Lyme Artisans Guild: Revitalizing Craft History on the Shoreline

This summer, the newly-established Lyme Artisans Guild will kick off its rejuvenation of an artisan tradition on the shoreline at the Old Lyme Midsummer Festival on July 29^th.

While Old Lyme has long been known as a fine arts mecca, less well known is the fact that fine crafts were featured by the Old Lyme Guild of Artists and Craftsmen as part of the sweeping international Arts and Crafts Movement. Beatrice Hoffman—wool dyer, photographer, weaver, mosaicist, enameler, and wife of local painter Harry Hoffman—led the founding of the 1930s Guild. In the Guild’s studios at the Old Peck Tavern on Sill Lane, once visited by George Washington, the public could view and purchase finely crafted furniture, ceramics, ironwork, metalware, and other functional and decorative objects made by the Guild’s members.

On July 29^th, visit the tent of the new Lyme Artisans Guild on the lawn of the Lyme Art Association to see local hand-forged silver jewelry by Michaelle Pearson, pottery by Wayne Kirk, textile creations by Carol Hunts Stanland, hand-made ceramic tiles by Lilywork Tiles, weaving by Susan Morrison, metal sculptures by Sherry Block, and wood-turned bowls by Paul Maulucci.

Don’t forget to visit the Lyme Artisans Guild Facebook page to keep informed about their upcoming events, see artist profiles, and more.