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Date: 11/29/2022
AMHERST – Hopes and Feathers, the Amherst-based art gallery and frame store, will be hosting its 11th annual Small Works Sale from Dec. 1 to Jan. 12. Local artists’ works will be on display and available for purchase. The sale is open to art of all disciplines, including but not limited to painting, photography, collage and sketching.
Gallery owner Michele Raboin said that the sale has grown every year in its inception; this year it is projected to attract between 100 to 150 participants and include over 200 pieces. To submit a piece, artists must buy a panel, which is essentially a block of wood, available for $30 in-store or online. Panels come in sizes of 5-by-7 inches, 6-by-6 inches or 8-by-10 inches. Artists must pick a size and create a piece which fits those dimensions; Raboin explained how the panel system works.
“It’s a wooden panel, and some folks really like to paint on it, some people do collage on it, but again, lots of people don’t even use it. It’s just sometimes a good way for people to envision the size of art they need to make, because 5 inches by 7 inches, 6 inches by 6 inches, that’s pretty small. I think it takes a pretty skilled artist to be able to make work at that scale that’s really successful. What’s great is that it keeps the piece really small and approachable for folks who’d like to purchase them. Maybe they don’t have a ton of wall space but they always have enough room for a little painting or a photograph, or a pencil sketch, collage, etc.,” Raboin said.
Once the piece is completed, artists bring their work to the shop, where they may pick a frame of their choosing to hold their work, the price of which is included in the submission fee. Raboin pointed out the economical and environmental benefits of this format.
“What’s really great about the show is that we’re using leftover materials, the stock that we have left over from other projects, to build these frames, so we’re able to offer them at a pretty reasonable price. People are able to pick a custom frame for their piece of art, and we’re able to keep this material out of the landfill, which we love,” Raboin said.
The sale is “cash for carry,” which in Raboin’s words means “as soon as a piece sells, we go in the backroom and get another one and put it on the walls, so you can come in one day and see four or five new pieces you didn’t see the last time you came.” She said that on average most pieces sell for roughly $100.
Raboin described the gallery’s motivation for hosting the sale as community-based.
“We do it because it’s fun and because we like to open it up to the community so that anyone who wants to make a piece can do it, and they can get their work up in a show. A lot of folks do this as a way to start showing their work, because sometimes it can be a little intimidating to put a whole show together. This a is way to be in community with other people who make art,” Raboin said.
The sale opens on Dec. 1, a day that Raboin calls Hopes and Feathers’ “Annual Pie Day.” Artists bring pies in addition to their work, so visitors can eat while they browse the merchandise. The sale will close on Jan. 12. The sale’s hours will be congruent with the business’s operating hours, which are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Hopes and Feathers is located at 319 Main St.