Last updated on September 22, 2024
Along with dozens of local artists displaying their work, this weekend’s 31st Annual Jamaica Plain Studios will feature a young artists guide that will include a mini-scavenger hunt and more.
Organized by the Jamaica Plain Arts Council, this year’s event will showcase approximately 200 artists at more more than 60 sites across Jamaica Plain. Locations will be inside artists’ studio spaces, and group sites at Curtis Hall Community Center, the Loring Greenough House, Eliot School of Fine and Applied Arts, several churches, and more. Several local businesses, such as Tonino restaurant, Jameson & Thompson Picture Framers and Insight Realty, are sponsors and also host artists’ work in their spaces.
Artists’ work this year is very varied, including ironworkers, jewelers, painters, ceramics, printmakers, textile and paper artists, sculptors, clothing designers, woodcarvers, photographers, and more.
In addition to the usual kid’s table with art-making opportunities, this year’s event will feature a JPOS Young Artists’ Guide by educator Pete Curran. It will include tips for talking to artists, a mini-scavenger hunt, and space for young people to doodle their favorite works of art. Curran is a middle school art teacher in Wayland.
“My 10-year old daughter, Tallulah and I have been going to JP Open Studios for a couple years. Last year, I noticed that she and other kids were mostly talking to their parents instead of to the artists,” said Curran. That inspired him to use his skills as an educator to create something to encourage young people to engage directly with the artists.
The Young Artist’s Guide and interactive maps of artist sites can be found at jpopenstudios.com. Physical copies of both can be found at the information booth at JP Licks (659 Centre St.). Maps will also be distributed to local businesses and group sites. All JPOS sites are MBTA accessible on the Orange Line as well as by several bus routes.
Jamaica Plain Open Studios is 11 am to 6 pm on September 28 & 29.
