Saturday, December 31, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Laura DeCapua and Geoff Hansen at ArtSpace at the Tunbridge Public Library

ArtSpace at the Tunbridge Public Library presents Our Town: A Snapshot of Tunbridge Residents in 2011, by photographers Laura DeCapua and Geoff Hansen. Over 30 framed photographs will be on display from Jan. 15 to Mar. 10, 2012. An opening public reception will be held Sunday, January 15, from 2-4 PM.

The photo show celebrates the people who call Tunbridge home. Taken in the fall of 2011, the environmental portraits include farmers, artists, students, hunters, business owners and retirees. A collection of scenics of the town -- in its 250th year -- are also included in the show.

Laura DeCapua is the youngest of eight children and hails from a small town in the Midwest. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and her Master’s Degree in Visual Communication. Laura’s photography career began 15 years ago and her work has been published in numerous magazines and newspapers internationally, nationally and locally. Laura and her family have called Tunbridge their home for 10 years. More information about Laura's work can be found at her website.

Geoff Hansen has been a photographer and editor at the "Valley News" for the past 22 years. His photography has appeared in a dozen books, including "The Joy of Keeping Chickens" and "Living with Pigs." He is proud to be part of the Tunbridge community, where he has lived with his family since Oct. 2000. More information about Geoff's work can be found at geoffhansen.com.

The library is located on Route 110 in Tunbridge village, across from the Post Office, about five miles north of Route 14. Library hours are Monday and Wednesday, 3-8 p.m., Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call librarian Jean Wolfe at 802-889-9404 for more information.

Images: Top: a portrait of Tunbridge, Vt., organic dairy farmer Rob Howe by photographer Laura DeCapua; Buttom: a portrait of Tunbridge, Vt., artist Joan Feierabend by photographer Geoff Hansen

PRESS RELEASE: Aldo Mersui at Chaffee Art Center in Rutland


Locked in Time: Photographs by Aldo Mersui

Locked in Time is back at the Chaffee Art Center for a second exhibit of photographs by Aldo Merusi. The first exhibit took place in January 2010, and because of the popularity, a second exhibit was scheduled. This second Locked in Time exhibit features over 100 new photographs selected by Dr. Richard Brown. Aldo Merusi was the chief photographer at the Rutland Herald from 1937-1974 capturing images of Vermont individuals and events across nearly four decades and virtually the entire state. The Merusi Archive at the Rutland Herald consists of nearly 30,000 photographic negatives, and this exhibit represents a very small percentage of his life's work.

The photos in the exhibit were made from the original negatives which were scanned into digital files, and then printed. Except for adjusting the contrast to make a "readable" image, the photos have not been manipulated.

Locked in Time will open on January 13, 2012 and will be on display through February 11. There will be an opening reception on Saturday January 14, from 4-7 PM, at the Chaffee Art Center, 16 South Main Street, Rutland, VT. Photos in the exhibit will be for sale. The Locked in Time exhibit is sponsored by the Rutland Herald.

PRESS RELEASE: Fiber Fun at Catamount in St. Johnsbury

The Catamount Fiber Arts Group invites you to share our Artistic Baggage

View our exhibit downstairs at Catamount Arts and Join our hands on an event from 6-8 pm in the gallery on First Night, where you can work with recycled materials as well as yarns, fabric, and plastic bags.

We'll supply materials, patterns, and ideas. Make a bag to hold your old baggage then leave it behind! Create a new bag to carry your hopes and essentials into the new year….

Image: Bags made by crochet artist Nancy Lewis

PRESS RELEASE: Goodman, Pearson, and Salzman at Select Design in Burlington



Select Design, in collaboration with Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne, will be showing Variations in Abstraction: Steven P. Goodman, Beth Pearson, and Gail Salzman from December 27-February 17, 2012. There will be an opening reception on Tuesday, January 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Select Design is located at 208 Flynn Ave. in Burlington. Hours are Mon-Fri 8:30-6. For more information call 802-864-9075 or contact FS Gallery at 985-3848, mail@fsgallery.com, or visit the website at www.fsgallery.com

Image: Gail Salzman, Orison, oil on canvas

PRESS RELEASE: George Bouret at Equinox Village in Manchester Center


The Gallery at Equinox Village is thrilled to host Photographer George Bouret for our first Gallery Opening of 2012. He both graduated from and taught for the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He has shot extensively in the American Southwest and in Alaska. His work can be previewed at www.bouretphotography.com.

Gallery at Equinox Village Opening Event: 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 19, 2012

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Glen Coburn Hutcheson at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier

'People,' a show of drawings and paintings by Glen Coburn Hutcheson, upstairs at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library from January 3 through February 28. Opening reception on Thursday, January 5 from 5-7 PM.


Drawings and paintings of gods, saints, locals and the artist's mother, among others, will be exhibited in the Fiction Room for the first two months of the year. Some are pencil on paper, some homemade gouache, and some oils over gouache on canvas. Sizes range from small (5" x 3")

to large (54" x 48"). Included are a few free-spirited transcriptions of works by Renaissance masters, including Donatello, Michelangelo, Leonardo and Titian.


Glen Hutcheson studied drawing, sculpture and painting at the New York Studio School and Haverford College. He grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in Montpelier, VT. The human figure informs all his artwork, from plein-air landscape to abstract sculpture. His work can be found

on the web at www.gchfineart.com and drawpaintsculpt.blogspot.com.


images: Berry Picker, 54" x 48", oil over gouache on canvas,

2011; Blame (after Leonardo), 22" x 29", pencil on paper, 2011

--

www.gchfineart.com

drawpaintsculpt.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Frank Woods River Arts, Morrisville

The Gallery at River Arts Presents:

Topographies by Frank Woods

January 19 – March 02

Opening Reception January 19, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant Street, Morrisville, VT


The Gallery at River Arts is pleased to present "Topographies" by Frank Woods at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT, January 19 – March 02, 2012. There will be an opening reception on January 19, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. "Topographies", featur landscapes and kimono in various degrees of abstraction, painted in oil on canvas and panel, and ranging in size from small (11 x 9) to large (60 x 36).


Frank Woods is a painter who was born in Vancouver and grew up in Montreal. He has a BA in Economics and Political Science from McGill University and a Master's degree in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston. His serious engagement with visual art began when he attended drawing classes taught by Bill Flynn at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He moved from Boston to Moscow, VT in 1975, and then to Montpelier in 1980. Until his recent retirement, Woods worked for the Vermont Department of Libraries, where he served as the film librarian and later as the director of the Talking Book Library for the Blind. For the past thirty five years, he has spent virtually all of his free time painting and drawing.


Although he is best known for his landscapes and Adirondack chairs, he also has a long-standing interest in the figure and in abstraction. For the past three years he has expressed this interest with paintings, drawings and mixed media work centering on abstract representations of kimono. For Woods, the kimono is a starting point giving way to exploration of surface design, with color and line never very far behind. In his landscapes, abstraction is likewise always just around the corner. In this respect there is a close relationship between kimono paintings and their landscape cousins. Each slides easily from the ‘real’ to an alternative, but structured, reality, akin to a schematic or an aerial map-like view.


The Gallery at River Arts is located at the River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant Street in Morrisville, VT. Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10:00a.m.-2:00p.m. For off hours, please call River Arts: 802-888-1261. Admission is free. For more information, call or visit their website at www.riverartsvt.org.


PRESS RELEASE: Phillip Robertson at River Arts, Morrisville

The Common Space Gallery Presents:

"Prints and Paper Construction"s – by Phillip Robertson

January 19 – March 01

Opening Reception January 26, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant Street, Morrisville, VT


River Arts is pleased to present "Prints and Paper Construction"s – by Phillip Robertson in the Common Space Gallery at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT, January 19 – March 01, 2012. There will be an opening reception on January 26, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.


Phillip Robertson an interdisciplinary artist and printmaker, living in Vermont since 1994. Inspired by the natural landscape, Robertson uses imagination and memory to look beyond realism to make a statement about the pastoral landscape tradition in the 21st century. He earned his MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College, teaches art at the Community College of Vermont and works at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.


The Common Space Gallery is located at the River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant Street in Morrisville, VT. Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10:00a.m.-2:00p.m. For off hours, please call River Arts: 802-888-1261. Admission is free. For more information, call or visit their website at www.riverartsvt.org.





"December" by Phillip Robertson

Thursday, December 22, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Mary Byrom at Galleria Fine Arte in Stowe

From December 9, 2011 - January 11, 2012 Galleria Fine Arte' is pleased to present Mary Byrom's Day & Night: the Moods of Nature. a collection of new paintings of peaceful, luminous landscapes of New England in daytime, afternoon, dusk and night light.

Mary Byrom, well known for her sensitive, elegant interpretations of wild, beautiful places, can be found any the day of the week painting in the great outdoors. Her true love is painting in nature, capturing fleeting moments of light and beauty. She paints outdoors in every season, capturing plein air paintings of the landscape that are brought back to the studio where they become the inspiration for her large landscape paintings.

"New England is a beautiful area with rich subject matter. I paint ocean along the seacoast of Maine, mountains in New Hampshire and Vermont and lovely old farms in the Berkshires and along the river valleys in the Green Mountains. I've been wandering and painting in this region for several years and still have not seen all of its treasures," says the artist.

PRESS RELEASE: Carrie Bagalio at Black Cap Coffee in Stowe

Townsend Gallery at Black Cap Coffee proudly presents the oil paintings and prints of Carrie Bagalio for the month of January. She paints using brilliant colors and energetic patterns to express a positive visual statement. Bagalio aspires to draw attention to the seemingly insignificant moments everyone experiences that make life beautiful, uplifting and significant. Come meet the Stowe based artist at the exhibition reception to be held on Friday, January 20th from 4-6 pm at 144 Main St Stowe.

Artist Statement: With oil on canvas I express my perception of life and energy in the spirit of my generation. The essential connections I've had with other people, the emotions they have evoked in me, and the moments I've shared with them intrigue and inspire me.

My images come from photographs I've taken of present day people in everyday life, focusing on pop culture in small towns. I paint using brilliant colors and energetic patterns to express a positive visual statement. I aspire to draw attention to the seemingly insignificant moments everyone experiences that make life beautiful, uplifting and significant.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: 2012 Barbara Smail Award Winner Announced

Burlington City Arts is proud to announce the recipient of the 10th annual Barbara Smail Award, Vermont artist Gregg Blasdel.

Artist and BCA Gallery Committee member Sally Linder, who nominated Blasdel for the award, writes, “His art is imaginative, thought-provoking and expertly executed. Moving from sculpture to printmaking and presently exploring new mediums, Gregg constantly challenges himself and the viewer's comfort zone. While many artists of Gregg's caliber are promoting their art and their career, he has been supporting the Vermont community of artists and art students through his associate and assistant professorships at St. Michael's College and the University of Vermont respectively.”

Gregg Blasdel has been a part of the Vermont art scene since the 1970s. He received his MFA from Cornell University in 1967, and taught at the Whitney Museum in New York City soon after. He relocated to Vermont in the 1970s to teach art at the University of Vermont and then St. Michael’s College in the 80s. Blasdel has lectured around the country about art and architecture and his drawings, sculpture and prints have been exhibited around New England and in New York City.

Gregg Blasdel lives in Burlington, Vermont with his wife and frequent collaborator Jennifer Koch, owner of Frames For You And Mona Lisa Too. Gregg and Jennifer are currently participating as artists and project coordinators along with artist Sumru Tekin in a joint project between Flynn Center and Burlington City Arts, called the 30/30 Anniversary Print Project, opening January 6th at the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery in Burlington.

As the recipient of the 2012 Barbara Smail Award, Blasdel will receive $1,000 and use of Burlington City Arts’ facilities for one year, which include the Print and Clay Studio at 250 Main Street and the BCA Community Darkroom. Friends and family of Barbara Smail, a well-loved and highly respected artist from the Burlington area who died in the fall of 2001, established the Barbara Smail Award. The award is given to a mid-career Vermont-based artist who has a desire to expand his or her creative experience and has displayed an enthusiastic support of his or her peers. Previous award winners include Carol MacDonald, Jennifer Koch, Diane Gabriel, Catherine Hall, Lynn Rupe, Peter Gallo, Jude Bond, Anthony Sini and Kat Clear.

PRESS RELEASE: Patricia Lyon-Surrey at Marilyn’s in Burlington




Patricia Lyon-Surrey
Romancing the Art of Photography:
A photography exhibit portraying montage, panning and color play.
December 3 - 31 at Marilyn’s, 115 College Street, Burlington, Vermont.
Store hours: Sunday 12-5, Monday thru Friday 10-7, Saturday 10-6.

patrcialyonsurrey.wordpress.com

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Adam Putnam at the BCA Center in Burlington


Adam Putnam - Magic Lanterns
December 9 - February 25, 2012

Opening Reception & Artist Talk: Friday, December 9, 5-8pm

In this exhibition, New York-based artist Adam Putnam offers three surprising and evocative explorations into the experience of physical space. His Magic Lantern installations use a 19th-century theatrical technique of projecting light through painted slides. By using bulbs suspended in translucent boxes Putnam projects ethereal architectural interiors on empty gallery walls; complete with doors and endless corridors. Putnam's meticulous graphite on paper drawings of abstracted cathedral-like sculptures feature erotized cavities and protrusions, including arches, buttresses and crenulations. In photos of his startling contortionist performances, Putnam implausibly folds his six-foot-eight-inch frame into tiny spaces, including cabinets and bookcases. As the everyday experience of space is challenged by the synthetic environments of the online world, the cumulative effect of Putnam's work is to capture and question our disorienting and mutating sense of physical space. Putnam's work was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum, NY.

PRESS RELEASE: Evie Lovett photographs on the Second Floor of the BCA Center in Burlington

Evie Lovett: Backstage at the Rainbow Cattle Co.
December 9 - March 24, 2012

Artist Lecture: Why Should I Care About Drag Queens?: Wednesday, February 8, 7pm

Drag Show with The Ladies of the Rainbow Lounge & Reception: Friday, February 17, 8pm

In this exhibition, photographer Evie Lovett offers visitors a unique and highly personal portrait of drag queens in rural Vermont. Lovett offers a rare glimpse into the spectacle of drag by documenting backstage preparations for the monthly shows at the now defunct Rainbow Cattle Company in Dummerston. The photographs of participants-grocery store workers to nuclear power plant operators-reveal the power of personal transformation. This collaborative project, between the Vermont Folklife Center and The BCA Center, combines Lovett's photography with audio interviews of past performers at the Rainbow Cattle Co.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Geri Taper and Ronald Braunstein at WalkOver Gallery in Bristol


The WalkOver Gallery has the unique opportunity of showing a series of paper works and drawings by the late Geri Taper. These works will be presented alongside recent paintings by her son, Ronald Braunstein, the orchestral conductor and painter.

This show, entitled Portraits, presents two artists, mother and son, and is not to be missed. It is a rare opportunity to view Taper's work locally and to view Braunstein's new artistic directions.

The Portraits show will run from December 10, 2011- January 13, 2012. There will be an opening on Saturday December 10, 2011 from 5-8pm. The WalkOver is open Monday to Friday 9-4 or by appointment (802) 453-3188.

Geri Taper's work is a passionate amalgamation of line and tone. Displayed will be a series of moody, inky self portraits and a series of playful "Paul Klee-esque" watercolors. The works are intimate and captivating. Taper has been collected by such greats as Alice Tully and Agnes Gund. Approximately 50 of her large "Red and Blue" series were collected by the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Art. Ms.Taper painted in New York during the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s she suffered several hospitalizations due to bipolar illness that slowed her otherwise illustrious and productive career.

Ronald Braunstein, Geri Taper's son is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he studied music composition and conducting, receiving a Bachelor of Music in conducting. Mr. Braunstein spent four years working with Maestro von Karajan in Berlin. He has conducted a huge array of orchestras and held many prestigious titles all throughout the world. He is currently the Music Director and Conductor of ME2/orchestra, a classical music ensemble created for individuals with issues maintaining mental heath and those who support them.

In addition to his music career, Braunstein studied 2-and 3-dimensional design at the Pratt Institute of Design in New York, where he later taught on the Master's level. Recently, he has been using his visual intelligence to express himself in painting as a counterbalance to his experiences conducting.

The WalkOver will show several of Braunstein's large paintings created on recycled materials. His paintings speak through a language of space, rhythm, and gesture.

Images: Geri Taper, watercolor and ink on paper, 1990
Ronald Braunstein, paint on cardboard

Monday, December 5, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Kari Meyer at The Green Bean Visual Art Gallery @ Capitol Grounds, Montpelier

Kari Meyer, an up-and-coming artist, presents a collection of acrylic on canvas landscapes. Her work inspires us to change our perspective by evoking the philosophies of wabi-sabi within her landscapes.

She communicates, thru visual stimuli, to reflect on our relationships of body, mind and spirit. Kari’s work will be exhibited at The Green Bean Visual Art Gallery @ Capitol Grounds from November 30th to December 31st.

Please join us during the Montpelier Art Walk on Friday, December 9th to view ‘Play of Light: Contemporary Landscapes’.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Fans-of-Green-Bean-Visual-Arts-Gallery/176207625774864 or email curator@capitiolgrounds.com

Saturday, December 3, 2011

CALL TO ARTISTS: Vermont Crafts Council Seeks Participants in Open Studio's 20th Year


The Vermont Crafts Council announces an open registration period for Vermont visual artists interested in participating in its 2012 Open Studio Weekend, May 26 & 27. This statewide event will mark its 20th year with a celebration of the central life of the studio in the lives of working artists. During Open Studio Weekend, artists open their studios to the public for the exhibit and sale of their work.

The intent of Open Studio Weekend is to provide visitors with an experience of an authentic studio/working environment for the purpose of informing them of the added value of hand made artwork. The Vermont Studio Tour Guide containing maps and directions to studios, is available to the public in advance of the weekend, as a hardcopy map and as a pdf available from our website.

Those artists interested in more information, or for registration materials, should visit our website at http://www.vermontcrafts.com/links/open.html. The deadline for registration is January 6, 2012.

Images: Mantle Clock from Blackthorne Forge
Pottery by Becca Van Fleet Webb and Nathan Webb

Thursday, December 1, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Ruth Hamilton at Brandon Music in Brandon


New work by Ruth Hamilton, A Walk in the Woods and Other Favored Spaces, is on exhibit at Brandon Music, both in the gallery itself, and in the Music Cafe, from now until February 29th.

An Opening Reception will be held on December 11, from 2-4 at the gallery and tea room. Works may be viewed at the Brandon Music website.

Image: Adirondacks from Orwell, oil, 36" x 12"

PRESS RELEASE: PechaKucha Night at the Fleming Museum in Burlington


Thursday, December 1, 6:00 PM
Fleming Museum's Marble Court

PechaKucha Night (PKN) returns to the Fleming Museum of Art this Thursday at 6:00 PM. This edition of PKN will be hosted by Mitch Wertlieb of VPR's Morning Edition. Our featured presenters for this volume are:

Judith Chalmer, Hannah Dennison, Rob Druyff, Paul Hennige, Valerie Hind, Kate Longmaid, Hal Mayforth, Michael Nedell, John Thomas, and the UVM Community Design Studio

PechaKucha Night (PKN) is a worldwide phenomenon that began in 2003 in Tokyo. It offers the opportunity for a broad range of participants to present their projects, ideas, and passions at a fun, informal, and fast-paced gathering. Drawing its name from the Japanese word for the sound of "chit chat," PKN uses a quick and concise 20 x 20 presentation format that allows presenters to show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. Presenters describe their project as the images forward automatically.

Join PKN BTV for a take on our community's creative pulse! Drinks and snacks will be on hand. Learn more about PechaKucha at their international website.

The ticket price is Adults: $5, Students: $3

PRESS RELEASE: Tausha Sylver and Joan MacKenzie at Art on Main in Bristol

Art on Main announces its holiday season Featured Artist Exhibit Festive & Fanciful. The exhibit features embossed velvet by Tausha Sylver, of Fairfax, and paintings by Joan MacKenzie, of Essex Junction. The community is invited to meet the artists at a celebratory reception on Friday December 9 from 5-7pm in the Gallery at 25 Main Street, Bristol. Both artists will be on hand and light refreshments, mostly chocolate, in keeping with the Bristol Downtown Chocolate Walk, will be served. The Gallery will be open until 8pm following the reception.

Self-taught artist Joan MacKenzie loves animals and bold colors—the combination prompted her to learn to paint. Since the first time she was surprised by a pika in the Wind River Range of Wyoming, she has been fascinated by them. While her husband and friend couldn’t wait to rock-climb on their trips west, Joan says, “I looked forward to patiently pika watching.” In painting pikas, Joan has had to exaggerate the colors in their natural habitat to satisfy her own color passion—greys, browns, greens become reds, purples, and turquoises. The world of Joan’s pikas, and their friends, is partly real and partly a product of her colorful imagination.

Over the years, Joan has spent many happy hours photographing pikas in their mountain homes, moose in the woods near her home, zebras and giraffes at the zoo, and horses in the Italian mountains. Back at home, she captures their personalities in acrylic paints. Bright colors are used in unusual ways to jazz up the animals or to enhance their habitats.

Native Vermonter Tausha Sylver is also self-taught in her craft, saying “once I had been exposed to embossed velvet, I couldn’t help but try it myself, and now I can’t stop!” She started working with velvet about ten years ago and has been constantly developing her technique and designs ever since, including designing some of her own stamps which are then crafted by a friend. The luxurious look, texture and feel of velvet is hard to resist, and the contrast of the embossed designs catching the light makes these pieces particularly magical. “It’s so luxurious, it’s just impossible to not want to feel it once you see it!” Tausha offers. “In fact, the number one initial comment I hear when people stop by my booth at a show is ‘I just want to touch them all!’ And of course, I tell them to go right ahead.”

The embossing is achieved by using heat and rubber or polymer stamps, and also, Tausha relates, “a lot of patience (and trial and error!).”

The exhibit will be on view in the Gallery through Friday December 31st. Art on Main is open Monday through Saturday 10am-6pm, Thursdays and Fridays in December -8pm, and Sundays 11am-3pm. Art on Main is a non-profit, artist-cooperative gallery with over 115 member artists from throughout Vermont; celebrating ten years this holiday season!

PRESS RELEASE: The Decembering Tide at Dostie Bros. Frame Shop & Art Gallery in Burlington



Dostie Bros. Frame Shop & Art Gallery present The Decembering Tide: Drawings and Paintings of Mysterious Pedigree by the duo Franglais! The exhibition runs Dec 2-31, 2011.

There will be an Artist's Reception at Dostie Bros. Frame Shop & Art Gallery in the Historic Kilburn & Gates Building at 308 Pine St. in Burlington during the First Friday Artwalk on December 2 from 5-8pm featuring Hot Cider and Cookies! This reception is free and open to the public.

Regular gallery hours are Mon-Sat 10am-6pm. Regular Gallery Hours Mon-fri 10am-6pm.

Image: The Winter Painting

CHANGES: The Drawing Board in Montpelier takes on Liz Walsh as a New Partner


The Drawing Board in Montpelier, locally-owned and operated by Ray and Jody Brown since January of 1983, started the next chapter in its long history in October of 2011, when Liz Walsh, the art materials manager and buyer, became a co-owner The Drawing Board.

Ray Brown has retired from the business and is pursuing his love of painting, though he stops in to visit with customers and to pick up supplies. Jody, an expert in archival framing, still works full time, managing the business and framing. Jody and Liz will continue The Drawing Board’s tradition as one of the best independent, locally-owned art shops in Vermont.

PRESS RELEASE: River of Light Lantern Parade in Waterbury this Saturday


Gowry Savoor writes: The time is nearly upon us for the second annual River of Light Lantern Parade in Waterbury, taking place this Saturday December 3rd 2011, 5pm to 6pm.

This year's event will be bigger and brighter than before, featuring Burlington’s 20-person street samba band, Sambatucada in the lead and amazing lantern creations made by the students from Thatcher Brook Primary School, Crossett Brook Middle School, artists from Central Vermont and community members from Waterbury, Stowe and Montpelier. There will be some spectacular structures on show, including "Smog" a 16ft willow and paper dragon and a few more surprises.

The parade will leave the Vermont State Complex on Main Street at 5pm, and will make its way up Main Street, down Stowe Street and across Railroad Street, ending at Rusty Parker Park for the Waterbury Rotary’s annual Tree Lighting.

This event is absolutely free to attend. Please show your support and join us in celebrating the season with an evening of light, music, creative arts and community spirit.
For more information, please visit our blog at: www.ariveroflightinwaterbury.wordpress.com

We hope to see you there!

PRESS RELEASE: Day of the Dead Celebration by St. Johnsbury Academy Art Students



This video is about a FABULOUS project that Kim and Bill Darling did with about fifty of their students, who were later joined by many more. The video shows the process used by St. Johnsbury Academy Anatomy and Figure Drawing and Printmaking 1 Students to create over 40 4' x 8' "Day of the Dead" woodblock prints, using a steamroller as a press. Bill Darling, Printmaking Instructor at St. Johnsbury Academy, directed the project, and Kim Darling, Anatomy and figure Drawing Instructor, was assistant director.It also shows the parade, on November 10, 2011, in which these prints, as well as other works by Academy Fine Arts students, were displayed to the town. Various other Academy clubs and groups also participated, and the St. Johnsbury Academy Jazz Band provided music.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

REVIEW: Delia Robinson at Flynndog in Burlington

by Janet Van Fleet

One of the things I love about the Flynndog (on Flynn Avenue in Burlington’s South End Arts District) is that Bren Alvarez, who curates the space, seems to have an impulse to combine the presentation of visual arts with music, dance, literature, and social issues. The current show is an example of this inclination. The exhibition offers Delia Robinson’s illustrations of AlphaBetaBestiario, a new collection of poetry by Antonello Borra (originally written in Italian), translated by Blossom S. Kirschenbaum. The reading by Borra at the opening reception on November 4 was dedicated to Kirschenbaum, who was known to be seriously ill, and in fact died that same night (see obituary).

Delia Robinson’s illustrations, displayed down the length of one long wall at the gallery, were originally hand-drawn and painted, then scanned and digitally altered, and finally printed in pigment-based inks on heavyweight archival paper. The exhibit is beautifully mounted, with each of the illustrations (a framed print, one of a Limited Edition print run of only 10) mounted next to a book open to the poem being illustrated. The poems appear in both the original Italian and a facing page with the English translation. The poet’s elegant signature races across the bottom of the black mounting board under each book.

It’s a good thing that the framed prints are mounted with the books, since the illustrations as they are printed in the book are extremely disappointing – a mushy, muddy grey, lacking the punch and contrast of the images as they appear in the limited run prints. There must be a way of avoiding this problem. Perhaps a coated stock (though possibly more expensive) might hold the image better?

On the opposite wall of the gallery are Robinson’s paintings, many of which are painted and/or mounted on insulation foamboard that is covered with fabric or paper and carved into shapes that suggest architectural finials.

This body of work is called Captive. It includes three large puppet-theater pieces with multiple holes where puppets might appear (but don’t, in this exhibit), as well as paintings with a variety of sizes and subjects.

A wonderful piece that demonstrates Robinson’s highly-tuned sense of humor is Professor in the Ivory Tower. (He finds the artifact needed to complete his history of the potato masher). The Professor is depicted in front of a soaring and packed bookshelf, with wisps of clouds passing overhead, clearly delighted by adding the missing link to his historic collection.

Another fine example of narrative painting is Blame it on the Yellow Car, a larger piece showing front and center what looks like the artist herself, with her heart on her sleeve. There is much going on in this piece, and it’s fun to imagine scenarios in which the yellow car (and the other characters in the painting) might figure.

This exhibit will run through December 29, 2011 and, in Flynndog fashion, there will be another literary event on December 2 at 7:00, with Antonello Borra, Greg Delanty, Tina Escaja, Barbara Krohn, and Carmen Pont reading from their work in the original languages in which they were written and in English translation , all against the backdrop of Delia Robinson's paintings and drawings.

Images: photos of Antonello Borra and detail of book by Sandra Sonntag. Remainder by Janet Van Fleet

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Beth Barndt at the Emile A. Gruppe Gallery in Jericho Center


The Public is invited to the opening of Beth Barndt's new show Winter at the Emile A Gruppe Gallery in Jericho Center, on Sunday, December 4 from 2 - 4 pm. Winter is based on a collection of hundreds of collaged postcards, made by Beth and sent out over the past 20 winter holiday seasons. Hundreds of cards are on loan for this project and have been temporarily reconfigured into panels of varying sizes. Several new larger works as well as postcard seconds will also be on display and available for sale. Pictured is the Winter X postcard panel.

The gallery is also exhibiting a Festival of Fine Arts for holiday giving by other Vermont artists. Gallery hours are 10 am - 3pm Thursday through Sunday. (802) 899 -3211 www.emilegruppegallery.com

PRESS RELEASE: Board Art at Darkside in Stowe

Ghettogloss Presents: Epic-Original art of Dogtown and custom decks of iconic artists of our time

Fiora Boes owns a gallery in Los Angeles called Ghettogloss -- for the past decade a haven of local subculture that has been exhibiting artwork by some of the most beloved artists working today. While Ghettogloss is still running strong in Los Angeles, for a variety of reasons that will no doubt make a great movie someday, Fiora has been based in Stowe, Vermont lately. But as the saying goes, you can take the girl out of Ghettogloss, but you can never take Ghettogloss out of the girl.

Fiora's current project is curating an exhibition that opens December 10 and will be housed at Darkside, a snowboard/skateboard shop located in the heart of Stowe on Mountain Road. This show of original 1970's Dogtown art by Wes Humpston will include his own original drawings and hand drawn decks along with customized decks by a crew of iconic artists that are his friends, contemporaries, and colleagues. Wes Humpston is largely recognized as the first to put a graphic on a skateboard, at the dawn of Dogtown. Part of the proceeds from the show will go to local indie businesses that have been devastated by Hurricane Irene.

Opening Reception details: December 10, 2011
Cocktails will be poured from 6pm-11pm at Darkside, 2160 Mountain Road, Stowe, Vermont

The line up: Wes Humpston, Shepard Fairey, Ron English, Aiko (Faile), Tony Alva, Mark Mothersbaugh, Tommy Chong, Clive Barker, Allee Willis, Darren Le Gallo, Loic Zimmermann, Yarrow Earth Hock, Jon Todd, Brendan Grasso, Craig Grasso, Sue-Ling Hyde, and Kenton Parker

About the venue:
When I walked into Darkside, I felt compelled to tell the history of the icons that inspired its colorful merchandise. I decided to put together a line-up of artists that could visually seam together the past, present, and future of where merchandise graphics came from and where they are heading. I chose a simple canvas for all of the artists to customize that would make sense in the skate/ snowboard venue where they would be displayed -- a blank skate deck. All of the artists will be exhibiting a custom piece that will be for sale and on display for at least one month.

Images: Deck by AIKO, Deck by Kenton Parker

PRESS RELEASE: 2011 Portfolio and Holiday Show at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction

Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction is pleased to announce its fourth, limited-edition portfolio of prints which have been made by 26 artist members and faculty from around Vermont and New Hampshire. 2011 marks the studio's tenth anniversary as a cooperative print studio offering classes, lectures, and world-class printmaking facilities that have attracted artists from around New England. Two Rivers Printmaking Studio is located in the Tip Top Media Building at 85 North Main Street in White River Junction, Vermont.

The exhibition opening and anniversary celebration will be held on Friday, December 2, from 6-8pm. The exhibit will continue through January 31, 2012, and the studio will be open most days from 11am - 4pm. Call (802)295-5901 or visit our website at www.tworiversprintmaking .com for more information.

Image: Untitled etching by Judy Lampe, an artist member since 2001

PRESS RELEASE: Montpelier Art Walk



Enjoy the most festive Montpelier Art Walk on Friday, December 9th! Twenty-eight venues feature fine art, photography, sculptures, posters, handmade ornaments and more!

This Art Walk will feature Hal Mayforth, a nationally recognized humorous illustrator, at The Skinny Pancake. His 30 year career as an illustrator has established him as a distinctive, original painter of watercolors and acrylics.

The cover art for the December 9th Art Walk guide, Boustrophedon to Mecca (at left), was provided by S.B. Sowbel. Sowbel's distinctive and sensual boustrophedons explore an ancient form of writing that travels back and forth, "as the ox plows," in deeply colorful wax, oil and gouache, at Adorn.

In time for the holidays, Artisans Hand has handmade ornaments on display and available for purchase; ornaments made from glass, clay, wood, paper, pewter, fabric and felt.

The Art Resource Association also pulls out all the stops for a two-site, fifty-artist annual show. Come see Vermont's finest artists at both City Center and the T.W. Wood Gallery.

These are only a few of the highlights of the December 9th Art Walk. For more information, please call 802.223.9604 or go to www.montpelieralive.org/artwalk. We're also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/montpelierartwalk.

Art Walk is from 4-8 pm. It’s free and open to everyone. We’ll see you downtown!

Image: Boustrophedon to Mecca, S.B. Sowbel

PRESS RELEASE: 20th Annual Winter Show at Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelbune

20th Annual Winter Show:
A group show featuring
Elizabeth Nelson
and Miriam Adams, Elizabeth Allen, Matt Brown, Betsey Garand, Kate Hartley, Karen Henderson, John Hoag, David Maille, Janet McKenzie, Lynn Rupe, Dianne Schullenberger, Adelaide Murphy Tyrol and more

December 2, 2011 - January 21, 2012

Please join us for an opening reception on Friday, December 2, 5:30 - 7:30
during the annual Shelburne Holiday Stroll

Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 9:30 - 5:30, Saturday 10:00 - 5:00

Image: Ice Curl by Elizabeth Nelson, acrylic, 40" x 30"

Friday, November 18, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Printmaking Exhibit at the Mill Gallery in Bennington



The Vermont Arts Exchange (VAE) presents I Will Try to Put Down on Paper, an exhibition by seven advanced printmaking students from Bennington College, in the Mill Gallery, located in VAE’s Sage Street Mill. The show opens with a reception on Wednesday, November 30, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The exhibition is on view through February 25, 2012.

In Bennington College’s Advanced Printmaking course, taught by faculty member Thorsten Dennerline, students Rebeca Baudille ’12 Hannah Callahan ’12, Elliot Cash ’13, Farhad Mirza ’12, Ellen Bogen ’12, Amelia Vottero ’12 and Lauren Hamilton ’12 proposed and executed projects of their own design.

Working in a basic structure of critiques and discussions, the students focused in on a variety of printing techniques and ways of handling materials to execute their ideas. The work featured includes photopolymer intaglio, wood cuts, screenprints, artist books, handmade paper and copper plate etchings.

Mounting the final prints as a group show in a community venue both reinforces the community spirit and collaboration of printmaking, in which artists share a printshop and equipment, and often ideas and techniques. It also offers an important challenge to the student artists.

“It’s part of my teaching philosophy,” Dennerline says. “The students benefit a great deal from interacting with the world outside the campus. You give them this real-world, hands-on opportunity that helps build up their confidence as artists, and it gives them the chance to engage with the outside community. It’s a nice way to start a conversation between the academic community and the real world.”

He adds, “From a teaching standpoint, it broadens their audience and makes them work harder — there’s more pressure, more people seeing it.”

It’s also a lesson in organizing a group show in a not-for-profit space, an invaluable experience as the students continue their career as artists. In addition to creating the work and curating the show, they have created artist statements, determined price lists for the work available for sale and helped publicize the exhibit.

Image: Top: Elliot Cash, Bennington College junior, Advanced Printmaking student
Bottom: Lauren Hamilton, Bennington College senior, Advanced Printmaking student

PRESS RELEASE: Corey Armpriester at Elliot Street Café in Brattleboro


collage: the archetype

Opening reception December 2, 2011
5:00pm to 8:00pm

Elliot Street Café, located at 134 Elliot Street in Brattleboro, Vermont, will exhibit the photographic collage works of new transplant artist (from Philadelphia) Corey Armpriester, December 2011. This series of 15 photographic collages are concerned with the archetype as complete sentence, using the visual vocabulary of angels,the Pineal Gland and Kundalini. The organization of this trinity should be understood in the same way one would view a crop-circle.The exploration of duality runs deep within this work,guiding the viewer on a mythological tour of both good and evil. The mystery of this work forces the viewer to contemplate the legitimacy of right and wrong along with the esoteric powers of the human brain. Questioning god and the devil as perhaps being one in the same expression. The artist makes it clear he doesn't fully understand the symbolic language pulled from his imagination, but this does not make the work any less purposeful. Local painter Jessica Cooper helped collaboratem, painting on a few works in the series. All photography and collage designs are by the artist, Corey Armpriester.

PRESS RELEASE: Edgewater Gallery opening and birthday bash, Middlebury

Join us on Saturday, November 19, from 5-7pm as Edgewater Gallery celebrates its second anniversary with a birthday bash and the opening of its second annual small works show, SHORT STORIES.. With cupcakes catered by Otter Creek Bakery, SHORT STORIES. opens with a narrative installation throughout the main exhibition space, featuring over twenty gallery artists and their collection of small paintings, drawings, photographs, assemblages and mixed media pieces; all under $500.

Edgewater Gallery has been pleased and excited to play an inspiring role in Middlebury’s charming downtown, and Vermont’s artistic culture as a whole. The overwhelming support received by the community is endlessly appreciated, and Edgewater is happy to look forward to a bright, full and creative future.

SHORT STORIES. remains on view through December 31. For more information call 802.458.0098, email info@edgewatergallery-vt.com or visit our website, www.edgewatergallery-vt.com.

PRESS RELEASE: Art Resource Association (ARA) Annual Exhibit at T.W. Wood Gallery and Arts Center in Montpelier




The Art Resource Association
is presenting its annual Members’ Exhibit in Montpelier at the T.W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center. The exhibit will be on display from November 20 - December 18, 2011.

The Art Resource Association is an organization of Central Vermont artists whose goal is to promote and support its member artists, and the work of more than 50 of those artists is on display, with styles ranging from abstraction to realism.

The exhibit contains more than 80 pieces of two- and three-dimensional artwork, filling the Wood's elegant exhibition space, with its high ceilings and beautiful windows.

The public is invited to an opening reception on Sunday, November 20, from 4-6 PM. The gallery will also be open during Montpelier’s Art Walk on Friday, December 9, from 4-8 PM. Otherwise, gallery hours are Tuesday-Sunday, noon - 4 PM.

ARA will also mount an exhibit of members' work at City Center in Montpelier during the month of December, and that exhibit will also be open during Montpelier’s Art Walk on Friday, December 9, from 4-8 PM.

Images: Top: Jack Sabon, Susan Batchelder, Ray Brown. Bottom: Annie Christopher, Sarah Munro, Deborah Fillion. Photos by Linda Maney.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Neal Rantoul at Photostop Gallery in White River Junction

Neal Rantoul, a career photographer and director of the Photography Program at Northeastern University in Boston, will be showing his photographs in a show titled Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, (Oh My!) at the PHOTOSTOP Gallery from December 2nd through December 22nd. An opening reception for the artist will be held on December 2nd (a WRJ First Friday) from 5-8 pm with a gallery talk at 6:30 pm. There will be live music by Laura Simon and Julie Velie and the public is invited to attend.

Rantoul previously exhibited his wheat field photographs for PHOTOSTOP’S inaugural show, and returns with Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, (Oh My!), comprised of photographs taken in 17 different Cabela’s stores since 2004. The Cabela's photographs contrast fact and fiction with both beauty and humor. They are both too real to be fake and too fake to be real. The taxidermy and the enacted displays of animals in their habitat comment on the current state of our natural environment and our management of the resources we have.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Rantoul will be doing portfolio reviews of photographers’ works by appointment on December 3rd from 10am - 4pm. For registration information, contact Lia at PHOTOSTOP.

Rantoul’s work is held in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Fogg Museum at Harvard, the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris, and many others. He has had numerous one-person exhibitions, judged many photography competitions, and served on the Board of Directors at the Griffin Museum of Photography and the Photographic Resource Center in Boston, MA. A monograph of his photographs, “American Series”, was published in 2006. Currently a 30-year retrospective of Neal’s work is on exhibit at Northeastern University through Dec. 5, 2011.

PHOTOSTOP Gallery is located in Suite 150 of the Tip Top Media Arts Building, 85 North Main Street, White River Jct., VT 05001. Gallery hours beginning Dec. 2nd will be Weds. through Saturday from 12-5 pm. On First Fridays and opening nights, the gallery will be open until 8 pm. Other hours are available by appointment. For additional information, call 802.698.0320. PHOTOSTOP’s website is www.photostopvt.com.

PRESS RELEASE: Heidi Broner at Central Vermont Medical Center


Heidi Broner grew up near New York City in a family of artists, immersed in an atmosphere in which drawing and painting were a natural, delightful part of daily life.

Her interests have led her to work in a wide variety of media: in addition to painting, she has illustrated books, designed and painted murals, created masks and puppets for the opera Frida and huge outdoor pieces for the band Phish, and worked for many years with Bread and Puppet Theater.

Since 1999 she has worked in the Vermont granite industry, hand engraving drawings onto black stone. In 2003 she began her At Work series of paintings, which formed the basis of a solo exhibition at the Vermont Governor’s office in 2009. Heidi’s work, currently on exhibit at Central Vermont Medical Center, is of part of her At Work series.

“For the past ten years I have been painting people at work. I am moved by the unselfconscious grace of someone absorbed in a task. Recently I was invited by CVMC to paint people at work in this hospital. This was a new world for me, and the surgical teams in particular impressed me as a close-knit crew moving with a casual, assured choreography,” said Heidi. Five paintings in this exhibit resulted from that invitation.

“Heidi truly caught the spirit and dedication of a surgical team at work,” noted Judy Tarr Tartaglia, CVMC president and CEO. “This is an astounding exhibit – the colors, the artistic talent, the subject matter – it catches the eye of virtually everyone who walks through our lobby.”

Broner has exhibited at Studio Place Arts, T.W. Wood Gallery, and Artpath Gallery. Her work has been collected by both private individuals and corporations. For more information on the artist visit www.heidibroner.com

This exhibit will remain on display in the Central Vermont Medical Center hospital lobby through December 30, 2011.

CALL TO ARTISTS: Regional Arts Gallery at the Bennington Museum



The Bennington Museum is calling for regional artists to participate in the Regional Arts Program during the Spring and Summer of 2012. The Regional Arts Program is an ongoing series of juried exhibits, selected by a jury composed of local arts professionals. The museum welcomes applications in all media, from photography, illustration, and sculpture to traditional crafts and oil paintings. The jury is open to any and all art forms and styles. If you have submitted work before and have not been chosen, you are encouraged to re-submit as some exhibiting artists have been selected on a follow-up review. The panel will evaluate these submissions the week of December 19, so entries need to arrive at the museum by December 16.

A regional artist is defined as one who lives or works in southern Vermont or the adjacent areas of New York and Massachusetts. Artists must submit samples of their work either in slides, digital images, prints, or originals, an artist’s statement, and a one page proposal for gallery use. Successful applicants are given a six week showing in the Regional Arts Gallery of the Bennington Museum. The first show from the most recent group of selected artists will open February 4, with other sessions to follow. Applications can be picked up at the museum or by calling 802-447-1571.

Image shows a previous exhibit in the Regional Arts Gallery at the Bennington Museum.