Blog for 2015 - Open Door Tour

Bedford Artisan Trail
Open Door Tour
Friday, September 11 - Sunday, September 20
An Entire Week plus Two Full Weekends of Special Festivities!
Be Captivated by Bedford!
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains with the iconic Peaks of Otter as a majestic backdrop,
Bedford’s arts and cultural entities are abundant in this tight knit creative community.
Discover yourself on an authentic artisan Trail adventure.
The ACV Artisan Trail Network invites you to experience the underlying passion of an artisan’s
skilled and imaginative life’s work… the enduring spirit of agri-artisans and their devotion
to the land… and… innovative, community infused collaborations and events
instilling a sense of perennial kinship.
“If you expect to be surprised, inspired and dazzled by the sites you will visit on an Artisans Center
of Virginia Artisan Trail adventure be prepared, because you will experience it all. The artists and
farmers dedication and passion will be clearly evident in every step of the trip. You will want to
keep seeing more and will find yourself planning the next agenda. I often judge things by the
thought of, "would I want to experience this again" and that day on the Artisan Trail gets a giant
Yes!!!!!“
-Estelle Avner, Roanoke, VA
The Bedford Artisan Trail Open Door Tour features 21 participating sites
including artisan studios, artist and gardening demonstrations, wine
tastings, locally grown foods and produce, farm tours, music,
exhibits and much more!
2nd Friday in Centertown
Sept 11; 5 - 8 pm - Start it off right with A Night Out with Bedford's Best!
Featuring art openings, fine dining, specialty shops, and live music throughout historic
Centertown Bedford. *Map #69
Bedford Farmers Market at the YMCA
Sept 15: 3-6:30 pm - Special Open Door Tour Dialog - Area Farmers Discuss Sustainable
Farm Practices. Join the conversation and pick up some tempting produce. *Map #33
Bedford Farmers Market at the Centertown Pavilion
Sept 18: 8 am -1 pm - Continue the conversation on Sustainable Farm Practices with area
farmers at the Friday Main Street Farmers Market. Enjoy Virginia grown fruits and vegetables,
hand made soaps, local eggs, jams and jellies, local crafts, raw local honey and much much
more! *Map #34
Bedford Area Welcome Center
Sept 1 thru Oct 3: 9am - 5 pm - Bedford Artisan Trail Invitational Exhibit- come see more of
the exhibit in collaboration with the Bowers Center for the Arts, The Electric Company Artists'
Co-op and Goose Creek Studio Gallery. Due to renovations Bower Center is not open for
exhibits therefore the component of this exhibit will be displayed at The Bedford Welcome
Center.
Bower Center for the Arts
Sept 11: 5-8 pm - Special Opening Reception for the Bedford Artisan Trail Invitational
Exhibit at The Electric Company Artists' Co-op and Goose Creek Studio Gallery. *Map #28, 29
Sept 13: 4-8 pm - Bedford’s Finest Fare. Featuring local chefs and Bedford County producers
and growers during this farm to table event of the year! Live music and local refreshments in the
Wharton Garden. Cost: $30 in advance $35 at door $15 12 and under. *Map #30
Decoy Room
Sept 11: 10- 7pm, Sept 17: 12-5pm, Sept 18: 10am - 7pm, Sept 19: 10am -2pm - Featuring
demonstrations of wood feathering and painting and showcasing a wide variety of decoy
and wildfowl art and artists of the finest craftsmanship. *Map #27
Diamond Hill General Store & Garden Center
Sept 12: 1-9 PM - Open House at Diamond Hill - showcasing artists and authors, wine and
beer tasting, horticulturist will be on hand, face painting, and live music (6:30-9 PM). *Map #56
The Electric Company
Sept 17: 5-8 PM - Special Reception and Unveiling of "A Shallow Crossing", 6ft x 10ft Oil
Painting by Rod Adams.
Featured demonstrations in painting, polymer clay, mosaic, pastel, stained glass, bookbinding,
watercolor, expressive line, and haiku at various times throughout the week. Music,
refreshments. See the Calendar of Events for more info at artisanscenterofvirginia,org.
*Map #28
Fisher’s Restaurant
Sept 11-12; Sept 14-19 - Hometown feel and homemade meals. Daily specials. Participating in
Bedford’s Finest Fare on Sept 13. *New site* 503 4th St.
Forest Farmers Market
Sept 12: 8-noon - Music & Special Open Door Tour Demonstrations- herb lectures, pottery,
glass jewelry lamp art, bead jewelry demonstrations, silk scarf painting, wood carving, loom
weaving and bee observations. *Map #38
Goose Creek Studio Gallery and Custom Framing
Sept 11: 5-8 pm - 2nd Friday Centertown Opening Reception for the Double Line Painters
of the Blue Ridge exhibition “Elements: Color and Texture”.
Sept 19: 11 am- 2 pm - Old Jail Hill Art Space Open House - visit the artist in their studios on
the 2nd floor and enjoy new work and demonstrations. *Map #29
Hickory Hill Vineyards
Sept 11-12, 16-19: 12-6 PM - Featuring a special Chardonnay Harvest activity. See how they
turn sun-ripened grapes into Chardonnay wine. Taste the white grape, ripe and sweet off the
vine, then taste the award winning wines. $5 per person. *Map #41
Mountain Run Farm
Sept 12: 10 am - 2 pm & Sept 19: 10 am - 2 pm - Farm Store Open - featuring pasture raised
pork and beef, homemade soaps, local honey, and artisan crafts. *Map #46
Otter Hill Forge
Sept 14-17: 8 am - 5 pm - All day demonstrations of forged ornamental ironwork by
blacksmith L.T. Skinnell. *Map #14
Peaks of Otter Lodge & Restaurant
Sept 12: 11:30 am - 3:30 pm- Ribbon Cutting and Birthday Celebration. Children’s activities,
Nature Exhibit, Music, Artist Demonstration, Birthday Cake. *Map #82
Peaks of Otter Winery & Orchards
Sept 11-13: noon - 5pm - An Apple A Day Open House - Sample our many varieties of apples
and taste Fruit of the Farm wine. Special Open Door Tour Barn Quilt demonstrations and
exhibition. *Map #48
SER Art Stained Glass
All week - All Day stained glass demonstrations by stained glass artisan Shelly LaTreill.
*Map #17
Studio 43 Pottery
All week - Hand built pottery demonstrations. Artisan Sonya Forte will demonstrate the "art"
of hand built pottery. *Map #20
Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest
Sept 17: 11 am- 2 pm - Naturalization Ceremony with the Blue Ridge Chapter of the National
Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution as we welcome 30 new citizens in honor of
Constitution Day.
Sept 19: 8-10 pm - Special Open Door Tour Stargazing Event with Dr. Neal Sumerlin, former
director of the Belk Astronomical Observatory at the Claytor Nature Study Center at Lynchburg
College. $10 for ages 12+, under 12 free. *Map #84
Town Kitchen & Provisions
Sept 11: 10am - 7pm, Sept 12: 10am - 3pm, Sept 13: noon - 3pm, Sept 15-18: 10am - 7pm,
Sept 19: 10am - 3pm, Sept 20: noon - 3pm - Featuring photography by John Wilcher.
*Map #59
The Well
Sept 12: 10am - 7pm - Local Product Tasting Day. Taste locally grown or made foods and take
advantage of our monthly Second Saturday Sale on select categories of products. *Map #85
Go ahead… visit the Bedford Artisan Trail… and go home:
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inspired
more knowledgeable
intrigued
surprised by the intimate
nature of the sites
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grounded
happy
thoughtful
more passionate
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relaxed
excited
reconnected
ready for more
Look for the bright yellow banners
hanging outside each door.
“The brochure about the Bedford Artisan Trail which we visited,
was so perfectly descriptive that it was instantly apparent how
broad based the available artisan’s talents are… unique
choices for each of us! The availability of the very different
farms was terrific… they balanced the artist’s studios and
galleries brilliantly.”
-an enthusiastic visitor and avid art lover, Roanoke, VA
ArtisanTrailNetwork.org
* Bedford Artisan Trail Brochure Map- available at the Bedford Welcome Center & most
participating sites.