Mudseason 2015 gets under way April 11

Contributed Article

    SANGERVILLE — Celebrate the arts, take home your very own handmade souvenir bowl and help restore the stained-glass windows at a historic Sangerville church.
    All this takes place at Mudseason 2015 on Saturday, April 11 at the Sangerville Unitarian Universalist Church.
    Ticket holders will be assigned a unique, brightly-designed bowl through a lottery, made by local artists’ and members of the community. They can fill it with soup; and when it’s empty, they can take the bowl home.

    The $25 admission fee will be donated to restoring four stained glass windows at the UU Church.  Seating is limited to 60, so don’t delay in buying your ticket.
    Mudseason 2015 is a community arts celebration centered on clay. It’s a project where local potters, artists, art students and enthusiasts — mostly from Piscataquis County — pool their artistic know-how to make 60 beautiful hand-crafted bowls, all for a good cause.
    These unique bowls are distributed to ticket holders of the Mudseason supper on April 11 starting at 6 p.m. at the UU Church.
    Jason Curran will entertain with live piano jazz during the supper, which will include a variety of handmade soups (including a vegan choice), breads and desserts.
    The money raised from the project will go towards paying for the restoration of four historic storied stained glass windows at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Sangerville and Dover-Foxcroft.
    They were created by Samuel West from Boston in 1898.  Back then, each window was paid for by a family in memory of a loved one, or by a group within the church such as the Ladies’ Circle.
    Recently, the windows were assessed for integrity and condition and it was discovered that four of the windows were found to need extensive repairs at a cost of approximately $20,000.
    The first Mudseason Event in Piscataquis County occurred in 2007 and was sponsored by Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, who taught Jemma Gascoine how to organize and facilitate Mudseason workshops and the celebration event.
    Gascoine partnered with the Maine Highlands Guild and the Center Theatre to host the 2007 event, enlisting help from local artists as well.
    The second Mudseason in 2013 was held at the Monson Community Center, sponsored by local Monson businesses, and benefited Monson’s food cupboard.
    Mudseason 2015 is for the UU church, which helps fund some important community programs such as the food cupboard and the fuel assistance program.
    Most of the pots for Mudseason have been created at the new Monson Pottery Workshop at the Monson Community Center.
    Potters Jemma Gascoine and Lyn Black, who have been throwing clay on the potter’s wheel for 15 years and 10 years respectively, opened the workshop at the beginning of February. They are building up inventory for craft fairs and shops.
    For more information regarding Mudseason 2015, call Theresa Boettner on 564-8666. 
    For details about the Monson Pottery Workshop, call 370-7099.