The Bear Hug- April 2025
Vision: The vision for the Friends of the Three Bears is to fully utilize the Seneca County Courthouse Complex buildings and become the heart of the community for fine arts and education, and as a hub of tourism for the Finger Lakes Region.
Mission: The mission of the Friends of the Three Bears is to preserve the buildings known as the (historic Seneca County) Courthouse Complex, implement art, music and other educational programs/events and provide historical building tours and area information to visitors. The Friends will accomplish this through fundraising and community outreach.
Hello Friends,
Happy Spring! The Friends of the Three Bears have many exciting new programs in the works! That being said, this year, we have changed our plans, and will not be having our traditional Mother’s Day plant sale in May. With current construction in Papa Bear, there would not be access to facilities for sale attendees. However, there is no need to worry, you can still get your flower fix through us, as we are partnering with Dutch Mill Bulbs to do a Fall Bulb Sale! Dutch Mill provides a wide variety of bulbs including daffodils, tulips, crocus, hyacinth, iris, and more. This sale will start in June and run through September, with the bulbs being delivered to you in time to get them in the ground before it freezes this winter. That way, you will have beautiful new flowers come next Spring. Beginning in June, we will have brochures with order forms available to pick up at Mama Bear during open hours from 12 to 2pm Thursday- Sunday, and at all of our art classes and concerts. We will also post ordering information on our website and social media, so sales can be completed remotely as well!
All funds collected through this bulb sale will be used to ensure that we are able to continue offering free art, history, and music programming to the community members in Seneca County. If you have any questions regarding the bulb sale or the lack of our traditional plant sale, please feel free to email threebearsovid@gmail.com.
In addition to the bulb sale, we are excited to announce that we have secured funding for a Summer Art class series through the Rochester Area Community Foundation. Thanks to this grant, we are able to offer four free art classes this Spring/Summer. As the classes approach, more information will be posted on our website and social media, including information on how to register!
Figure Drawing Class: May 22nd 6-8pm
Local artist Ben Roswell will return for a class on figure drawing. Students will use a large graphite stick for initial drawings and charcoal soaked in Chinese ink for the final drawings. There will also be use of watercolor to help create a finished look so artists have a finished product to take home.
Painting Class: June 6th 6-8pm
Local artist Andi Pisacano will offer a class on watercolor, and expression of emotions through color. She wants to emphasize the “colors of kindness” while teaching watercolor techniques. This class is perfect for beginners!
Mandala Canvas Painting: June 30th 6:00 to 7:30pm
Mandala Rock Painting: Chelsea Neville will return to show how to paint a traditional mandala pattern on canvases using mandala dotting tools and acrylic paint.
Air Dry Clay Pottery Class: July 10th and 17th from 6:00 to 7:30pm
Angela Cartwright will return to teach students how to work with air dry clay to create items of their choice. Students will have a chance to use stamps, rollers, and other tools to shape and decorate their stoneware. In class two, participants will learn painting skills and use acrylic paint to paint their pottery from the first class.
We were also fortunate to receive funding from the Auburn Public Theater Regrants Program to provide a free Summer Concert series. These concerts will take place on the lawn in front of the Three Bears, with the bands performing in the gazebo. The concerts will be from 6:00 to 7:30pm.
The band lineup is as follows:
June 26th: The Notorious String Busters (bluegrass)
July 10th: Se Leigheas (Celtic)
July 17th: Scott Tremolo (original music)
July 24th: The Inner Crazy (modern covers)
July 31st: Uncle Joe and the Rosebud Ramblers (traditional songs and storytelling)
August 7th: Jason Stotz (steel pan covers)
August 14th: Nate Marshall (Folk)
August 21st: Three Stone Fire (Celtic)
This project is made possible with funds from Auburn Public Theater Regrants program, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Auburn Public Theater.
*More information on both the concert and art series will be posted on our website and social media, put in the Seneca County Shopper, and have flyers posted around the village of Ovid. If you have any questions, please email threebearsovid@gmail.com *
Finally, we are changing our open hours for Mama Bear this Summer. From May 17th to October 12th, Mama Bear will be open Thursday- Sunday 12-2pm.
We look forward to spending the Summer with you all!
Best,
Sarah Byers
Operations Manager
