The construction dust clears

I'm not sure how to explain everything that happened since November 2011 til now concisely, but suffice to say, construction is a bitch. Over the past year I worked with the Southern NH Planning Commission (working out my City and Regional Planner Muscles - which are mostly keyboard typing muscles), became the General Contractor for finishing the redevelopment of a 20,000SF building, became a day laborer on the construction site, and all the while, trying to keep Studio 550 alive in the eyes of the community.

I originally moved home to NH in 2010 to start up a community art/clay center in Manchester, NH - Studio 550. We were slated to move into an old warehouse in early 2011. The building was left over from the times of the Amoskeag mills back in 1890.  Unfortunately, a few bad general contractors, plus a few bad sub-contractors and we were left hanging with just the idea of a studio and a broken building. 

I'd rather focus on the positive though, and say that in construction was completed in November of 2012 and December 15, 2012, we had our grand opening! None of this would have been possible without the help of family and friends, who put in countless hours to help bring this to where it is now. Classes started January 7th, and now I have the challenging and incredibly exciting task of learning how to build a business and creating a community centered around the arts!  

All this is to explain why I have not been as prolific in the studio as I usually would be. We are currently engineering glazes and, now that the studio is set up, and the kilns are plugged in, I am ready to rock... right after I fill these classes and market this workshop, and schedule the next few shows, and make sure the residents have what they need... No, I think I'll start throwing this weekend. 

Thanks for sticking with this and cheer me on to whatever comes out of these fingertips in the next few days!

For more information on Studio 550, see www.550arts.com