A Hands-on Art Experience

Touch is welcome at this League of NH Craftsmen exhibit.

David Ernster stoneware. "Black Rain" (left) and "Desert Waves"

Life might be like a box of chocolates, as Forrest Gump says, but if we’re lucky it can also be similar to a package of Cracker Jacks, offering a treat within a treat. At the League of NH Craftsmen’s current exhibition, “Yours, Mine, and Ours: Work by Collaborating Craftsmen,” not only can you check out mixed-media works created by juried League members, you can also see the League’s show within the show, “Insightful.”

The League of NH Craftsmen worked with the New Hampshire Association for the Blind while planning Insightful to create an exhibition that features a variety of highly touchable, hand-made pieces. In fact, sighted and visually impaired visitors are encouraged to touch the high-tactile and high-contrast crafts, says Carol Fusaro, a spokesperson for the League. The fine crafts include textured pottery; crocheted scarves and shawls; textured, inlaid-wood wall pieces; jewelry and wooden folk art, Fusaro says, and Braille text accompanies each piece to provide information about displayed items.

Best of all, if you like what you see and/or touch, you can buy it; crafts on display will be available for purchase. Talk about finding the perfect gift in the Nick of time.

“Yours, Mine, and Ours” and “Insightful” will be on display through December 18 at The Gallery at the League of NH Craftsmen headquarters in downtown Concord. In 2016, the “Insightful” exhibition will travel throughout New Hampshire. For more information, visit nhcrafts.org/events-gallery-exhibition.php.