 This is Dennis McMahon and welcome to Positively Vermont. And my special guest today is Heather Moore, the Executive Director of the Shelburne Craft School, located in beautiful Shelburne, Vermont. I'm gonna tell you all the locations as we proceed. Welcome, Heather. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate your good work. Tell us a little bit about yourself first. Okay, so I grew up in Vermont. I'm 10 generations Vermont, so it's kind of fun to be on a show called Positively Vermont. Let's see, I recently completed a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies, and most of my career I've helped run or manage small nonprofits. Recently was hired about a year and a few months ago by Shelburne Craft School to be their new Executive Director. And I cannot believe my luck. I enjoy this work immensely. And there's a rather interesting history. The Shelburne Craft School has been around for 45 years. We've been around since 1945. 1945, okay, so that's warmer than that. Since 1945, and tell us if you can, a little bit of the history of the school, who started it and how it developed. So we started off in 1945 in a basement, in a garage, and we've grown ever since. We have a strong relationship with the Shelburne Community School, and the kids still come for after-school programming, but we started off mainly serving children. Now we mainly serve adults. We've always had community partnerships, but we have the most community partnerships we've ever had right now. Let me see, what else? We, oh, our buildings. I'm at home right now, but our buildings are all from the 1840s, roughly. So the building that my office at the Craft School is in, and believe it or not, my internet at home is slightly better than the Craft School's, otherwise I'd be in that office is from 1840, and it's the building where the people who built the railroad were housed. So it's a bunkhouse, and we haven't changed it too much. So it still very much has the feeling of a railroad bunkhouse. One of our other buildings is from the 18, probably 60s, and it is called the Harness Shop because it used to have a leather worker's business out of it. So we're right in the center of Shelburne, and it's sort of surprising if you walk past our driveway, we have a tiny campus, and most of our buildings are very historic. Great. Tell us what facilities you have inside those buildings. Thank you. I have, right now we have a stained glass program, metalworking, weaving, weaving on four harness, eight harness, also tapestry weaving, we have oil painting, drawing, woodworking, furniture building, kids programming, and of course our clay studio, we have pottery, handbuilding, sculpture making, as well as throwing. Oh, and we have building art, so that's a new program where we do community projects and teach folks carpentry along the way. So we recently put in an accessible raised bed garden in Davis Park, and that was built by Manny Hutter who runs our building arts program and a small group of committed individuals who also learned carpentry skills. Give us an idea of the scope of the staff for the people running the various programs, how many and what kind of backgrounds do they have and what are they doing? So we have about 45 employees, most are very part-time, they teach a couple of classes each time we have a course drop, our folks many have decades of experience in their craft area, Barbara Murphy runs the pottery studio and she has decades of experience in creating beautiful ceramic objects. Most of our folks have at least 10 years of experience in their craft area, some have formal training, Vermont woodworking school, we have a few folks who've hailed from there, let's see. And then some of our folks are self-taught, most have some kind of educational background in what they do and many have businesses on the side where they sell their work too. So we have many true artists and really beautiful, really beautiful work, I hope you can come by sometime, check it out. Well, the facility's open for visits, tell us about that part of your work. Yeah, I would always ask that folks, shoot me an email, I love giving tours, I just wanna make sure that I'm there and ready to give someone a tour of the facilities. But I'd say I have many favorite parts of this job, but showing off the school is probably my favorite because there's so many beautiful little spots and it's very old world. It feels in many corners that it's pictures that could have been taken 100 years ago with the loom set up and the light coming through in the background, it's really stunning. So yes, I love visitors and I love showing off our school. And I think often folks don't realize what we offer that it's a lot, like we offer pretty much every art and craft there is and that we're predominantly adult but we do have summer camps and after-school programings as well. I was looking at the websites, a very, very good website and final preparation and I see things, building clay, fiber, glass, metal, paint, wood, a whole list of crafts that are available. So maybe you can just tell us briefly what kind of classes there are and what people can expect when they sign up. Sure, so everything that you listed we have courses in, I also wanna mention we have scholarships, so if it's not affordable we wanna make sure everybody's welcome which could bring me to some of our community partnerships. We have free courses for veterans and we partnered with South Burlington Veteran Center to offer those. So far they've been in woodworking but we're branching out a little bit and possibly offering some other areas to vets. We also have a course called Weaving Your Story which is free to folks over 60 and they weave their life stories. I recently received quite a bit of funding to be able to offer that multiple times this year so I'm really excited about that. It's, the outcomes of it are absolutely beautiful to see what people weave their lives as through fibers. We have a partnership, let's see, with Harbor Place which is part of Champlain Valley or Champlain Housing Trust, excuse me. We just put in a magnificently beautiful art space on their campus and we bring art supplies all the time and we have art drop-ins and it's been a really exciting dynamic partnership with Champlain Housing Trust. And Shelburne Farms of course we partner with them so we have forest of furniture and we go there, folks get to walk through the woods, see the trees that they're harvested and then they create furniture out of it which is a very, that's positively Vermont, wouldn't you say? To go walking in the woods and pull out a tree and turn it into a bench. So we launched those pretty soon. Great, we spoke about some of the local partnerships. Do you have any relationships with any similar facilities around the country? You know, not formally, although I do know a lot of other folks in the art world bounce things off of them, certainly take inspiration from many other art institutions but we recently started doing international travel. We did a trip to Japan this past November and hope to run it again this upcoming November as well as hopefully in 2025 running trips to see Paleolithic cave art. And in those trips, our hope is to create sister schools in those countries. And so far it looks like there's some germination of some of the relationships formed by the folks that went in November, so it's a positive thing. We're recording this in mid January now. Could you give us an idea what the rest of the year looks like and some of the upcoming events that you have? Sure, these are really lovely questions. I just wanna, it's like nice to be able to just explain what we do. So we just opened our spring classes. So it's a good time to sign up for something if you're interested. And we will open our summer camps on February 1st. We're offering more than we ever have. We keep scaling up. We're trying to find that perfect size that really serves our whole community. Those drop February 1st, and then we'll have summer classes that drop in May. And then the year's broken into fifths, which is funny. I don't quite know what to call them, but every couple months we open new classes for folks. We're doing a big event for the eclipse, which I'm very excited about. We recently built a pizza oven. So we'll have probably three workshops going on, I'm working with a woman who paints these beautiful moons. So that'll be one of them. We'll probably do some Raku, which is a special kind of outdoor pottery kiln combustion. It's really beautiful. Things catch on fire and the glazes tend to be very lunar. And then I'm trying to figure out if we're gonna do a stained glass workshop as well that day. And then we'd have pizza for the folks that sign up and watch the eclipse. That's an event that we have. Let's see, we do an annual kind of holiday event every December, but that's quite a ways off. We'll open our Japan trip probably in another month. It was incredibly popular last time. So we're trying to figure out how to make it the most fair process possible. Yeah, sorry, I feel like I'm really rambling. No, no problem. Cut me off. No, that's fine because when I looked at the website for the immediate start of the interview, I was just amazed how much is going on and the variety of crafts that we discussed and the opportunities to delve in different kinds of things, you know, and it's amazing. And I understand this was started by a local pastor who was the inspiration for this, Reverend Smith. Could you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, so he wanted to teach craft to young people and he did it out of his garage to begin with and then slowly got buildings in land donated and it got bigger and bigger. And we really owe our origins to his good work and his ability to engage people. I think that's something that we carry that spirit forward. We truly want you on our campus. There's a very nice energy there. I think folks, there is no one at the craft school that doesn't wanna be at the craft school. It's because why would they be there? So it's a really nice feeling and he started that. So I have a whole lot of gratitude for his vision and hope that we're bringing it forth the way that he would have liked. That's great. When I hear the word school, I think of a curriculum but also think of credits or graduations or licensing or something like that. Is that kind of element to it? Recently, I had a couple of teachers who are taking some of our classes for our art teacher credits, if that makes sense. We don't, we are almost entirely folks wanting to learn something for the joy of learning it. We do have a curriculum. Most of our areas have a beginner intermediate and advanced levels of classes. So folks can, although I will say that a lot of people continually sign up for the beginner and they grow, but they'd prefer to be in the beginner class. We have a lot of that. It doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't advancing. Their work is stunning, but you do see a lot of that. I think people see it as their happy place where they don't necessarily have to be pushed. They're just making whatever they feel like making. Right, well, but how many people participate every year? We serve about 2,000 people a year and we probably have a strong core of about 400 that keep coming back, if that makes sense. And then our events make up some of that other, those other pieces or people will do a one-off class or just twice a year or something like that. But we do have a strong core of people that are sort of always there, our people. That's amazing. And in addition to the upcoming events, can you project as to what it's gonna be like this summer and fall, believe it or not, the summer is coming? Are there gonna be any special events that you wanna bring people's attention to coming up in the spring and summer? Yeah, so we did a garden party last year. So we revived all of our gardens, some of which were put in like 60 years ago. So we found some really rare, beautiful perennials and got them new compost and planted hollyhocks and we had a vegetable garden for the first time last year. So we'll definitely have a garden party again this year with pizza, which will be really enjoyable. And our summer camps run about a month and they pretty much take over the campus. But we also have regular classes running at the same time. So you get this very beautiful multi-generational space, I think some of my favorite moments have been when someone who's been taking pottery who might be retired is teaching a five-year-old the right way to center a pot. It's just really gorgeous. Things that I think a lot of what we have that is so joyful is forgotten beauty. Like it is so wonderful to weave. I do it every day. It is so wonderful to make your own bowl. I do that every day too. And if you can find ways to weave, they weave, sorry, I'm not trying to be punny. This into your life, I just find such great feeling in it. And part of that is that we have people of all ages that are youngest folks or five and that our oldest folks are pushing 90. And there's a lot of exchange of wisdom that I haven't found anywhere else. So I just feel incredibly privileged, lucky to, that that's my work, that that's where I get to go every day and learn from these phenomenal human beings. I'm rambling again. I'm so joyous. Oh, that's great, I did. You're really saying some quotable stuff and I really enjoy it. You can edit it, right? And it really indicates the atmosphere that must prevail there in terms of creativity, in terms of, I guess, collegiality in the art world or the craft world, the idea of networking, which again, you think of the solitary artist, but now we have a lot more cross-fertilization, which is a big word, but I can see the advantages to that. And I'm sure you do too. Thanks. People learning from each other. Yeah, this program gets around in many, many places. Now, suppose someone was watching and wanted to buy or obtain some of this. Do you sell these works or do you have any kind of sales that go on? And if so, how does that work? I encourage our artists to sell. We don't have a store, we don't have a formal store, but if you are checking out our website and you see somebody's work that you think is beautiful, I recommend you reach out to them. I don't want to take a cut from our artists, so that's why we don't have a formal store, but they do sell occasionally. And when we have our winter event in December, there are sales. It's a great way to buy all of your holiday gifts. I bought all of mine that way this year, it was really fun. That's great, because a lot of museums and similar facilities will lie upon that is part of their profit center, so to speak. But I'm just looking at the website. It's not only collectable, it's really nice for people to have this for their own, you know. This is one, this is a vase. It's actually the man who ran the trip, Jonathan Silverman, to Japan who is going to lead one again. I'm so excited that he's willing to lead another trip to Japan, he threw this pot and gave it to me. But the work is exceptional. I mean, I know I am biased, but I feel like, and that whenever anybody says something is exceptional, that you should question it probably, but I do feel like what we churn out is really, you know, specific to our little corner and has its own flair. Yeah. Right. One of the things we like to do here on Positively, Vermont is allow people to participate and also if there's someone inclined to assist your organization. Tell us what do you need? How people from afar can join in? Sure, you know, I'll just tell you about a dream that I have. So we just put in this art space I was telling you about at Harbor Place, which is in Shelburne. It's a place for folks who are experiencing homelessness, it's temporary housing, and it's a very bright, happy space. Charlotte Dvorak put a gorgeous mural in there. We bought all this beautiful brand new furniture. We bring in nice art supplies regularly. I have a dream that that would be, you know, everywhere, that that is a part of temporary housing in Vermont, that there's an art space. And it's not a terribly expensive thing to get off the ground. And yeah, so like in terms of a future hope for the craft school or a way that I'm kind of hoping to get the word out is that I think it's a way to really uplift folks that might need a little extra hope in their day. So that's one potentially people could get involved or support us. And Champlain Housing Trust, as well as my board of trustees has been incredibly supportive of this movement, you know? It's like Champlain Housing Trust's Harbor Place staff has been wonderful because, you know, you put in an art space that's a little bit messy and they've only said positive things about it. I was there last night painting with kids and it was really, it's always joyful. Great, tell us about membership. How does that work? We don't have membership. You sign up for classes and I suppose you are a member in that class, but because we're so small, we really rely off of folks repeat sign-ups. But no, there is no membership option. But it's talked about constantly. Yes, like people like, they go to a museum, they want a little car that I got something today from the museum in Montreal and, you know, a car and visit and whatever, all kinds of museums do that. So you're not at that level yet. No, someday, someday. That's great. And what would you want to say to people who are not familiar with the Shelburne Craft School and, you know, sort of encourage them or sort of a final message here for explaining what you're doing and how people can join in? I think it's an American trope to believe that if you want to engage in a form of art, you have to be good at it right away in order to paint or to make pottery or to create furniture that to be a beginner as an adult is somehow embarrassing or has negative emotions attached to it. And I would say as a beginner in nearly every area of the school, it's so much fun. And I wish that people would give themselves a chance to try new things. And it is hard when you're an adult to try something new, but I'd say almost everybody that does it is happy that they did. If you can weave some art into your day, I think it's a positive thing. I feel like it's like, you know, I think we all really need art in our lives and that it's sort of like a leafy vegetable that we do better if we have it. There's, I don't know if that's a, the answer you were looking for, the wrap up that was right. Well, that's fine. You know, weave some art into your day. That's very, very good. Well, this is great. Well, thanks, Heather, for appearing on Positively Vermont. My guest today has been Heather Moore, the executive director of the Shelburne Craft School located in beautiful Shelburne, Vermont. This is Dennis McMahon. Thank you for watching Positively Vermont. Thank you so much.