Bootmaker and Artist Sarah Madeleine T. Guerin presents her work as an artisanal Keeper of Tradition in Massachusetts and a working artist. With a thorough knowledge of traditional Western bootmaking, Sarah researches and analyses the connections between evolving methods of footwear making craft of the 1800s in Massachusetts – with an architectural focus on vernacular Ten Footer Shoe Shops – to the stability of a contemporary art practice heavily based in handmade footwear techniques and skills.

From the 1830s through the Civil War, many Lowellians from all walks of life engaged in concerted efforts to block the expansion of slavery and helped freedom seekers even when this meant defying federal law. “A Contradictory Place” offers viewers a way to learn about an important, but too often neglected, chapter of our history. The forty-minute film was written by Robert Forrant and Maritza Grooms, produced by former Lowell Telecommunications Executive Director Wendy Blom, and edited by former Lowell Telecommunications News Director Caroline Gallagher.