SHARON — The Sharon Arts Center recently named Keri Wiederspahn as executive director, and the artist, entrepreneur and lover of community arts is looking to use her experience to grow and develop the center.

Wiederspahn, a resident of Nelson, has almost 20 years of artistic business experience under her belt, beginning with the formation of the Creative Hands Art Studio and Atelier Gallery in Madison, N.J. She founded the school/gallery business and directed and taught other artists for 15 years. She said this successful model for an art business expanded into three locations with nearly 2,000 students participating each year.

“I wanted to combine my love for children and wanting to see a cultural enrichment infusion that innovates the art,” said Wiederspahn on Thursday. “The real difference [as opposed to other schools of art] was that I really had a structural and creative difference in my approach with the kids, which was encouraging their own vision.”

In 2008, she helped develop an artist collaborative group called The Starving Artist in Keene, which connects artists and art lovers through performances, lectures, workshops and exhibits.

“It is an incubator for emerging artists,” said Wiederspahn in an interview. “It is a creative space to launch ideas and the freedom to explore creativity — young artists can feel comfortable in a nonacademic way.”

At Sharon Arts, Wiederspahn said, she wants to continue focusing on developing young artists.

Melanie McDonald, director of community outreach and communications at Sharon Arts, said Thursday that Wiederspahn’s vision aligns with Sharon Arts’ efforts to bring in young artists.
“There are a lot of wonderful high schools with strong art programs, but maybe not enough time or resources,” McDonald said. “We want to introduce them to a range of experiences, a place unhindered by the parameters by home or classroom environment.

While she said that Sharon Arts has a strong program for teenage artists, Wiederspahn is going to work to develop programming for artists as young as three.

“If things are brought out to them with a very structured basis, little children can really exceed expectations,” Wiederspahn said. “It needs to be spun out, in a gentle way, into their learning capabilities.”

She added that younger artists have an “openness” to any art form, which is a difficult approach for artists as they get older.

Wiederspahn began her art career with a BFA in Sculpture at Parsons School of Design in New York. Upon graduation, she had her first professional exhibit of her artwork at Sharon Arts.

“It is such a comfortable environment to ease one into the gallery process,” she said.
McDonald said that Wiederspahn is the perfect fit in the tight-knit community of artists.
“Artists come here for the sense of community to be with other artists. They feel like they are part of something greater than themselves — they become a family.”

Since her first visit to Sharon, Wiederspahn has explored many other aspects of the artistic world. She recently received a N.H. State Arts Council Grants to pursue the study of Russian-Byzantine iconography with Ksenia Pokrovsky of Boston, learning the traditional egg-tempera methods of mixing egg yolk with natural organic pigments.

Wiederspahn said she admires the programming at Sharon Arts and is hoping to help the center venture into alternative media, including filmmaking.

McDonald said having an executive director with a strong background in visual arts and a mind for business is a wonderful thing, especially at a time of difficulty in the economy.
Wiederspahn looks forward to getting feedback from residents on what they would like to see at the center.

“We can try and open up certain doors that haven’t opened before,” she said.
Both McDonald and Wiederspahn credited former Executive Director Bob Pettegrew for carrying Sharon Arts and continuing to develop it after taking on a temporary role in January 2010.

Wiederspahn, who live in Nelson with her husband, filmmaker Aaron Wiederspahn, and her five children, said she sees art as a part of her life, and the general human experience.

“Art really had the potential of opening up so much of the human person, the inner workings of our psyche in really beautiful personal ways,” she said. “Obviously it is all subjective, but I think it is real necessary to have ample art experiences in ones life to balance out that right left brain activity for wellness, for optimal quality of life and a fullness of being.”