beautiful AND ADA-compliant! The square footage is the same as we had in the old barn, but we now have amenities that old barns do not. YEA! We opened the weekend of April 16, and will be open Saturdays and Sundays, 10 AM until 5 PM, until December.

April 30^th is our GRAND re-Opening! We remain the same co-op and museum we have been since 1996. (The co-op itself actually goes back to 1988.) We’ve simply moved 1.8 miles south along WV State Route 259. The new street address is 8937. There is a big re-Opening sign out front, and it’s a big red building. Outdoor vendor spaces are available for the 30^th at $15; call 304-897-5250 to sign up. (Vendors keep all additional monies.) There are great raffle prizes, a ribbon cutting with the Chamber of Commerce, and great events and fun planned all day—from 10 until 5 PM. Come on out on April 30^th and help us celebrate our new space!

Transformation

It was quite a year at the Lost River Artisans’ Co-op (LRAC) and its Siamese twin, the Lost River Museum (officially the Lost River Educational Foundation or LREF). The push for change was obvious: the lease was running out, the store manager left to go RVing for a year and a half, and the museum director took a job in Egypt. As president of LRAC/LREF, I often muse over that ancient Chinese character that stands for both challenge and opportunity. I also felt an obligation to make the co-op and museum compliant with the American Disabilities Act. May I never encounter another elderly or infirm individual who has struggled up the barn’s step, arrived at the counter, and asked politely for the restroom—only to be told of the (yes, handicap accessible but muddy) port-a-pot out by the parking lot.

Not quite two miles south on State Route 259, the old feed store was renovated for new tenants. It is now painted barn red-- that would be the big red building without the Confederate flag. It is on one floor, has a ramp and other amenities, and offers the same amount of space we have now. We were invited to move there and the lease is ready to sign. Mind you, it is hard to leave the 1844 barn that we’ve been in since 1996. It is a lovely barn, but it’s a real barn: no plumbing, no ramp, and irascible heat. For some the inconvenience of the barn is already becoming picturesque and quaint, while others are celebrating indoor plumbing!

Our mantra is: “We aren’t closing, merely moving.”  We went down there and planted spring bulbs, so we are already taking root in our new place. I am proud of the board for taking that first step of our next thousand miles. We have winter and spring to make our move and to resettle, and then, transformed, we will ready for a new and improved 2016 co-op and museum season. We hope you will come see us any weekend from April 16^th on. Keep an eye on the lostrivercrafts.com website!

The Class

For the past three years I’ve taught a “Play in the clay” class for the Lost River Educational Foundation. LREF shares a goal with the Lost River Artisans Co-op: “helping the public value traditional and modern handmade items.” The shared board and administration of the two organizations is just short of schizophrenic (take that from an old psych nurse), but each year we provide some great classes! 

My clay play class this year included three women. One Saturday they handbuilt their pieces using slabs, coils, or pinch methods—whatever they liked. Then I dried and bisque fired the pots for the students to glaze them when they came back two weeks later.

Some years my students tend to be artful neophytes so we begin with real basics, such as distinguishing among stoneware, earthenware, and porcelain. However, each of these clay players has other well developed artistic skills along with being very observant, so it was a simpler matter of translating into the medium of stoneware. That is not to minimize the difficulties that lateral arabesque can pose for some people, but this trio took to clay like ducks to water. They each had 25 pounds of clay to play with, which can produce a lot of stoneware! The glazing is always the trickiest part because nothing is ever as it seems, which routinely surprises newcomers. But we had a couple of fun Saturdays and Kathy, Joan, and Jody picked up boxes of happy and creative stoneware from the co-op barn. I hope they enjoyed the class as much as I did!

 

VISIT THE BARN JULY 25TH