Circumstance fostered Debra Rolfe’s passion for basket-making. As a young girl, she happened to attend a Bloomington, Indiana middle school with a special program that exposed students to the art of weaving. Debra wove her first basket through this program and never forgot the experience, forever remembering the joy she found in the weaving process. Years later, circumstance drew Debra to basket-making once more. As a volunteer crafts teacher at a Girl Scouts camp, Debra was asked to teach her campers how to weave a small basket.

If you happened to be walking through Concord Land Conservation Trust’s Newbury Land during the second week of July, you may have spotted a group of kids covered in mud, joyfully running barefoot through the field. These kids made up Musketaquid Arts & Environment’s first summer session of Ninjas in Nature, an outdoor education program that combines exposure to the natural environment with the introductory arts of the ancient ninja.

Umbrella Artists around town

The Umbrella Arts Gallery pops-up in Concord

Construction continues to move ahead smoothly. Most of the work is taking place in the rear of the building as the artist prepare to move out of the main building for the summer.

The top of this photo shows the newly formed foundation walls of Phase 1. The foreground shows the installation of rebar attached to steel coming out of the new footings. You can also see the new elevator pit in the center bottom of the photo, and just above that to the right, you can start to see the curve of what will be the new theater.

With the front entry open again, and the new elevator operating, construction focus has shifted to the back of the building where the old West Wing has been demolished, the site excavated, and work has begun on footings and foundations.

Artists and visitors are able to watch progress from the rear stairwells. The foundations will be poured in five stages. Here is a view of the rear corner with some hefty footings filled with steel rebar.

The gallery hums with the bustling of materials and machinery this season as we prepare to enter the next phase of our renovation project. Although it feels like the dust just settled a few short years ago on construction in the current gallery space, we are thrilled to vision programs for the future. In this exciting time of change, we hope you will enjoy the last events in our current gallery space on the 2nd floor.

Written by Dan Kemp

David Smyth, artist, musician and teacher, is a member of The Umbrella Arts and Environment Program Steering Committee. He is instrumental in creating memorable celebrations for Musketaquid Earth Day and Solstice.

The Umbrella has started renovations to transform the building at 40 Stow Street in Concord, MA into a dynamic, state-of-the-art center for artistic expression and enjoyment. We thank you for your patience during construction.

This spring brings many new changes to our home at 40 Stow Street!

The front entrance of the building is now reopened, with an accessible entry. Visitors will now enter on the first floor. 

The Umbrella has begun renovations and the removal and rebuilding of the main theater wing to transform the building into a dynamic, state-of-the-art center for artistic expression and enjoyment. We thank you for your patience during construction and we hope you follow us on our journey through our blogs and social media updates!