Every organization has its story.
Apple Computer has Steve Jobs building computers in his garage, The Susan G. Koman Foundation was founded on a plea from a dying sister, and The SheArt Network has “The Besse House”, an historic circa 1850′s revival farmhouse located in the center of Orleans, Massachusetts.
My husband and I have been coming to Cape Cod all of our lives, separately as children, then together as a young couple, then with the birth of our second daughter, we were finally fortunate to have the opportunity to purchase a “summer house” on Bramblewood Lane in Orleans. Many times a day, we would travel down Tonset Road to our “summer House” passing what we later learned was known around town as “The Besse House” named for the family who had owned the property for three generations. We would admire its stately beauty, commanding a prominent position on a hill overlooking the center of town to the west and Town Cove and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. I would imagine what the inside was like and my husband would visualize what was in the Barn that stood alongside the home, an extension of his very fond memories of time spent on his grandfather’s farm in upstate New York.
One day, I was in my “other” home in Pennsylvania, talking to my cousin, Amy, who lives in Orleans, catching up on what was going on. She, an avid yard sailor, said there had been an estate sale at The Besse House at which I expressed my strong dismay at having not been informed of such a “once in a lifetime” junking opportunity. I wondered to her if that meant that the house might be going to be put up for sale and she promised she would call if it was.
Several months later, a Thursday, I was on one of my “junking” excursions around PA and my cell phone rang….it was Amy. ”OMG,” she said, “I just passed The Besse House and there is a For Sale sign!!!!!! It must have just gone up.” ”Hmmmmm,” I said, “I wonder what the price is.” “I don’t know she said, but if you are interested you had better call because this house is going to go quickly”…it was near the top of the frothy real estate market of 2005. So, something possessed me to call my neighbor on Bramblewood Lane and realtor. ”Hey, Alan, it’s Michele Preston…I heard The Besse House was just listed, do you know anything about it”…..”Yes, we have the listing, why”….”Well, I may be interested.”…………..Major pause ….”Really, I am surprised.”…(I guess this was qualification wheels turning and we had just completed a major “modern” renovation of our “summer” house on Bramblewood.) “I don’t see you in The Besse House…..come on Alan, I am thinking…this doesn’t sound like a realtor…as a friend and neighbor, he was probably trying to protect me from what was to come. ”Well, what has the interest been…what is the price?” He told me and I gasped and he said there was a lot of interest. All of a sudden, the words came out of my mouth….”If I drive up tomorrow, can I see it on Saturday?”…”Sure,” he said…so the dye was cast…..I called Amy back and said I was coming up and then I called my husband who totally didn’t understand what I was talking about….he still doesn’t.
Then the word went out …..to the Shes….my friends, my circle of the most amazing women in the world, my lifeline. On Saturday morning at 9am, I drove my car up the long curve to The Besse House for the first time seeing the property from a totally different vantage point. Alan was close behind and even before either of us could get out of the car….the Shes poured in, one by one, in trucks, SUVs, compacts and that has been the way it has been ever since. This was going to be a “group” decision, I saw. First, we toured the house. It wasn’t what I had imagined….the wallpaper was peeling, the kitchen was a disaster but the “shes” oohed and ahhed all the way through, admiring the antiquity. Then…..we went out to the Barn….my husband’s vision of tractors and a workshop was forever altered. ”OMG!….this could be our studio…..we could all gather here to craft!” the Shes exclaimed and the vision exploded onto the scene…..I was sold…..
Alan left, most likely thinking we were all crazy, “what a waste of time” while the Shes headed off to the Hole in One deli for breakfast. My coffee came and as I stirred in the cream, I looked up as all eyes swiveled to my direction…..”Well,” they said, “what are you going to do?” ….”What do you mean?” I said ….”Well, are you going to buy it?”….”Well, I don’t know…I’ll have to talk to Jim about it and think about it.” “You can’t do that….it is going to sell by the end of the weekend.”…huh, I thought….is this a dream…the ground swell surged around me, urging me on….I went out to the parking lot and called Alan…..”Alan, are there any other people interested in the house”….”Oh, yes…there are showings all weekend”…. Panic started to rise in my stomach…I called my husband, he was still confused, still is. I left the Shes at Hole in One and went to Alan’s office where we spent the next three hours on the phone with Jim, figuring $$$, convincing, debating, dreaming…by the end we made an offer, all that we could muster, Alan was very doubtful. I called the Shes to inform them……they were in shock and ecstasy.
So was I. I got in the car and drove back to PA. I was excited, dazed, scared to death. Why was this “Besse” house so important to me? Because it was the culmination of a dream…a dream to have a HOME on Cape Cod where our family would always gather, a place to create memories, someplace special we would always want to return to. An opportunity, to restore an important piece of Orleans history ….to save a treasure from a likely developer who saw the opportunity in the land. A place for “the Shes” to gather to create, laugh, cry, and share life. I didn’t know what was going to happen…I prayed that whatever was meant to be would be….and I made a promise that if we had the opportunity to become the guardian of The Besse House we would respect it, and appreciate it, and use it to give back to the sand I loved and the women of Cape Cod.
Two days later, the Besse family accepted our offer and the journey began. The ride has been more than we could have ever imagined. The restoration was a classic “money pit” story but was completed in only one year. The Historical Society awarded us the Ours Award for Historic Preservation. Jim got his tractor and the front part of the Barn while the rest currently houses my junking treasures. It has become a gathering place for family and friends…the promise…..and the Home of The SheArt Network.
In January 2007, we had the first “official” meeting of The SheArt Network, a gathering of the handful of Shes who began this journey with me. We envisioned an organization where women could come together to share their art, crafts, and creativity as a platform for fellowship and building relationships that would carry us through good times and bad. We had no idea if anyone else would follow. We decided to hold our first creativity weekend and ….women came…to make rag lampshades, laugh, eat, and share…..We decided to take the next step and hold a “sale” in The Besse House to see if anyone wanted to buy our creations….and people came. And the rest is HERstory.
The SheArt Network currently has held 8 sales, featuring 50 artists from Falmouth to Provincetown, hosting nearly 1000 attendees. We have only one officer and are building a cooperative organization of women who donate their talents and expertise willingly to get the job done. We have accomplished everything with no funding. We have built respect for our mission from within and in the broader community. We have branched out from our base to hold our regular monthly meetings and creative workshops at the Harwich Community Center. We have expanded our venues to form partnerships with prestigious artistic organizations such as the Cultural Center of Cape Cod and civic groups such as the OddFellows of Orleans. We have supported women’s organizations such as WeCan. We have received recognition from publications such as the Cape Cod Times and Cape Women Online. Our all-inclusive-non-juried philosophy has allowed many women to “come out of the closet” with the incredible creative talents they have nurtured. We have built a fellowship of women who have helped each other through health issues, family crisis, and personal despair. And we have laughed, and sang, and danced, and enjoyed many seasons together. And experienced more than we could have ever imagined.
Our story is a testimony to the power of creativity and women. A dream, an inspiration, a promise…..nurtured with love, care, support, strength, faith…the result, a beautiful network that continues to inspire, reproduce, and impact an ever expanding base of women….and give back to the sand we all love….Cape Cod.
Please join us to nurture the creative spirit that lies within each of us, to share your ideas and talents that we all have, and to enrich our network.
Please share your creative HERstory by contributing to our Artist Blog.
Please contact us at thesheartnetwork.org or call me at 717-503-5859.
xo
Michele Preston
