Long Island native and Twiggs Gallery owner Adele Sanborn credits realism rather than blind ambition for leading her to New Hampshire.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be good enough to make it in New York,” said Sanborn, who studied photography in college. “So I fell in love with a dairy farmer.”

That dairy farmer was Roger, a neighborhood kid who ran in the same circles as Adele when her family summered in Webster during her childhood.

In August, Roger passed away following a battle with Parkinson’s. After a 50-year marriage, his death proved the impetus for Adele to close her beloved art gallery, which has served as a hub for the capital region’s arts community since its opening in 2014. 

The gallery, which features both exhibits and classes, will close on December 14.

The Monitor sat down with Adele and Gallery Director Laura Morrison to discuss the legacy of the Boscawen business, its evolution over the last decade, and its potential future in another form.

 

This conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Q: How did you two meet?

Laura: I was ready to find an art-focused job. So I emailed Adele and I was like “Do you need help with this, because it seems like a lot?” and I was very experienced doing exhibitions. I knew she was putting a gallery together, so she hired me and we partnered up together.

Adele: Every once in a while, you’ll make an acquaintance and meet them and just realize how much they have to offer, and so when Laura called up and said “Do you need some help?”, it was everything I could do not to jump through the phone and give her a hug because she’s one of those people that people will do anything for, because she’s fun to work with, she carries through, and she’s a great leader. We’ve made a great pair.

 

Q: Walk me through the last 10 years.

Laura: We started with exhibits, and then decided to add in classes. We offered classes in the spring and the fall – about 25 different art and crafting classes.

Adele had a very altruistic view of creating a real art community. So everything we do is for free: trying to get the community in here to see art, interact with art.

We got very, very involved at the Boscawen Old Home Week. We’ve worked with high school kids. It’s just been a huge variety of different things that we’ve done over the years to really get people to come and engage in art in a way that’s fun and not threatening, but also kind of stretching people.

Adele: The first thing that happens in most school districts is art and music get cut, and I was hoping to be able to remind this community that it really is fun to be creative, and it’s important, and I figured by working with adults and reminding them about how much fun it is to be creative, so the next time the budget comes up, maybe they think about cutting back on the football team and adding more money or putting music at the end. I know, wishful thinking!

 

Q: Adele, you talked in 2014 about how this was going to be this new chapter for you. In reflecting on that chapter, what jumps out at you?

Adele: I had no idea the number of people that really think this place is pretty cool until the announcement became public that we were going to close.  It is amazing how a small, in-the-middle-of-nowhere, little gallery, actually has made input to quite a few lives. 

Laura: It really has. While I sit back in that little corner and people come in and out, I hear lots of times when people are leaving from a class or something, “I just love this place.” It’s because they feel supported. It’s a very friendly, welcoming. You don’t ever have to have done any art.

 

Q: Is there anything you think that’s going to be able to fill that gap once Twiggs closes?

Laura: Well, as a matter of fact, yes. I just had a meeting with the new executive director at Kimball Jenkins. We have a poetry community, we have an art community meeting here, we have a small group that just comes together and makes books and things like that for free. I went over there and talked to her about maybe those groups meeting there. So I’m hoping Kimball Jenkins can fill some of that gap.

Adele: Once you get something going, it’s a shame to see it dissolve and it doesn’t have to, especially Kimball Jenkins, if they end up being able to offer space. I mean imagine having a group that meets every month just to work on altered books. That floors me!

 

Q: Adele, you talked in your closure announcement about how it’s time for you to downsize your life. Besides closing Twiggs, what does that look like for you?

Adele: I think just [making]  things a little simpler. Maybe only having to go to work in my own studio instead of all the other stuff that goes on when you run a business.

But, I’m still hoping to be able to have a high school kid work with me because I love being able to pass on the reality of being able to balance being an artist in life because it’s possible. You might not be able to be a full-time artist, but you can certainly balance a few plates, which for high school kids is a good thing to learn.

 

Q: What are the highlights of the last 10 years?

Laura: It’s kind of a blur. Our art openings are always fun, especially if there’s a larger group opening because we have just a lot of people here.

Adele: We’ve had some really good Avaloch [Farm Music Institute] concerts over the years. 

Laura: The last concert we had just a few weeks ago was a string quintet. I think that was the best concert we’ve had. And that’s saying a lot because we had no slouches the whole time.

 

Q: What are you reflecting on over these last two months?

Laura: Well, we’re going to be busy for the next couple months. We have November 2 our Route 3 art trail tour. 

Adele: We created this because there used to be something called New Hampshire Open Doors, which was a huge success for years, and then kind of went by the wayside. And we decided to stick our necks out and just go ahead and see if we could organize something.

 

Q: What will it be like to close the gallery?

Adele: I mean the whole thing ultimately we’ll all miss, but I’m one of these people that get the big picture and don’t panic too far ahead, because I know what it's like to close a business. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of stuff to get rid of!

Laura: And if things can in fact transfer over to Kimball Jenkins pretty well, I’m excited about that because I live in Concord and it’s in my interest have this really nice community thriving in downtown Concord.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.