Dec. 7 RAL open house to feature poet Gary Hanna and glass workshop with Holden Becker
The fourth annual Rehoboth Art League Holiday Open House set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, will offer a day of hospitality with fine art, crafts, great gift items, music, free art experiences, refreshments and a visit from Santa. It will also be an opportunity to meet Gary Hanna, author of “The Homestead Poems,” and take a complimentary Parent and Me workshop with artist Holden Becker.
While this has been a year of celebrating the 75th anniversary of the art league, the historic Peter Marsh Homestead on the league’s 3 1/2-acre campus celebrates 270 years. “The Homestead Poems,” a new poetry book by Hanna, contains poems about the Homestead house itself, pieces of furniture, the gardens, flowers and small animals who live there. Hanna also includes poems about the Rehoboth Art League, nearby places in Dewey, Rehoboth, Lewes, Fort Miles and the ocean and beaches - even crop dusters and farmers chasing geese.
The art league was one of the main reasons Hanna and his wife Anne chose this area to move to. For 12 years, Hanna has been with the writers' group that meets in the Homestead on Wednesday mornings, and he has managed the Homestead docents for the last four years. He has a master's degree in English literature from Indiana University and has received two fellowships in poetry and five Individual artist awards from the Delaware Division of the Arts plus a Residency Fellowship to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. He is on the editorial board of the Broadkill Review and is manager of the Writers Library in Delaware.
Former Delaware poet laureate Fleda Brown says, "These poems look through the lens of history - both personal and collective - by means of immediate details of the present. These poems are lovers of life. They are a pleasure to read." Hanna will be available to sign purchased copies of the book at the Holiday Open House from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the Corkran Gallery. At 2 p.m. he will treat guests to a reading from the book and talk about the process of writing poetry and the book.
The art league will offer a Parent and Me: Winter Hanging Glass Decorations class for free on the day of the open house. Holden Becker will teach the class from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Pottery Studio. This workshop is a great way to create a new family tradition by making glass hanging decorations with the family. Participants will make beautiful, one-of-a-kind decorations in winter and beach themes using pre-cut glass pieces. Class is suitable for ages 6-10 with an adult (limit two children per adult).
Glass was not Becker’s first career but it is his love. This creative medium allowes all his design instincts to soar and his creativity to blossom. He says glass reminds him of people, and like people, there are no two pieces of glass exactly alike. The sheer beauty and flexibility of the glass allows Becker to explore many different artistic directions. The workshop is free, but advance registration is requested.
The Holiday Open House is free and open to the public. For information on Rehoboth Art League classes, events and exhibitions, go to www.rehobothartleague.org or call 302-227-8408.
