Dads get free admission on Father’s Day
STURBRIDGE – Old Sturbridge Village will showcase the arts with music, dancing, and painting demonstrations during its annual Music & Art Weekend June 18-19. Village potters will fire redware pottery in the museum’s massive 24-foot-high brick kiln on Saturday, June 18, and all dads get free Father’s Day admission and a free gift (while supplies last) on Sunday June 19. For event details, call 1-800-SEE-1830 or visit www.osv.org.
Visitors can learn to play 1830s-style instruments like the jaw harp and tin whistle, and hear music played on the Village’s antique pipe organ and on other rare antique instruments from the museum’s collection, many of which are rarely seen or heard by the public. OSV historians will teach old-fashioned artistic techniques like paper marbling, and visitors can have a silhouette cut of their profiles and learn how silhouetting is done.
Several musical performances and demonstrations are scheduled throughout the weekend. On Saturday, the OSV Singers will present their spring concert and other solo performers will sing 19th century songs and ballads. The Old Sturbridge Village Recorder Consort will also perform on Saturday. Musical highlights on Sunday include fife and drum music and Will O’Hare, of the popular group Full Gael, will play flute music from the 1800s. The OSV Dancers will be demonstrating and teaching 19th century dances.
Visual artists from several disciplines will be on hand to show people the popular art forms of the 1800s. Art tours of the Village will be conducted to help Visitors understand the artistic traditions and style of the time. Michelle Temares, a popular visiting artist, will do portrait painting demonstrations using only period-appropriate materials and techniques. She will also create a wood engraving for the printing press using period materials. Early newspapers and almanacs used wood engravings in their illustrations. More information about Michelle’s work can be found at www.bellamichelle.com.
A group of local “Plein Aire” artists will also give demonstrations and offer their art for sale throughout the weekend. “Plein Aire” artists paint outdoors and capture the settings around them using natural light. They can often be seen at the Village throughout the year painting the Old Sturbridge Village buildings and landscapes.
The art of pottery will also be highlighted during a rare kiln firing on Saturday. The OSV kiln was recently restored thanks to the generous contributions to its Rekindle the Kiln campaign. The kiln is an “updraft bottle-style” kiln and is a reproduction based on archaeological research at the site of Hervey Brooks’ Pottery Shop, which was moved from Goshen, Connecticut to OSV in 1961. Once a year, the kiln is lit and approximately 700 pieces of Village-made redware pottery are fired. In order to reach the 1800 degree Fahrenheit temperatures needed inside the kiln, the fire inside must burn for over 40 hours. Visitors will see potters tending to the fire and demonstrating at the wheel inside the shop.
Old Sturbridge Village celebrates life in early New England from 1790 – 1840. Located just off the Massachusetts Turnpike and Routes I-84 and 20 in Sturbridge, Mass., OSV is open year-round, but hours vary seasonally. Currently, the Village is open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Admission is: $20 for adults; $18 for seniors; $7 for children ages 3-17; children under 3 are admitted free. Each admission includes free parking and a free second-day visit within 10 days. Woo Card subscribers get 25% of adult daytime admission; college Woo cardholders receive 50% off adult daytime admission. For details, visit www.osv.org or call 800-SEE-1830.
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Upcoming events at Old Sturbridge Village:
Antique Car Rally – June 4
Pre-1946 cars will be showcased throughout the day on the Village Common and a grand procession of the autos will end the afternoon. The Rally commemorates the 65th anniversary of the Museum’s 1946 opening when visitors toured the Village in their cars. Over 25 cars from the early 1900s will be on display.
Muster Day – June 11
In the 19th century, the small army was supplemented by local militias who “mustered” once a year for training and drilling. Visitors can observe and participate in the mustering activities, hear stirring fife and drum music, and visit a “Striped Pig Tent” on the Village Common.
Independence Day Fireworks and Celebration – July 3-4
Old Sturbridge Village will begin its Independence Day Celebrations with a fireworks display and special events on the evening of July 3. In addition to the countryside fireworks, there will also be a reading of the Declaration of Independence, games, music, magic, and a patriotic fashion contest. On July 4, highlights will include signing a giant reproduction of the Declaration of Independence, a citizen’s parade, and music.
