Nature is an artist and an inspiration to artists in all disciplines. The Everett Hale House in Matunuck, RI, was once a haven for artists during the summer months in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The recently restored Hale House will host its inaugural season as a unique setting for transdisciplinary learning in the Arts and Ecology.
Weekend Master Classes are offered June 7-10 and Oct. 11-14, 2012. The June “Tuning Into Earth’s Voice” program offers four Master Classes, in addition to a Matunuck Beach Walk, a guided gallery tour of the private collection of Hale and Matunuck art and two evening programs focusing on the painters of Matunuck and the roots of Blues music.
The program aims to reconnect participants with the natural world. “The spring session aims to tune the most important instrument, ourselves,” explains the brochure. “Using elemental exercises in observation, listening, writing and examining the places we come from, we begin to retune the strings that connect us to the earth.”
Instructors and presenters include: Ana Flores, a sculptor; Betty J. Cotter, a local author; Maida Goodwin, an archivist at Smith College; Joan and Richard Youngken, consultants for historic preservation; Meg Kerr and Q Kellogg of the Watershed Counts coalition; Lindsay Leard-Coolidge, a lecturer in Art History at Northeastern University; Lori Urso and Marty Richards, a performing duo known as “Ursula George.”
Places such as the Hale House embody the dedication to history in the South County area, notes The South County Tourism Council. A century later, visitors to South County can also experience firsthand the idyllic setting that drew Hale and his fellow writers, artists and thinkers of the day to the area.
Also at the Hale House will be an exhibit, “Seeing the Sea: An exhibition of selected Visual Art Sea Grant recipients.” That exhibit is on display through August 20 and features the art of Susan Schultz, Olivia McCullogh, Kim Salerno, Kathie Florsheim and Jeff Marshall.
The goal of the October session is named “Sustained Observations.”
“Understanding environmental phenomena requires sustained observation of Earth’s systems,” the brochure states. “Finding our own natural world connections requires a similar depth. The fall session’s aim is to help us gain this observational perspective.”
For more information on Hale House and the Weekend Master Classes, visit http://www.inhalematunuck.com

The South County Tourism Council is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the towns of Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, West Greenwich and Westerly as a leisure travel destination. For more information, please visit http://www.southcountyri.com.