Experience first-hand the creative processes of Western Massachusetts artists! The Hilltown Arts Alliance is pleased to welcome visitors to the second Open Studio Tour featuring thirty artists across five Hilltowns. The tour will feature artists of a variety of media and a discussion of their work on both the technical and creative side. The 2019 tour will be on June 22nd and 23rd and will occur from 10 am to 5 pm on both days.

The tour is an admission-free event, but many of the artists will have work for sale. Meander timeless back roads, rolling hills, farms, forests and mountain streams as you make your way between studios. You may begin at any studio (locations and map on www.hilltownartsalliance.org).

New this year will be an exciting partnership with the William Cullen Bryant Homestead, a property of the Trustees. This National Historic Landmark in Cummington, MA is the residence of one of America’s greatest poets. William Cullen Bryant’s verses celebrate this quintessential American landscape and helped inspire the 19th-century land conservation movement.

The work of sculptor Beckie Kravetz, landscape painter Scott Heyl, and metal sculptor James Kitchen will be on display at the Homestead during the tour. Kitchen will do demonstrations of turning forgotten pieces of scrap metal from the Homestead barn into art. Tours of the Homestead with highlights of Bryant’s influence in the arts will also be available that day to visitors.

After the tour on Saturday, June 22nd, visit the Hilltown Bash and Cummington Community Picnic, featuring a potluck, dancing, and music from fresh, local talent. To conclude the Hilltown Open Studio Tour, The Bryant Homestead will host a farm-to-table multi-course dinner in the field curated and prepared by Wheelhouse Farm on Sunday, June 23rd. Reservations will be required and can be made online at thetrustees.org/bryanthomestead.