Company Profile
Snow Farm - The New England Craft Program
Company Overview
Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program is a nonprofit residential craft school in Williamsburg, MA, located in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. The surrounding area of the Pioneer Valley is rich with artists, master crafters, pottery tours, open studios, the beauty of the New England landscape in all seasons, and the five-college communities of Northampton and Amherst.
What We Do
Snow Farm is one of only a handful of similar craft schools in the United States, with comprehensive offerings and intensive, immersive instruction. Workshops at Snow Farm span eight subject areas: glass, including glassblowing, flameworking, kiln/fused glass, and stained glass; ceramics; fiber art and baskets; welding and metal sculpture; metalsmithing and jewelry; woodworking; and 2D and mixed media including painting, drawing, printmaking, and paper/book arts. In a typical year, over 150 workshops are available between January and October.
Classes are small and most are open to students at all levels, with no prerequisites. Snow Farm instructors are passionate working artists who value the process of sharing their knowledge and skills. Studios are open in the evenings to practice the day's lessons or follow an idea to wherever it leads.
Snow Farm Summer for High School Students offers students ages 14 - 18 an opportunity to live and work with professional artists for two or four weeks each summer. Students choose two areas of study and receive six hours of daily instruction, plus open studio time in the evenings.
Company History
Snow Farm’s mission is to provide exceptional studio craft and fine art instruction for people of all ages in an inspiring residential setting. We offer an evolving, expansive community where every experience is intended to awaken and nourish the life-changing power of creativity.
A Bit of History
1982: Jane Sinauer founds Horizons: The New England Craft Program, a summer program for teenagers "where a resident faculty of artists and high school kids have the opportunity to live and work together in a hands-on studio experience." The original studios included clay, photo, wood, weaving, and surface design. For the first three years, the program is headquartered in the Pioneer Valley of MA but takes place each summer in Augusta, ME.
1985: After a year and a half of searching the Pioneer Valley in MA for a permanent home, Horizons is able to purchase a 50-acre property in Williamsburg, MA that once belonged to the Snow family. The farmhouse on the property dates back to the 1700s. The owner at the time of the purchase was an artist who delighted in knowing the property would continue as a place where creativity would thrive.
1986: With construction barely complete on the new buildings, the summer program for teens carries on in Williamsburg.
1987: Through a partnership with Elderhostel (now called Road Scholar), Horizons becomes the site of weeklong intensive craft programs for older adults.
1988: Horizons begins to offer its own adult programming in the form of weekend workshops.
2000: The ownership of Horizons changes hands and the program is renamed Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program.
2002: Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program becomes a nonproft organization.
2016: Snow Farm, the nonprofit organization, purchases the property.
2020: Snow Farm reopens to the public in August with health and safety measures in place
2023: Snow Farm opens workshop registration to over 159 workshops with over 130 artists/instructors. Our signature teen summer program is scheduled for July of 2023.
Benefits
Benefits include paid vacation, holidays, and sick days; $750 reimbursement for medical costs; free home-cooked lunches (when dining room is open); and accrual toward free/reduced workshops at Snow Farm. We do not provide health insurance at this time.