HippoPress -- The Hippo -- Guide to Manchester and Nashua NH

Bring your dancing shoes to Art Walk Nashua this weekend, a pair suitable for tango. Art demonstrations aren’t the only kind of performance at this open studios tour.

Members of the Argentine Tango Association of New Hampshire will dance at Chimera Gallery in the Millyard for the Saturday event, 1 to 7 p.m. There will be demonstrations on the hour, with an opportunity for guests to take the floor as well. Chimera will also be showing a few of ATANH member and graphic artist Cameron Bennett’s tango-inspired images, a preview of the “Magnificent Obsessions” exhibit. Also Saturday, Chimera closes Art Ferrier and Keith Spiro’s OCANADArt photography exhibit, which had been extended by popular demand and is now headed to shows in the French-Canadian- influenced cities Lewiston, Maine, and Woonsocket, R.I.

Many of the 14 or so venues involved in this Art Walk (the second of four this year) pull in live music, such as the Hunt Building, which will have a full schedule of folk performers, and the Nashua Public Library, which will host a pianist.

New England Woodturners Group, sculptor James Chase, sculptor and potter Leah Chulak, and jewelry designers Amanda White, Kendra Robin and Kate Matthews will demonstrate their work at Bilancia Gallery and Framing, 85 West Pearl St., to a live soundtrack by guitarist Charlie Christos. Merrimack’s Paula Super will demonstrate oil painting at the library.

Of course, there’s food to be had at many Art Walk stops. Grab a “passport” from the library or another participant, which you can enter into a raffle for local artwork.

Art Walk is a relatively new tradition started by Great American Downtown and the local arts community in the fall of 2005. You do have to walk to these events – unlike Open Doors in Manchester.

Open Doors, from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 15, in downtown Manchester, offers three trolleys circulating throughout the city to ten stops where admission is free, as is the trolley ride as well as parking. Often you can find free refreshments and meet the artists for the gallery openings involved. Local museums like the Currier and SEE Science Center are also on the route.

The next two Art Walks are Sept. 16 and Nov. 25. Open Doors returns Sept. 28 and Nov. 16.

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Get Some Culture
Open Doors Cultural Trolley Tour, Manchester
Thursday, June 15, 5-8 p.m. 669-7469
Map at majestictheatre.net/page10.html
• Art on the Walls at City Hall, One City Hall Plaza: Bob Raiche, local aerial photography
• Manchester Arts Association, 1528 Elm St.: “Summer Blast”
• Currier Museum of Art, 201 Myrtle Way: “The Currier, Past, Present and Future”
• Millyard Museum, 255 Commercial St.: montage from other local museums
• SEE Science Center, 200 Bedford St.: LEGO models of Victorian Manchester
• Art 3 Gallery, 44 West Brook St.: “Music and Movement” visual art
• Valley Cemetery, Valley Street: speakers on its history and restoration
• New Hampshire Institute of Art, 148 Concord St., 156 Hanover St., 77 Amherst St.: graduate and student work
• Langer Place, 55 S. Commercial St.: East Colony Fine Art Gallery, Millyard South Studios, Dovetailed Kitchens, Dachowski Photography, Dennis Sheehan, Ed Reinish Cabinetmaker, Artist’s Avenue and Hatfield Gallery.
• Manchester Community Access Media, 540 North Commercial St.: Monastery Artists Collective

Art Walk Nashua
Saturday, June 17, 1-7 p.m.
Download map, passport from artwalknashua.com.
Downtown
• Amethyst Wyldfyre: 47 East Pearl St.
• Bilancia Gallery & Framing, 85 West Pearl St.: “A Crafty Assemblage LIVE”
• Arts @ The Hunt Building, 6 Main St.: Tara’s Education & Art for the Soul / Terri Twedell, City Arts Nashua
• Maison de l’Art, 57 East Pearl St.
• Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott St.: 1-4 p.m.
• Nashua Public Library, 2 Court St.: open until 5:30 p.m.
• Page Creative Studios, 174 Main St. #12
• Precision Body Arts, 116 West Pearl St., The Millyard, 99 Factory Street Extension
• A.W. Emboss LLC Studio / Gallery
• Chimera Gallery: tango, OCANADArt
• River Art Studios / Art Clay Studios
• Out on a Limb Pottery / A Walk in the Park Studios

5 Pine Street Extension
• Gallery One at the Mill House
• Writing / ARTS Studio Gallery

06/08/2006 It's sticky up here
06/01/2006 Mural for MCAM
05/25/2006 Scenes from the air
05/18/2006 Vanguardians sit down
05/11/2006 Public masterpiece
05/04/2006 Art helps kids at MAA show
04/27/2006 In-house artists on display
04/20/2006 No Pinocchio here
04/13/2006 School's out art's in
04/06/2006 Meet Michael Toomey
03/30/2006 Art builds community ...
03/23/2006 From Celtic design to Ayn Rand
03/16/2006 Got Cow?
03/09/2006 A creative view of China
03/02/2006 Monastery Arts open new show
02/23/2006 Love and art in one location
02/16/2006 Job loss leads to artistic success
02/09/2006 Art in the key of Adam and Eve
02/02/2006 Art to make you think
01/26/2006 New York artists to show at Derryfiled School
01/19/2006 A new age of artwork
01/12/2006 Photography buffs unite
01/05/2006 Jeweler teaches her trade
Alison Williams
All together now
A forest through the trees
A light in the dark
An event for artists, by artists
Anne Dufresne
Armand Szainer: never forget
Art group picks artist of the year
Art In The Park
Art in the Park sees attendance dip
Arts In Education Conference
Art like Crayons for grown-ups
Art you can sit on (if you own it)
Better Living Through Artistry
Capturing history with a panaramic view
Ceramic Biennial
Currier Kicks Off 2005 With NHSS Show
Die fotografieren
Doug Mendoza: Body Artist
Enjoying the Open Doors Trolley Tour
East Colony Fine Art has gone jazz
Equal Arts Opportunities
Exploring purgatory and paradise
Expressions coming from within
Fighting cancer with creativity
Free food, free music and plenty of art
Harry Umen: New Work
Head of the class
Heating up the canvas
Inside the artist’s studio
It’s art, and it’s even practical!
James Aponovich
James Chase
Jan De Bray
Local Artist, Global Message
Lollipops and Hand Grenades
MAA Adds New Dimension To Gallery
MAA Gallery Mixes It Up
Making Book With Children
Manchester Art In 2004
Morgan's "Danse" Comes To Manch
Morin Avoid Typecasting
NHIA chalks it up to May 14
Open Doors Manchester Returns
Open Doors Trolley Tour, The Winter Version
Looking for a crowd? Just add art
McGowan Fine Art Turns 25
Nita Leger Casey
Patti Matthis
Saint Anselm Favorite Returns
Searching for the extraordinary
Small Town Art Hits The Big City
Spirit Of The Holidays Exhibit
Step into the Art Pad at Langer Place
Stride and ride
Tagging goes to wall, gets legit
The art and craft of Glendi
The art of signs to art and stuff
The Art Of The Qashquai
The Return Of The Art Trolley Tour
The Ubiquitous Ann Domingue
Two-continent painting exhibit opens
Using nature as a canvas
Waxwork
Women's Art Group Marks 10th Year
Wyeth Works Return To The Currier