RiverArts remains committed to growing community, creativity, and connection through the Arts. The unprecedented and unforeseen circumstances in which we find ourselves do not change this commitment. We strongly believe that people need the Arts more than ever during times of stress and crisis. Interacting with each other and with the Arts will help forestall the understandable boredom, anxiety, and loneliness of this strange moment in time.

Sign up at www.chestertownriverarts.org for our daily RiverArts Roundup email with interesting news, creative ideas, means of connecting with each other, and plain old fun distractions to keep us all going.

In partnership with Chestertown’s vibrant non-profit community, RiverArts invites you to join us for 30 days (or more!) of online art ideas for all ages! Each morning, through email and social media, we are sharing prompts for FREE artistic activities to do at home with supplies you already have. We’ll offer visual arts ideas, along with theater, literary, & culinary arts suggestions from our partners in the community. Sign up for our daily emails — or check us out on Facebook (ChestertownRiverArts) or Instagram (ctown_riverarts). Share your process or your finished product on social media or via email. Here’s to having some fun, igniting creativity, staving off boredom, & increasing connection during these next few weeks.

Our Clay Studio has limited weekday access to 2 hour increments where people can bring in greenware or glazed pieces and/or pick up clay or supplies. We will continue to run the kilns as needed. Hours can be found online, and they may continue to change.

RiverArts Photography Club will host its first online meeting via the Zoom platform on Thursday, March 26. The club meets the fourth Thursday of each month from 7 to 9 pm, and provides a forum for discussion and critique. You can find out more details about how to participate at our website. As always, participation in the club is free and all are welcome, from advanced photographers to beginners coming for the first time. Other arts groups who meet regularly in our space are exploring online meetings as well.

Our mission is more vital than ever, and serving it will take more creative thinking and innovation than ever. RiverArts staff, Board, and volunteers will be finding new modes of engagement, and we’ll welcome any and all ideas, suggestions, and questions as we go. Digital gallery talks, remote classes, lively dialog on social media, and daily creativity prompts are among the many possibilities we’ll continue to explore. Let us know what you would like!

At the suggestion of Clay Studio potter Guy Hutchison, we’re asking everyone to put a candle or other light in your window, visible from the street each night—a little sign of hope in trying times, kind of like the people in Italy singing from their balconies. Many have started doing this in Chestertown. Let’s see if we can get it to catch on!

Finally, a reminder to our community that this disruption will mean a big financial hit for RiverArts. Your donations will play an important role in keeping us afloat through this crisis and into the return to normality. Thank you for your support of us, and of each other.