Recently I went to a few stops on the annual Mo’Town Studio Tour, where I saw beautiful art and chatted with its creators. At tour’s end, I followed up with Potter Jennifer Allen, founder of the tour, for a longer conversation.
“I think that this year was the best year that we’ve had so far. There were a lot of first time-goers,” she said. The two-day event had five host artists and 12 guest artists. Jen said visitor traffic more than doubled from the previous two years at some studios.
Guests this year included Sam Briegel, a Maryland potter who creates unique feminine works incorporating lace and sequins; Nathalie Singh-Corcoran who makes cut paper artworks of botanicals in her spare time in Morgantown; and Reiko Yamamoto a Japanese potter who makes very elegant functional ceramics in her Pittsburgh studio.
Jen spoke about the new spotlight artist position given to Nathalie this year. The hosts of the event want to shine light on artists from Mon, Preston and Marion counties for whom creating works is not their main occupation. “We want to give them exposure and make them feel welcome in the community,” Jen said.
She and the other hosts (potter Lisa Giuliani, Jamie Lester and Nadia Caterina of Nampara Sculpture and Arts, print maker Bryn Perrott, and ceramicist Shalya Marsh) are already organizing next year’s tour.
Picking a spotlight artist and guest artists for each stop takes time and commitment, Jen said. Applications for the spotlight artist, guest artists and for the Studio Tour’s new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion grant are open now, but close soon — deadline is Nov. 1.
Jen said to fill guest artist positions the hosts look for creators of high quality work who seriously commit to participate in next year’s tour. The simple and easy application is available at motownstudiotour.com.
There is no charge for participation; guest artists are just asked to donate a piece for a prize drawing. Tour attendees are offered a punch card, which enters them into the drawing if they make each stop.
An art raffle at this year’s tour raised funds for the new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion grant. The tour hosts will award the $1,000 grant to a marginalized artist (nationwide) to offset costs of coming to participate in the Mo’Town Studio Tour. “We are trying to really cast a wide net, and make everyone feel welcome,” Jen said.
The 3-year-old event has grown quickly. Jen said they don’t plan to add more hosts, intending to keep the event doable for visitors in one day.
A special moment for Jen at this year’s event involved her 8-year-old daughter. Her daughter made some pieces to sell during the event and sold enough to buy a mug she secretly coveted from a guest artist at her mother’s stop.
“The goal is for people to understand the value of handmade things,” Jen said. Like her daughter, Jen said she and the other participating artists either broke even or lost money on the tour due to buying each other’s works.
“We want it to be a supportive, fun event for our guests,” Jen said. “Our mission has always been to build the community.” Additionally they want the event, in contrast to other local arts events in the area, to benefit the community rather than create competition.
“We love the arts, and we just want to share that love with the community,” she said.
