One Cottage Street Studios

Date: Saturday, December 4, 2010
Time: 1:45 pm
Where: Easthampton, MA

What: One Cottage Street Open Studios

Take an old factory with lots of character and add dozens of artists with lots of talent and you get the One Cottage Street Open Studios. Every year this annual event gets better and better. The quality of artists and artisans showing off their work is incredible. Three standouts were Janna Ugone, who is internationally known for her ultra-cool lamps; William Hewitt, who builds absolutely gorgeous, whimsical furniture; and Briana Taylor, whose paintings make simple glass containers objects of haunting beauty. During the last decade, Easthampton has become an "art" town, much like Northampton and Shelburne Falls. Though grittier than its sister cities, Easthampton's potential as an artists' mecca is especially promising given its abundance of abandoned factories and growing cultural scene. Easthampton, please do me a favor: Don't become too trendy or too "high rent." That would be a shame.