1905 photograph taken from the Mt. Pleasant House (now gone) of the White Mountains. The building in the far distance is the Mt. Washington Hotel (now the Omni-Mt. Washington Resort). Photograph property of JW Brown.
It is not often that a single event celebrates New Hampshire’s nature, art and heritage all at the same time. The need is great. Although we think of Tropical Storm Irene of 2011’s damage being past, is it not in New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest.
I would urge all of my readers to get involved with the White Mountain Arts Experience on September 21-23, 2014, at the Omni Mt. Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. This fundraiser, to benefit the National Forest Foundation’s “Treasured Landscapes” support of restoration work on the White Mountain National Forest as well as the Arts Alliance’s new Youth Arts Corps and Arts & Nature programming, will offer participants a wonderful fall-foliage getaway full of opportunities to learn about and engage with the mountains and forest through hands-on arts activities, classes and demonstrations as well as hikes, walks and tours with renowned artists and field experts.
The event is co-sponsored by Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, and the National Forest Foundation.
From Sunday, September 21 to Tuesday, September 23, participants have the opportunity to take part in unique tours, classes and events.
• Follow a unique, specially created Art Trail to learn about the history of art in the White Mountains and to meet, watch and talk with some of the region’s finest artists and craftspeople as they display and demonstrate their art
• Contemplate and absorb the intriguing White Mountains landscape with New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alice Fogel
• Visit plein-air painters at work , or join a plein-air painting workshop with UNH Art Professor & WMNF 2012 Artist in Residence Brian Chu
• Participate in a special history-and-art tour of the sites where some of the most famous White Mountain paintings were created
• Join a VIP photography tour up Mt. Washington with Friends of Tuckerman Ravine where you can learn to photograph this iconic area up close and from a distance
• Listen to music from the old logging days with performer and ethnomusicologist Jeff Warner – and participate in a singalong of favorite tunes
• Create a woven basket from local fibers with master basket-maker Alice Ogden
• Capture nature’s beauty during an on-site nature photography workshop with WMNF 2013 Artist in Residence John Anderson
• Listen to New Hampshire’s best-known storyteller and “Moose of Humor” author, Rebecca Rule, describe some of her intriguing outdoor experiences before trying your hand at telling a few of your own tales
The first ten rooms booked at the Omni for the event will receive a free Bretton Woods canopy tour in addition to the reduced lodging rate.
The National Forest Foundation (NFF), chartered by Congress, engages Americans in community-based and national programs that promote the health and public enjoyment of the 193-million-acre National Forest System, and administers private gifts of funds and land for the benefit of the National Forests.
The Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire promotes, supports and sustains culture, heritage & the arts in Northern New Hampshire.
To learn more about the artists, schedule and to register, visit nationalforests.org/mountainarts.
