NAHANT — Nahant’s 20th annual holiday craft show may be canceled due to COVID-19, but local artists have found a creative solution.
In a socially-distant alternative to the highly-anticipated event hosted at Town Hall each year, buyers will instead go from home to home Saturday, Nov. 28, to purchase goods and artwork handmade by Nahant residents as part of the town’s first open-studio arts and crafts sale.
“As an artist, I’m personally struggling to keep my business going because all my shows were basically canceled from March until the end of the year,” said Heather Goodwin, event coordinator, Nahant Women’s Club member, and participating artist. “I wanted to do something for the other artists I’ve gotten to know over the years who participate in the craft show as a way to highlight what Nahant has to offer.”
By having artists set up shop in garages and porches around their own homes, Goodwin said the town will hopefully prevent the usual large crowd of shoppers from congregating in one place at a time.
“It also reminds people to shop early, shop locally, and support small businesses,” she added. “I’ve seen so many of my artist friends give up their businesses due to COVID, and it’s heartbreaking.”
A handful of local organizations — including the Nahant Woman’s Club, Nahant Garden Club, and Nahant Historical Society — will also stand outside their usual meeting spots from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to sell raffle tickets, calendars, and other merchandise.
“I definitely know the feeling of being scared of what the future has in store, so hopefully this brings people some sales around the holidays,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin, a silversmith, creates and sells organic, sterling-silver jewelry under the name Twigs and Heather, and builds folk art sculptures out of organic objects — all of which she plans to sell during the show.
“I’ve kind of started to reinvent myself,” she said. “I collect things like driftwood throughout the year and create sculptures of trees and animals. My yard is pretty much a sculpture garden of my creations.”
Knitter Susan Cripps, another one of 24 artists currently signed up to participate Nov. 28, has already begun to set up shop on her three-season porch, which is now complete with shelves, hangars to display her work, and plenty of hand sanitizer.
She said one aspect she’ll miss from previous years will be the camaraderie among the artists themselves.
“I just wish there was more time for the artists to go visit each other’s stations,” she said. “That’s what I’ll miss, being able to walk around the town hall floor and seeing what everyone does.”
However, Cripps is optimistic:
“I think it’ll work out really well. It’ll be fun,” she said. “I welcome the change. It’ll be fun for people to go around town and meet the artists, see where they live, and just have a better understanding of what they do and how they do it.”
More information about the event, including a full list of participating artists, is available on the event Facebook page at facebook.com/events.
