During our November First Thursday last week, over a hundred people came to The Umbrella to participate in our first Empty Bowls event for an evening of charity, art, food, and fun.  Three tables laden with bowls were set out in our brand new gallery while wave after wave of visitors searched for the bowl that spoke to them.  

Free Family Drop-in Day

When Ann Emerson, the founding director of the Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, died this summer at her home in Maine, the lights flickered for everyone who was involved in that brave undertaking 32 years ago which now thrives as The Umbrella Community Arts Center.

Ann was at the core of its creation, directly (as the director) and through the immediate and extensive friendships and trust that she engendered in her fellow artists and the Concord community.

Last Thursday the clay studio opened for a final bowl making workshop just our resident artists. Being artists, our ceramics program coordinator Caitlyn Marsh anticipated their willingness to freely explore the clay and tools with less instruction or demonstrations. Other than a brief how-to on the slabroller, that pretty much was the case.

Rehearsals are underway for Evita, opening November 14 at The Umbrella Community Arts Center with Jess Andra in the role of Eva Peron. This will be Andra's third production with The Umbrella's Performing Arts Program. She recently answered a few questions about Evita and performing in The Umbrella's productions.

This past Friday, The Umbrella staff took a break from our desks and ventured up to Salem.  We drove through the brilliant fall foliage on what may have been the last warm day of the year, eager to explore the Peabody Essex Museum.

Did you know the state of Massachusetts funds more arts and culture organizations than any other state? It's invigorating to live in a community in which so many people and organizations advocate for public funds in arts and culture. This past July marked a major milestone in that advocacy, when the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) benefitted from a $1 million increase to its state appropriation, approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

The first thing you notice when you enter Barbara Willis’s sunny corner studio at The Umbrella is a dazzling rainbow of spooled fibers: bold jewel tones, glittering metallics, delicate pastels, and smoky earth hues. Silk and cotton yarn sits beside chenille, bamboo, wool, mohair, and rayon on shelves, tabletops, and windowsills.

Artists tend to be visually oriented, more comfortable with shapes and colors than sounds and words, which means that many of them view talking about their work with a certain trepidation.  But yesterday three of The Umbrella's resident artists took the challenge and stepped forward to share the inspirations, stories, and processes behind their artwork.