ARTICLES:

New guidebook will be a tool for growing the Northern Forest economy and cultural awareness

People driving, biking and perhaps even hiking through the Northern Forest have a new resource to guide them to hundreds of businesses that create and market beautiful, functional handcrafted items. And while they’re here, they’ll also find wonderful places to grab anything from a homemade snack to a gourmet dinner, rest up from a day’s adventures, and visit unique points of interest like fairs, museums, historical sites and working farms.

HandMade in the Northern Forest: A guide to fine art and craft traditions in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, showcases the region through 11 tours that guide adventurers from the deep woods of Maine through the White and Green Mountain ranges of New Hampshire and Vermont to the shimmering lakes of the Adirondacks. The guidebook is a joint venture of the Northern Forest Center, Businesses for the Northern Forest/Appalachian Mountain Club and the Adirondack North Country Association, with the support of a steering committee representing arts and tourism organizations.

Artisans and craftspeople—from basket weavers to potters, painters to stained glass artists, furniture makers to blacksmiths to photographers—make up a majority of the 365 businesses listed in the book. Each chapter includes listings for lodging restaurants, and special attractions, as well as full-color maps guide visitors from one destination to the next.

But HandMade is more than just a guide for visitors, it’s also a tool that will help the Northern Forest economy by providing unique tools to help the artisans expand their businesses. The marketing program includes a media campaign and programs to draw customers to each type of business..

Some of the ways that businesses throughout the Northern Forest can use HandMade to generate visitors include:

• Creating displays of locally made crafts to be exhibited at libraries, stores or chambers of commerce.
• Creating partnerships between inns, restaurants and artisans to offer special packages that combine a night’s stay or special meal with a handcrafted item.
• Scheduling local “Gallery Walk” nights to feature the works of several crafts people in a single area.
• Organizing a “HandMade in the Northern Forest Day,” or other collaborative marketing event in which local participants are all open for business and offering special promotions.
• Inviting a history or art teacher—or both!—to give a lecture at their business about what’s unique about the region.
• Offering to speak before chambers of commerce, students and other groups about their business, its history, successes and challenges.