A chance to beat the heat and enjoy ice cream, art demonstrations, and learn about the history of Clay on Main’s building were some of the highlights of the studio’s third annual Ice Cream Social and Open House, July 18. Attendees also had the chance to build a fairy garden and try their hand at working with clay.
“This is our third year. Members and volunteers are just all over it. There’s a lot more interest to want to come and help,” said Dolores Kirschner, director. “What I think it does is it gets the word out. Not necessarily these people take classes, but people send people to me. It’s a real kind of a networking sort of thing.”
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for kids and for older people,” said Brenda Leiby, Muhlenberg.
Leiby said her four-year-old granddaughter, Natalie Nelson, had such a good time doing an ornament craft with Kirschner at a children’s fair in Shoemakersville. She brought her granddaughter as well as her own grandmother, Margery Helm. Leiby’s granddaughter posed for a caricature drawing and later tried working with clay.
“This is a fascinating place because of all the wonderful things. The rooms are so different from today’s rooms. People are so friendly,” said Helm, Muhlenberg. “I think it would take a long while to go through it and appreciate all of it. You’ve got to look at the things that are displayed so that you get an idea of how it is functioning. I like it.”
Also in the garden area of the studio, attendees picked from a variety of plants grown by Kirschner to make a little fairy garden they could take home.
In the studio, artists worked at long tables and pottery wheels while taking the time to answer questions and assist others.
John Surmick, Exeter, was working on painting a sculpture of a hand. He said he finds inspiration at Clay on Main.
“I love this place because it’s special; very creative,” said Surmick. “I get to appreciate other people’s talent. There are great artists here.”
Six years ago, Sherie Weber, Fleetwood, took a pottery class at RACC through Clay on Main and has been with the art studio ever since.
“It’s relaxing except for glazing, which is a pain,” Weber laughed. “Other than that it’s relaxing.”
Judi Merkel, Limekiln, and Margaret McCloskey, Boyertown, came to the Ice Cream Social to go on tour of the building. As members of the Oley Valley Heritage Association, they were interested in the building’s history, but enjoyed the added bonus of cookies and ice cream.
“Clay on Main made a commemorative ornament for our association. We were celebrating out 30th anniversary,” said Merkel. “We hand-painted the ornaments.”
Cliff Stackonis, Barto, volunteers at the Half Moon Cafe for the sound shows as well as performs. During the open house, Stackonis sang and played guitar.
“It is a great community and encourages multi-generational arts and the local music is fantastic,” said Stackonis.
Weeks of preparation went into getting ready for the Ice Cream Social and Open House. Kirschner said the volunteers are great and do their own thing.
It took Bob Wood equally as long to prepare an article for the open house tour, Historic Structures Report for 313 Main Street, Oley, PA.
His report noted how the studio was developed in three distinct phases beginning with details of the structure when it was built in 1840. A two-story addition was added sometime around 1870. This second phase marked a time when cooking hearths gave way to kitchen cook stoves. The third phase presented elements of trim design and painting, which date this part to the early twentieth century.
According to the history, the original house had once been a shoemaker’s shop. In the 1900’s, it was Heffily’s Bakery until 1945. There is belief that it had been used as a factory for military products and later as a hosiery mill and then a machine shop. In 1999 Clay on Main purchased the building as an art studio, gallery, and classroom specializing in clay.
Wood’s report thanked Alan Keyser, Lindsay Dierolf, Boyertown Area Historical Society, and Kirschner.
Kirschner said her favorite room in the house is the most original and still has some of the original paint. Even the floorboards underneath a rug that had been put down for yoga classes date back to when the house was first built. She added that you could sit in that room as the sun sets right out front of the house.
For more information, go to <www.clayonmain.org>.
