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Raku Comes to Life
Dot Burnworth of Sawmill Pottery rinses the ash off a raku pot. They demonstrated the entire raku process at the Pop Up Putnam event June 26. More photos on page 6. Linda Lemmon photo.
captions, page 6, clockwise from top left:
Lola Sinclair, 2 months old, is sporting a beautiful watermelon bow at Pop Up Putnam June 26. She was listening to the musical entertainment onstage, Wayne Sinclair.
It takes a community --- to create art.
Jon Conway creates Robby the Raccoon art installation on the corner of the alley downtown. Robby is part of the Character Around Every Corner art series.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — It’s almost as if the town’s Pop Up Putnam event is growing a life of its own.
Putnam Business Association coordinator Sheila Frost said the artisan/art/food/music extravaganza “seems to be evolving” into a big community event. She said it’s exciting to see how the event changes and grows each month. “Each month the vendors change, the logistics change. It’s constantly evolving,” she said.
The June 26 Pop Up Putnam event sported 40 vendors that ranged from tie dye to jewelry, to dog biscuits, to hanging gardens, to tea vendors, to leather work, to aprons to knitted goods to food and everything in between. The arts are always a strong component, too. Wayne Sinclair entertained June 26 and organizers are working on music for the next two events. In addition, there’s live art, community art and an art installation.
Frost said the vendors reported really good sales and with the exception of a tiny sprinkle, it was a beautiful day for the event.
The Character Around Every Corner series for Putnam’s 2021 season manifested in Robby the Raccoon, one of six new art installation popping up in Putnam along with Pop-Up-Putnam. Robby is painted at the corner of the alley next to the former Cargill Trust Bank downtown. He’s a reference to Putnam history — in 1941 a bank robbery was dramatically foiled. Robbers, that included town officials, planned to tunnel across the alley to rob the bank but a tipster alerted police. Apparently, there are still bullet holes in the Art Deco building.
Artist Jon Conway said Robby started as a late night doodle. He said five more Character Around Every Corner art installations are on the way — and they won’t necessarily be paintings.
Sawmill Pottery did demonstrations on the creation of raku-style pottery. It involved glazing the pottery, firing it in propane-powered kiln and after 45 minutes at 1,800 degrees, the pieces are pulled out and quickly put into metal trash cans with wood shavings at the bottom. Those cans are covered and wet clothes are put over the top to contain the smoke. After 10 minutes, the pieces are transformed into iridescent beauty.
For the July 24 event Frost sees another 40 vendors easy, spread throughout Putnam Rotary Park and downtown Putnam again. Quest Martial Arts is already signed up for the Aug. 21 Pop Up Putnam. She said plans call for the event to close at 3 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. in July and in August. The July 3 p.m. early finish is because of the heat and in August stopping at 3 p.m. will give the town enough time to get the park ready for the concert and fireworks.
Meanwhile, Frost said it’s getting so successful she’s looking for volunteers to help at the next ones. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Pop Up Putnam is sponsored by the town of Putnam, the Putnam Business Association, Discover Putnam and is powered by the Putnam Area Foundation.
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