Explore Your Creativity on Sat. July 18

Take time to be inspired this summer during the annual Explore the Crafts Event at Sauder Village. On Saturday, July 18 guests will be encouraged to try pottery, drawing, embroidery, weaving, broom making, tinsmithing, printing and more while exploring the crafts at Ohio’s largest living-history destination!

“Our Explore the Crafts event offers guests a greater appreciation of the talented craftsmen that work each day at Sauder Village,” shared Kim Krieger, PR/Media Relations. “This popular day is filled with inspiration and creativity and provides great memories for all involved.”

During this fun-filled event, craftsmen will share their talents while allowing guests to explore their own creativity.  Visitors may want to try pottery, making wooden tops, mini decorative brooms, felt balls, wooden beaded necklaces, and tussie mussies. Some of the other hands-on activities planned for this event include assembling a wooden bucket, making a tin icicle ornament, spinning, weaving and embroidery. Guests participate in drawing activities, stamp bookmarks in the Print Shop and make a God’s eye ornament in the Basket Shop.

 

Why Woodcarving?

In celebration of National Craft Month, here is another article from one of our talented craftsmen at Sauder Village!By Jean McDonald, Sauder Village Craftsmen

What could possess someone to want to get up at 7:00 am on Saturday mornings to watch television? That is when a PBS series, Woodcarving with Rick Butz, aired in the 1990s featuring Rick Butz, a woodcarver from New York State. It was fascinating to watch him create figures from little chunks of wood as he continually reminded his viewers that anyone can carve wood.  I was prompted to make a donation to PBS in order to get his book that featured the projects in the series. Now, it is almost 25 years later and I have yet to meet the person who unwittingly tweaked an interest that became a passion for carving.

I love to demonstrate carving at historic sites because the children always come up with new and interesting comments and questions. Adults ask things like, “How long did it take you to carve that? (Answer: I don’t know because it was fun.) What kind of wood is that? (Answer: Probably basswood because it carves nicely or maybe something that was free. Free basswood is the best.) Kids ask questions like, “Why did you make it purple” and “Can you make a dragon?”  It is great fun to encourage them to touch the carvings and talk to them about their own creative processes. I always ask them if they are woodcarvers already and they usually say no. My response is always, “Well, it is not too late for you to learn.” You can usually see a spark of interest light up in their eyes as they imagine themselves, knives in hand, attacking a chunk of wood.

Woodcarving can be enjoyed with a minimal number of tools. A knife, gouge, a v-tool and a sharpening strop can get a person started doing relief carving, three dimensional carving, animals, caricatures, architectural carving, folk carving – the possibilities are limited only by your own imagination! There are many woodcarving books, classes and carving clubs in the area to help new carvers get started.  The internet is also a great source of information and supplies.

Sauder Village is one of the few places where time truly stands still for me. It has been one of my favorite places for many years, enjoying art, craft, and history. Visiting the farmhouse is just like a visit to my grandmother’s home. I remember when Grandma heated with a coal stove and you knew it was “safe” to crawl out from under the warm comforters from the unheated second floor bedrooms when you heard the clinkers rattling and coal pouring into the stove for the morning fire.

I love attending the Woodcarver’s Show and Sale each October and now am very fortunate to be able to be a part of the event by setting up a table and attending classes.  Another favorite activity is to be able to volunteer to demonstrate fiber art in June at the Focus on Fiber Arts event. What great fun to pack up my spinning wheel and wool and spend the day spinning and talking to visitors about another activity that I love. This past summer I also worked in the Basket Shop and Tin Shop a few days each week weaving baskets and making my favorite, tin cookie cutters. The visitors are great sources of information relating their stories and memories.

If you are interested in learning more about woodcarving here are some sources I have found useful:
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Woodcarving with Rick Butz by Rick and Ellen Butz
How to Carve Wood by Richard Butz
Woodcarving Illustrated - a magazine published by Fox Chapel Publishing. www.woodcarvingillustrated.com
Woodcarving Magazine, www.carvingmagazine.com
National Wood Carvers Association - P.O. Box 43218, Cincinnati, Ohio 45243
Woodcraft  - 577 Foundation, Perrysburg, Ohio
Sauder Village Woodcarving Show - October 27 and 28, 2012

Learning to Make Buckets

Have you ever wondered where we find so many talented craftsmen to share their skills at Sauder Village? Some craftsmen have been weaving or making baskets for years and others may have learned a new craft just to work at Sauder Village! To help celebrate “National Craft Month,” here are some thoughts from one of our coopers . . .

By Mark Breininger, Cooper

Becoming a member of the Sauder Village family came at the right time in my life. My father-in-law, a Master Cooper, encouraged me to visit Sauder Village and consider working in the Black Swamp Cooperage. I was hesitant at first because this opportunity was totally out of the realm of my life. I wasn’t sure how comfortable I would be speaking to hundreds of people each day and engaging guests who want to see and hear about being a cooper. However, I soon realized how much I love history and being a part of Sauder Village!

Learning the craft of coopering was made easy with the help of two knowledgeable coopers – Chuck Salsbury and Kenny Schang. Under their guidance, I learned the right way to make a quality wooden bucket, butter churn or keg. Learning this craft has taken me back 200 years! In the Cooper’s Shop we use the same tools as our forefathers. We start with a log, striking it with a froe, splitting the wood and shaping that piece of wood into a stave. Using the draw knives, shaves, scorps and planes I have learned to create items to hold dry goods, liquids and more.

Working as a cooper at Sauder Village is very rewarding and satisfying. At what other job can you meet people from all over the world on any given day? All of the talented craftsmen at Sauder Village make my job even better. They all love sharing the history and demonstrating their craft just as our founder Erie Sauder envisioned. I’m having so much fun making buckets and hope to be involved at Sauder Village for many years to come!  

Sauder Village Open for 2011 Season!

Opening day at Historic Sauder Village is always a joyous occasion. After a long winter it's great to see the Village buzzing with activity . . . craftsmen at work in their shops, costumed guides sharing stories and guests of all ages having fun in the past.

Again this year we are pleased to kick-off the season with our annual Quilt Show. During the six-day Quilt Show both traditional and modern interpretations of quilts are represented. It has been an honor to showcase the talents of so many accomplished quilters for the past 35 years and we look forward to celebrating their fine craftsmanship for many years to come.

The Quilt Show runs through Sunday, May 1 in Founder's Hall. We hope you enjoy this short video clip featuring photos from this amazing exhibit and will make plans to join us.

Rug Hooking Week Highlights

For the past 14 years, rug hookers from across the country have traveled to Ohio for Sauder Village Rug Hooking Week – one of the top rug hooking events in the country. With hundreds of hooked rugs on display, workshops, lectures and special displays – 2010 Rug Hooking Week is again a spectacular celebration of this traditional craft.

Each year the “Sauder Award” is presented to the piece that best exemplifies the spirit and mission of Sauder Village. For 2010 the three-dimensional “Noah’s Ark” received this award. With an overall height of 5’ 7” and weighing more than 300 pounds, this massive project includes more than 104 individual hooked animals and people, and is sure to be an inspiration to guests of all ages. “Noah’s Ark” is one of the many spectacular pieces in the Featured Exhibit – highlighting special pieces by the late Mary Sheppard Burton and Leonard Feenann. The display is an outstanding representation of their creativity, style and advanced techniques. We’re thrilled to have Mary’s granddaughter joining us for the week to help share her grandmother’s stories along with Leonard.

From the “Celebration Rugs," Special Exhibits, Retreat Teacher Exhibits, and “Happy Holiday” Challenge Rugs to the main exhibit featuring U.S. and International works by category – it’s difficult to describe the beauty and creativity on display this week at Sauder Village. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, we’ve created a short video to give you a look inside Founder’s Hall. We’ve also found it interesting to visit this show through the eyes of a rug hooker. Gene Shepherd, one of our retreat teachers for 2010, has posted many photos and thoughts about Rug Hooking Week on his blog: http://geneshepherd.com/blog1/ We hope you’ll take a look at his site as well for a unique look at our special event.

And if you look at these photos and become “hooked”, there’s still time to join us – Sauder Village Rug Hooking week continues through Saturday, August 21st. We hope you’ll join us!

Sauder Village participates in “Arts Gone Wild”

At Sauder Village, we understand the importance of partnering with other art and cultural organizations and are excited to again be part of Arts Gone Wild, the annual summer event sponsored by Toledo area arts and cultural organizations.

The Arts Gone Wild event will be at the Toledo Museum of Art this summer with a new twist. Instead of a two-day festival, the Museum is hosting a month-long exhibition of objects and materials from participating organizations.

The Arts Gone Wild exhibition opens in the Community Gallery with a special It’s Friday celebration on Friday, July 16 and continues through August 15. The exhibition is not a typical fine art exhibition but instead features multi-media “vignettes” representing the work of each organization. Displays include video clips of performances, theatre costumes, musical scores, books, photographs or original artwork. Using photos and unique works of art designed by our talented craftsmen, our display is a striking exhibit that highlights Sauder Village as a cultural destination in Northwest Ohio.

From 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, July 16 in Libbey Court, Nancy Lewis, one of our Native American interpreters, will invite visitors to learn about Northwest Ohio in 1803. She will be weaving a traditional native bag and visitors will be able to make cordage bracelets. In addition, Chereen Thompson will demonstrate spinning. Visitors will be able to touch different types of fibers as well as try their hands at carding wool, drop spindles and spinning on a wheel.

Urban Jazz Collective will perform from 7–8 p.m. that day in the Great Gallery. The talented students from the Toledo School for the Arts have performed in various venues in the Toledo area including Murphys and Manhattan’s. Later, from 8–9 p.m. in the Great Gallery, the Toledo Ballet will present Aquarius, from the musical Hair, and Flow, a contemporary piece. The music for Flow is a song titled “Ketto” by Bonobo.

Arts Gone Wild is an evolving series of events sponsored by a coalition of arts and cultural organizations including the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Imagination Station, Sauder Village, Toledo Ballet, Toledo Botanical Gardens, Toledo–Lucas County Library (Main), Metroparks of the Toledo Area, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Opera, Toledo Symphony, Toledo Repertoire Theater, Toledo School for the Arts, Toledo Zoo, Valentine Theater and WGTE. The organizations meet regularly to discuss issues of common interest and ways to work collaboratively.

Admission is free to the Toledo Museum of Art and to all of the Arts Gone Wild activities. We hope you'll take time this summer to check out our Sauder Village display and all of the other great exhibits and activities planned for Arts Gone Wild!