We finally have a date confirmed to present our proposal to the town and the board of Selectman.
Liesl and I will be presenting our proposal on Monday September 26th at the Uxbridge town hall. All meetings can be attended by and open to the public. If you would like to show your support for a community craft school in your area then please attend this meeting at 7pm and let the Selectman know that you are in favor of a craft school at the old Blanchard Early Childhood Center at One Hartford Ave East.
Below is a copy of the original propoasl we sent the Selectman about our plans for the building.
Thank you again
Regards
Steve Butler
Liesl Carlson
The making of objects is inherent to us all.It is the mission of The Blackstone Valley School of Crafts
To provide the finest craft education, to inspire the creative spirit, and to celebrate the hand made.
We want to bring craft back to the community and the community back to craft.
WelcomePlease except this letter as an application to occupy the premises at One Hartford Ave East, the former Blanchard Early Childhood Education Center. This beautiful, historic building is the perfect compliment to our vision. This building was gifted to the town of Uxbridge and to remain an educational institute and we are determined to keep this vision alive. We would like to occupy part or whole of the building, creating a craft center like no other in the area that embraces the community inside and out. Allow us to introduce ourselves. Steve Butler and Liesl Carlson are two professional craftspeople, artist and educators. We believe that preserving craft is preserving something that is inherent to us all. We all love to make things. We love what craft has done for our lives and we want too share our passion with you. We want too make sure that craft remains a part of our community. So – we invite you to the beginning of our next creation. " The Blackstone Valley School of Crafts"
The Blackstone Valley School of Crafts
Steve Butler and Liesl Carlson of Uxbridge established The Blackstone Valley School of Crafts in March 2010. Still in it’s formative stages; the school is temporarily located in South Grafton, MA.
The idea grew out of a chance meeting between strangers- Liesl, my son Quinn and I moved back to Massachusetts after my position as director of the wood studio at Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ was eliminated because of budget constraints. Liesl and I established our studios on Rte 16 and were introducing our selves around town. We stopped at Eagle Eye Antiques in Uxbridge, where we met owner Jeff Hollis who is a furniture refinisher, restorer and woodworker. Jeff suggested we meet Richard Chiros who had a fully equipped studio in South Grafton we might be able to use temporarily. Shortly after this meeting Liesl and I formed The Blackstone Valley School of Crafts.
The idea seemed so far-fetched in these hard times but why not? I’ve seen so may school programs close…But there is something saying that this is going to work and that this is the right area to be in. We hosted two demonstrations so far and each has been very successful garnering a lot of community support, We have a long list of people wanting to sign up for classes. I have plenty of experience in building craft programs from scratch. I’m a former teacher with the Marshfield public schools; I was the department head of the wood studio at The Worcester Center for Crafts prior to my post at Peters Valley Craft Center. While at Peters Valley I built the woodworking program ad introduced wood turning to the center. I later established a local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners. We have the support of the Central New England Woodturners. Liesl is a graduate of a craft program and teaches as well. She is a jeweler and metal smith. We are passionate about what we do. It is important for us to pass this on. Humans are makers. When people make things they take ownership. It becomes part of you. People feel better when they make things. Our mission statement states that "we want to bring craft back to the community and the community back to craft". We feel strongly about this. We envision a craft school that is a vibrant part of the community that is accessible to all no matter what income bracket one might be in. We want to be a part of and embraced by the community offering daytime and evening adult –Ed classes. When you care about and are confident in something it is infectious. We want to bring this infectious, positive energy to the community.
We are proud members of The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce. Our business account is with the local branch of Unibank. I am an active member of Uxbridge Community Access Television. I produce and host a show called " The Garage". This is a show about craft and the making of objects. We have looked at and toured the facilities at One Hartford Ave East in Uxbridge. This is the former Blanchard Early Childhood Education Center. This is a beautiful historic building that has been vacant for eight years. This building is exactly what we envisioned for a local community craft school. We would love to bring back the playground and open it up to the community also providing an outdoor area for students to sit and have and lunch amongst a sculpture garden. We would also like to create an allotment garden for the community. The doors will be open to the community. This venture will create employment for local craftspeople that will be able to subsidize their income by teaching adult – Ed classes as well as providing a rich creative environment for the community.
Please help us resurrect and bring life back to this beautiful historic building and help us bring craft back to the community. Any consideration for us to bring our vision to the Uxbridge community and to occupy this building is greatly appreciated. I would love to talk with you further about our venture at your convenience.
Regards
Steve Butler
Liesl Carlson
(508) 372-9169
(413) 717-5062
PO Box 62
North Uxbridge, MA 01538
www.blackstonevalleyschoolofcraft@gmail.com
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