Gateway Museum Hosts Crafts
MORRISTOWN - Decoy birds, "The River Forge", "The Radiant Gem", and Jack Taylor will help the Gateway Museum bring its summer program schedule to a close on Saturday as the museum hosts craft demonstrations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A sample of craftsmanship is on the agenda this weekend, according to Christopher "Chris" Coffin, museum board member.
Four locals who bring artistic vision and mastery of their crafts, he says, will do demonstrations at the Morristown Gateway Museum on Main Street in the village.
Saturday's craft fair caps off a busy summer of events at the museum.
From quilt shows to block parties, bands and fiddlers to storytellers and children's art classes, as Morristown's Gateway Museum attempts to bring culture and history together and share it with the community.
A look at the featured artists, according to Mr. Coffin:
* Donald W. "Don" Morley from Heuvelton is a widely known decoy carver who won over 100 awards for his work and has carved over 2,000 birds.
Although mainly a decoy carver, Mr. Morley also carves songbirds.
Using white pine and white cedar for his decoys, his favorite species is the North American Black Duck.
* Martin H. "Marty" Snye is a blacksmith who lives in Morristown and often does his work at historical re-enactments in a manner our ancestors would have admired. His studio is named The River Forge.
Mr. Snye specializes in 18th and early 19th century period ornamental and practical hardware for house and grounds.
He will have an operating forge at the museum as well as examples of his work.
* Melanie Connor of Morristown makes jewelry using glass and clay beads which she also makes.
She calls her studio The Radiant Gem.
She will have a torch and will make beads at the demonstration.
* Jack Taylor of Morristown is a master wood carver. Jack has taken on the task of teaching the craft to others. He especially likes to get youngsters interested in wood carving.
One of his specialties is a small cartoon-like carved mouse that crops up in many homes in the area.
The event is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program, administered in Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence Counties by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.
