Saturday, February 25, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Amanda Vella at Dostie Bros. Frame Shop & Art Gallery in Burlington


Dostie Bros. Frame Shop & Art Gallery presents
What Happens: Paintings by Amanda Vella
First Friday Artwalk March 2, 5-8pm
Exhibition Runs March 1-April 30
Regular Gallery Hours:
Mon-Fri 10am-6pm

Paintings inspired by a visual experience, painted from life but not meant to copy a scene to canvas, rather to develop a practice in seeing-an experience and appreciation of the present moment resulting in images teetering between representation and abstraction.

Image: Leaves on the Road

PRESS RELEASE: Mary Mead and Bert Yarborough at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction

There will be a mid-show opening for Mary Mead & Bert Yarborough: Two Colby-Sawyer Printmakers on Friday, March 2nd, from 6-8pm at Two Rivers Printmaking Studio at 285 N Main St, in White River Junction. Both Mary and Bert are fine-art professors at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, NH, and both have been involved in Two Rivers Printmaking Studio since early in its existence. The exhibition continues through March 31, 2012.

Mary Mead is a visual artist based in New Hampshire who works primarily in sculpture and printmaking. She received an undergraduate degree with honors in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.F.A. from the Boston Museum School and Tufts University. Mead is an assistant professor in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H.

Mead's work has been widely exhibited and can be found in numerous public and private collections. She has received grants and fellowships from many different organizations, including the New Hampshire Council on the Arts, Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, Rutland, Vt., and Caldera Arts in Portland, Ore. To learn more visit http://marymead.net/.

Vermont resident Bert Yarborough is a visual artist focused on painting, drawing and printmaking. An associate professor of Fine and Performing Arts, he joined Colby-Sawyer in 1997 and teaches courses in painting, drawing and the professional practices and portfolio capstone course. Yarborough holds a bachelor's degree in architecture from Clemson University and an M.A. and M.F.A from the University of Iowa.

Yarborough is also a summer faculty member at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass., and chairman of its Visual Committee. He has received numerous grants and awards in recognition of his work, including two individual artist fellowships from the New Hampshire Council on the Arts; a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in sculpture; a residency fellowship in sculpture and drawing from the Fine Arts Work Center; and a Fulbright fellowship in sculpture. To learn more, visit www.bertyarborough.com/exhibitions.htm

Images:
Mary Mead, Untitled, stone lithograph with monotype and hand coloring, 11 x 15", May 2010
Bert Yarborough, compass, monotype with chine colle, 15 x 19.5" (bleed print), 2011

Thursday, February 23, 2012

CALL TO ARTISTS: Third Annual UV Photoslam 2012 at Photostop Gallery in White River Junction

Wanted: Students, Pros, Amateurs, & Photo fanatics!

PHOTOSTOP Gallery announces a call for entries to its third annual UV PhotoSlam 2012, which will be on exhibit in the Gallery from May 4-26, 2012. The PhotoSlam will be a community-wide photo happening for residents or part-time residents of the Upper Valley region. Photographers of all ages and experience levels are encouraged to enter. PHOTOSTOP is planning to continue the tradition this unique exhibition for the Upper Valley by showcasing the wide variety of photographs residents of all ages from the area are making and to provide a way that photographers can share them with each other. Last year's PhotoSlam 2011 exhibited over 200 photographs submitted by more than 100 photographers aged 6 to 80 from all over the Upper Valley area!

Each photographer who enters work in the show will have at least one image printed and displayed in the Gallery. An Opening Reception with refreshments is scheduled for May 4 from 5-8 pm and a Closing party is planned for May 26.

Entry is by the submission of digital files and the Gallery will print the submitted photographs. The standard entry fee is $20 and $10 for photographers 17 and under, which will help defray the cost of the printed photographs and other exhibition expenses.

For an entry form and details go to: www.photostopvt.com and download the application form, e-mail the gallery at photostopvt@gmail.com for further details, or stop by the gallery. The deadline for entries is March 25th at midnight.

PHOTOSTOP Gallery is located in Suite 150 on the first floor of the Tip Top Media Arts Building, 85 North Main Street, White River Jct., VT 05001.

PRESS RELEASE: Caleb Stone at Galleria Fine Arte in Stowe

Featured Artist Caleb Stone:
Capturing the Light in Watercolor and Oil

Show Opening Sunday, March 4, 2012, 12:30 - 2:30PM

Show Closing Friday, April 13, 2012

Caleb Stone studied at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Since then has been regularly teaching workshop classes, traveling and painting. He works in both watercolors and oils. He has been the recipient of numerous awards.

He grew up in the art colony of Rockport, MA and was exposed at an early age to plein air painting by his father, Don Stone. He currently resides on Cape Ann in Massachusetts.

Galleria Fine Arte, 6 Sunset Street, Stowe Village

CALL TO ARTISTS: Mail Art and Stamp Art at SEABA in Burlington

A Call to Artists for We Deliver!, an unparalleled parallel exhibit of Mail Art and Stamp Art to celebrate the South End Arts District and benefit SEABA (South End Arts and Business District).

All Mail Art and Stamp Art must be postmarked by APRIL 27, 2012 and addressed to:

Artist Name c/o SEABA
404 Pine Street
south end arts district
Burlington, VT 05401

JPG files of Stamp Art may also be submitted by APRIL 27, 2012 for inclusion in the on-line gallery at SEABA website. Files should include the name of the Artist and are to be sent to the exhibit curators, Marie Davis and Bren Alvarez: Marie, greenbus@sover.net and to Bren, bren@flynndog.net

Please forward this to your artists and other friends of artists across the globe!

The exhibit will be at the SEABA Center gallery: Opening celebration reception will be on May 4th. We Deliver! will be exhibited for the month of May. A silent auction of the Mail Art and Stamp Art will be held on Thursday, May 17th. We thank you in advance for contributing your work.

Image: Gabrielle Dietzel, 2003 mail art from "CANCELLED" group exhibition of mail art

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

PERFORMANCE: Kate Donnelly



Kate Donnelly has been doing an amazing performance piece in Burlington for the past two weeks. Her performance will only continue through this Friday, so try to catch her on the few days left. According to her original plans, during these last days she should be found between 7:45 and 8:15 "north along Pine Street, and finally east along Birchcliff Parkway."

Her original press release, which we somehow failed to print, stated:

Also There: A Performance for the Commuter, a new performance art piece by Burlington artist Kate Donnelly will commence on Monday February 6th beginning at 7:45 each weekday and continue for the next several weeks.

Weekday commuters during those days will witness a lone white figure gradually transition each day as they transition from from home to work. Donnelly offers the work as a reminder in the power of transition, both as deliberate and as inevitable forces in our lives. “We take comfort in titles, certainties, tangible outcomes,” Donnelly states. “In all that we take for certain, that is serious, secure, dependable, I wish to remind the audience of the absurd and unpredictable,to remind them to notice the anomalies and embrace adventure.”

Donnelly’s performance will take place along sidewalks during the peak rush hour times of 7:45 and 8:15 AM. Beginning at Birchcliff Parkway, the route will take Donnelly south along Shelburne Road, west along Home Avenue, north along Pine Street, and finally east along Birchcliff Parkway.

These are images from her weblog showing how she looked in the beginning, and how her (feathers?) grew as the days went along.

For additional information visit her weblog or email kddonnelly@gmail.com

Kate writes: “I’ve been called many things: Abominable Snowman, Zombie, Mummy, Lady Gaga, White Coated Walking Woman, Vampire in a Sunproof Suit, Padded Albino version of Rubber Man, White Lady, Mrs. Peppermint, Creepy, and my favorite so far, Person with the Quilt/Blanket Garbage Bag Outfit.”

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

REVIEW: My Human Being - Rebecca Weisman at Johnson State College


by Laura Di Piazza

Conceptual artist Rebecca Weisman inserts herself into the landscape of her art in My Human Being, which is currently on exhibit at the Julian Scott Gallery, Johnson State College, in Vermont until March 10th. With 3 simple words, My Human Being, Weisman investigates our changing environment and how one tries to both capture and let go of time and one's own placement within it. This multi-media installation engages viewers with film images that have been 5 years in the making. The installation encompasses a 5 channel surround sound score that includes white noise, recorded speech and the sound of water dripping onto a microphone. The sounds include a wide range from natural to artificial. Gallery director Leila Bandar finds that "there is a visceral quality to the sound element -- a drip, drip, drip, the repetitive clacking, the whale-song sound of syllables stretched". Bandar asks "What do we see when we hear a drip?".

Time is a central element that Weisman records, observes, engages with and disrupts with the construction and dissolving of her inscription, My Human Being, made by using the landscape's available raw materials, her body and shovels. Inside the gallery space a fast motion loop filmed in the spring, summer and fall shows the artist creating, on nature's canvas, that which can not be preserved. Through these seasons the inscription's transformations are many, as the letterforms dance with the environmental forces that move upon, around and eventually through them.

The installation also includes an outdoor component of
My Human Being in winter that, at night, is projected onto a snow wall sculpture that was constructed by Weisman and Johnson State students. The snow wall also serves as a chronological monument that will gradually melt over time, thereby erasing the projection itself. Throughout the exhibit the artist will continue to carve words into a gallery wall and then project back their recordings. Weisman uses the exhibition time and space itself to continue the dialogue of change and reflection.

I personally experienced that My Human Being invited contemplation on how I feel about the passage of time, especially how I stand and move within it, and my responses to time when I am not actively engaged with it but am simply remembering. Ultimately what resonated with me most about this installation are my questions about how I feel and deal with 'change' itself.

Monday, February 20, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Rick Jasany & Kevin Morin at Art's Alive Gallery at Main Street Landing's Union Station in Burlington


Art's Alive Presents Two Photographers: Rick Jasany & Kevin Morin. There will be an Artists' Reception during the First Friday Artwalk on March 2, 2012 from 5-8pm, and the exhibit will continue through March 30, 2012. Jasany's exhibit will be featured in the Main Street Lobby of Union Station.

Jasany's photographs are not bound by any one defining theme but tend to gravitate toward lone figures in unconfined spaces, surveying the scope and reflecting on the beauty of their surroundings, or simply lost in thought.

Morin's exhibit will be featured on the lower level of Union Station and features ten recent photographs of both rural and urban landscapes of his native Vermont as well as still life and other subjects.

Image: Weathering the Storm by Rick Jasany

Sunday, February 19, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Victoria Blewer and Saba Field at Gander Gallery in Manchester Center

Gander Gallery is pleased to announce a two-person exhibition featuring Victoria Blewer and Saba Field on view from March 3, 2012, through March 23, 2012. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, March 3, 2012. Refreshments will be served from 5 PM - 7 PM. All are welcome.

Sabra Field, arguably Vermont's most famous artist, is one of America's most accomplished printmakers. Her landscapes quietly symbolize the harmony that exists between humanity and nature. Over the years, Sabra has refined her skills of observation and cultivated an astonishing ability to recall images, which she calls "collective shared images," of our beautiful Green Mountain state. In recent years, Sabra has been producing giclee prints that are created digitally from her original woodblock images. She has been awarded Middlebury College's Alumni Achievement Award and an Honorary Doctorate. Sabra has also been named an extraordinary Vermonter, received the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts and the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum Award for the Arts. Middlebury College, Sabra's alma mater, has a collection of every piece that she has ever printed.

Victoria Blewer left the chaos and the clutter of New York City in 1986 to devote herself full-time to fine art photography in the quiet hills of Vermont. Each of her prints is photographed with black-and-white film, many with infrared black-and-white film, printed on a porous paper, and then toned for color and longevity. Next, she hand-colors the photograph with oil paints. Light layers of paint are applied gently to the photograph until the color application is smooth and even. This is a time-honored technique that photographers have used for over a century. Before the invention of color film, it was the only method of obtaining color photographs. The result is an image that is dream-like, elegiac, and (sometimes) surreal. Each photograph is an original print, colored individually by hand. Her work has been featured in full-length photo essays in the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Vermont Life, and Vermont Magazine. Her photographs have appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and books and have been displayed in private homes and offices across New York and New England. Her work may be seen at galleries around Vermont. Victoria was born in New York City and is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, MA. She refined her art with classes at the New School in New York City, the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY, and the University of Vermont. She lives in Lincoln, Vermont, with her husband and daughter.

Images: Snow Light by Sabra Field and Barn up Close, Victoria Blewer

PRESS RELEASE: Vermont Studio Center staff artists at The Gallery at River Arts in Morrisville


The Gallery at River Arts is pleased to present Staff Effection, a group exhibit of work by staff artists at the Vermont Studio Center. The exhibit will be shown at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT, March 8 - April 20, 2012. There will be an opening reception on March 8, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Founded by artists in 1984, the Vermont Studio Center is the largest international artists' and writers' Residency Program in the United States, hosting 50 visual artists and writers each month from across the country and around the world. In addition to the diverse resident artist community, VSC is also a year-round creative home to its staff members. Every member of the VSC staff is a practicing artist or writer and it is the creativity in this community that is explored in the River Arts exhibition, Staff Effection. Living, working, and creating at the Vermont Studio Center allows constant interaction with artistically dedicated colleagues and coworkers and from this arises a unique artistic community that has a continual creative effect on each individual.

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.

Image: Skirting by Austin Furtak-Cole

Saturday, February 18, 2012

CHANGES: Photostop Gallery Exploring Options for Future of its Space in White River Junction


Lia Rothstein, who has created a beautiful exhibition space in White River Junction and produced very impressive photography exhibits, is seeking people interested in collaborating on a cooperative gallery and teaching effort that would be a successor effort to the space she has developed. She sent us the following.– Ed.


I am writing to you as I contemplate the future of PHOTOSTOP. As you know, for over two and a half years we've been showcasing fine art photography exhibits, sponsoring community events, and running photography/imaging classes and professional level workshops. I have greatly enjoyed running the gallery, curating and hanging the shows, and coordinating the programming. For a variety of personal and professional reasons, I am contemplating transitioning from running PHOTOSTOP in its present form. My current lease is up for renewal this June 2012.

Since I extensively renovated the gallery space with professional lighting, fresh paint, a gallery hanging system, etc. when I took the studio over, I am considering a number of options for the future. Building owner Matt Bucy has expressed interest in keeping a gallery or art-related enterprise in the space. We have worked so hard to establish the gallery's reputation and attract interested audiences that I would, ideally, prefer that a group of artists take over the space (beginning this June, possibly sooner) and run it as a cooperative exhibition and teaching space. This could be either all photographers or a mix of artists from various mediums (with the necessary name change that would entail). Two Rivers Printmaking, with which many of you are familiar, has a committed group of artists who share the rent, run classes, use the space, and exhibit there regularly. A friend and fellow photographer, Keith Johnson, who exhibited at PHOTOSTOP last year, is part of a very similar cooperative gallery based in New Haven, CT. A newly revitalized PHOTOSTOP could be run on a similar model if there was a committed group of people to make it happen.

I'm exploring whether there are people who would be interested in coming together to work on a cooperative gallery of some kind or who would have other similar ideas for the space. I would be happy to work with other artists in a shared venture of some kind but I don't feel, at this time, that I am going to keep PHOTOSTOP running on my own in its present form. I invite any interested parties to contact me by Feb. 22. If there's sufficient interest I'll organize a meeting to discuss options for the future. Please contact me at photostopvt@gmail.com if you might be interested in sharing the rent of the space and in making both a financial and cooperative commitment of time to a shared venture.

If a sizable enough group does not come forward, I will be investigating other possibilities, including selling PHOTOSTOP'S current business to interested parties. I encourage anyone interested in exploring this possibility to contact me as well.

Our already scheduled exhibits and classes will run through May as planned.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas.

-Lia Rothstein

Images from the PHOTOSTOP website

Friday, February 17, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Jodi Whalen at The Gallery at Main Street Landing in Burlington

A solo show, Family Tree, of new abstract landscapes in oil-based enamel by Burlington artist Jodi Whalen will be featured at The Gallery at Main Street Landing, 60 Lake St, Burlington, VT. The show will run from March 9-31, 2012. An opening reception will take place on Friday, March 9, from 6pm-9pm.

Whalen, whose grandfather was a sign painter by trade, inherited his hand made paint brushes when he passed away. As a tribute to him and as an homage to this dying craft, Whalen created a stunning new body of work with his special French brushes and classic sign painter's paint.

The show consists of large scale paintings of landscapes featuring trees in many forms. The complexity and simplicity of trees is communicated through the abstraction of the original image and the elementary shapes of the finished product. The figurative entanglements of the family and the literal entanglements of the branches of trees come through in these simple yet strong paintings.

The tree, in its simplicity, is very similar visually to the letter, with strong lines, lovely curves, and steady form. Like different letter styles, different types of trees communicate different messages. The bent elm, the healthy oak in its prime, the stand in November: all, like a script font, a bold headline font, or a classic serif tell their stories simply and beautifully.

This is Jodi Whalen's first solo show. Whalen is a self-taught artist with a background in marketing and graphic design at Vermont microbreweries. She is currently the co-owner of August First Bakery in Burlington, VT. Whalen began painting abstract works on her back porch in the summer of 2007, and quickly gained recognition for her unique voice behind the brush. She has been invited to participate in The Art of Giving, a juried show, for three years running. Her work has been purchased enthusiastically by people throughout the country. Whalen's instinctual spontaneity that comes from her unrestrained outlook results in art that is honest, borderless, and pure.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:
Family Tree

My grandfather was a sign painter who worked at the same shop for over 40 years. When he died, I inherited his kit of supplies, including dozens of beautiful hand made brushes. I always admired his craft, and saw the shapes and simple colors of his lettering as an art form.

This body of work is created with his brushes, and classic oil-based sign painter's enamel paint, as a tribute to my grandfather and his generation of artist sign makers. The tree was chosen as a subject because one day, after meditating outside, I watched a large tree bend in the wind. An awareness of “All it has to do is grow” came to me, and profoundly changed my view of my own life, my own strength, and my own purpose. Within the process of painting and honoring my grandfather’s craft I started to see the similarities between our subjects.

A tree, in its simple lines, is very similar visually to the letter, with strong bands, lovely curves, and steady form. Like different letter styles, different types of trees communicate different messages. The shapes of the bent elm, the healthy oak in its prime, the stand of birch in November: all, like a script font, a bold headline font, or a classic serif convey their messages simply and beautifully. The deep iconography of the tree as heritage is of course clear now but in this case it was not preconceived as much as it was a pure outgrowth of the process- an embodied reflection on growth, craft and family.

As an artist, I challenged myself to grow with this body of work. The brush work was done freehand, with no masking or tape to create the clean lines. I had to root myself physically to the studio floor in order to maintain a steady hand. I had to stretch myself like a tree does to work with a challenging medium that was brand new to me, with brushes that were both perfect yet particular in their old age.

With stained hands, a tired back, and long days watching stunning lines magically appear on my canvas, my love for my grandfather and his art form has grown.

-- Jodi Whalen
Images, top to bottom: Autumn's Welcome, 36x48"; Road To Jericho, 48 x 36"; Tree Lake, 36x48"; Winter Orchard, 12x24"

PRESS RELEASE: New Work at Chow Bella in St. Albans


Chow Bella restaurant and Twiggs @ Chow Bella, located at 28 North Main St. in St. Albans, is proud to be rotating artists’ work with the help of St. Albans artist, Karen Day-Vath, who acts as curator for the restaurant. Her primary focus will be scouting potential artists from the community and organizing the restaurant’s art gallery.

Karen’s art was featured from October through the New Year and she has since moved her pieces over to Twiggs @ Chow Bella to make room for two new and very talented artists, Tinka Theresa Martell and Longina Smolinski; whose work is now on display at both Chow Bella restaurant and Twiggs @ Chow Bella.

Both are abstract artists and their style and palette compliment each other’s work.

Tinka Theresa Martell is from Fairfax and has been painting for 20 years. She works with several different types of media; however she enjoys working with small scale collage, in copper and ink. Her large scale works are often three dimensional and her medium varies.

Longina Smolinski , who is a native of Poland has lived in Vermont for over 20 years. She uses bright colors and likes to experiment as she mixes paint until it is a thick paste, working with layers of color and paint, mixing it with wax, and then applying it to canvas, wood, or sculptures.

All three artists will be showing through April and all art work at Chow Bella is for sale.

Images, top to bottom: Karen Day-Vath, Tinka Theresa Martel, and Longina Smolinski

PRESS RELEASE: Mary Hill at River Arts in Morrisville


River Arts is pleased to present Banners & Paintings by visual artist, Mary Hill, in the Common Space Gallery at the River Arts Center in Morrisville, VT, March 8 – April 25. There will be an opening reception on March 15, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Mary Hill grew up in Shelburne and studied art at the Shelburne Art Center, Johnson State College, SUNY Purchase, Parsons, and the Vermont Studio School. In the '90's, Hill created "Spudprints", a successful handprinted/handpainted clothing company that was known for using brilliant combinations of color in their designs. Mary's vibrant palette has continued to evolve in her present paintings and banners. Recently relocated from the Mad River Valley, Hill currently lives with her husband and sons in Underhill.

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.

PRESS RELEASE: Donna Underwood Owens at Black Cap Coffee in Stowe


Vermont's Magical Animal Kingdom

The Townsend Galley at Black Cap Coffee 144 Main Street Stowe, Vermont is proud to present an exhibition of local photographer Donna Underwood Owens for March. An Artist Reception will be held on Saturday March 10th. from 1-3pm. This is a free event with musical entertainment.

"Vermont has some of the most wonderful logging and dirt roads to explore. Every where you looks there is so much life. From the osprey feeding her young, to a dragonfly on a leaf. Farmers have been exceptionally generous in letting me wander their fields and barns for that one great shot. New kittens, calves and kids. The possibilities are endless. Sharing this intimate relationship with four legged critters has been with me even as a very young child. Sharing with others gives me pride in being a native Vermonter and my photography"

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

CHANGES: Vermont Art Zine's 1000th post

The post below was Vermont Art Zine's

ONE THOUSANDTH POST

Hurrah for us, and for all those who read our publication, send news and images, and participate in Vermont's rich visual arts activities.

PRESS RELEASE: Mickie Hoffman at BLCARTGRP Gallery in Chester


BLCARTGRP Gallery is proud to announce its next show: Shower Walls, featuring the stark, bold, dynamic mixed media paintings by Mickie Hoffman of New York City. Mickie states that "my art has always offered me the opportunity to look at myself, my perceptions and my relationship to and with others. This experience affords me a type of peace. I most often begin with a vision of a person, then pencil, charcoal or ink bring life and form to this vision." Her work begins on her shower walls and evolves on her canvas to completion.

This show opens with an event featuring live performance by singer songwriter Dan Aaron from Middlebury, Vermont on Sunday March 18th. Dan has been compared to Cat Stevens, is originally from NYC and is equally at home in an acoustic setting or amid screaming guitars and thrashing cymbals. Dan's unique style of composition bring forth music to help you "get in touch with your inner grownup." He performs for our guests in the MoonDog Cafe at 6PM.

Shower Walls opens at BLCARTGRP Gallery in the MoonDog Cafe Building on Sunday March 18th from 3 to 8 P.M and runs through April 20th. Live performance at 6 P.M. The gallery is located at 295 Main Street in Chester, Vermont. Gallery hours are daily from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. For more information please visit www.brycelevancushing.com or call 802 289 1663.

CALL TO ARTISTS: SculptFest2012 in West Rutland


SculptFest2012 -
Keep on Keepin' On


The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center invites sculptors to submit proposals for SculptFest2012, September 8-October 21. The theme for this year's outdoor installation event is Keep on Keepin' On, guest curated by Adam Frelin, Artist and Assistant Professor of Art, SUNY University at Albany, whose call states:

"The grounds of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in central Vermont are not those of a manicured outdoor sculpture park. It is less a space for presentation than a site for practice. Unlike an empty lawn, this place reveals its history, in relation not only to what once took place here (quarrying marble), but also to what is taking place (making art). These grounds are not "composed" in the traditional sense of an exhibition space, but layered, conflicted, frugal, organic, and elemental. In other words, alive.

"As artists, many of us try to make the best of our situation. If the local industry collapses (steel, coal, marble, you name it) we salvage their equipment. We make paintings of their altered landscape. And we move into their abandoned buildings. When all the grants and financial awards dry up, we get another job and keep making art in our spare time. When the galleries, museums and non-profits that show our art close down, we invent our own shows: whenever, wherever, with whomever.

"We keep on keepin' on."

-Adam Frelin, February 2012

Proposals should include a project description on one or two pages, sketches or other visual representations, resume, optional statement and up to ten 35mm slides (or digital images on a CD) portraying previous site-specific work. Applications are due July 20, 2012. Materials will be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage.

Address submissions to "SculptFest2012," The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, P.O. Box 495, West Rutland, VT 05777. For more information, please contact us at 802-438-2097 or info@carvingstudio.org.

PRESS RELEASE: Earth Rhythms at the Vermont Institute of Contemporary Arts (VTica) in Chester

Four Vermont artists will be exhibiting their paintings and sculpture in Earth Rhythms, opening February 25 at the Vermont Institute of Contemporary Arts (VTica) in Chester. The work of Marilyn Allen of West Halifax, Casey Blanchard of Burlington, Bryce LeVan Cushing of Chester and Richard Weis of Castleton will be on view through March 31. An opening reception for the show is set for Saturday, February 25 from 5:30 - 8PM.

Marilyn Allen uses oil on canvas and wood panels to portray the landscape in an iconic and symbolic style. In addition to exhibiting frequently in Vermont and New York, Allen has been a curator and outreach art teacher. Her training includes study with Bruce Gagnier, Jim Peters and David Brewster.

Primarily a self- taught artist, Casey Blanchard explores her experiences through the engaging and often unpredictable print medium of monoprinting, a process using moistened paper with oil paint and/or etching inks. Many of the pieces on display will be of Casey’s Key West Bound series.

For Bryce LeVan Cushing it is important to break the stereotypes of the material world and reform the images. His career has spanned experiences in varied arts fields including music, garden design, culinary arts and sculpture. On view at VTica will be recent constructions made of glass, china, pottery, metal, semi precious stones, vintage jewelry, religious iconography, collectibles and antiques. Recycled anything and everything that has meaning and holds value in our culture is used in his work.

From rural Minnesota to residencies in Wales and South Korea, Richard Weis’s journey during the past 40 plus years has exposed him to a diversity of physical, cultural, and social environments Most of Weis’ career has combined teaching with studio work, beginning in the public schools and later at the college level. In 2010, he retired from Green Mountain College. He was honored with a Fulbright Scholar Award in 2002 and a Fulbright Alumni Award for a Green Mountain College/Korea project in 2004. In 2010 Weis received a Fulbright Specialist Award, returning to South Korea to work with undergraduate and graduate art education students at Hannam University in Daejeon South Korea.

On Friday, March 9 at 7 p.m. Weis will discuss “Beyond Surface: East Meets West" in a free gallery talk at VTica.

VTica will be open Wednesday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Sunday from noon – 5 p.m. VTica is located at 15 Depot Street, just off the Chester Village Green on Rt. 11. For more information, telephone 802-875-1018; e-mail is info@vtica.org; website is www.vtica.org.

Image: Percussion by Richard Weis, Acrylic on Canvas, 38"x50"

EVENT: Mixer for artists in Montpelier

Are you a creative in Vermont? Interested in learning who else is a part of your creative community? Want to make some new friends and have fun?

So do we! We're a group of artists, developers, designers, entrepreneurs excited about the creative potential in Vermont. We're eager to find out who is too and share ideas.

Be a part of a growing network of artists, technologists, designers, gamers, hackers looking to enhance Vermont's creative capacity. Please join us for the first Vermont Creates Mixer!

Here's what to do:

- Sign up here - snag a free ticket! (max 2 per, please)

- Tell a friend - help spread the word (rock the social tools)

- Bring something to share - something you've made (be open to trading it)

We'll handle the rest! Location details to be announced. Stay tuned, paws up!

Monday, February 13, 2012

ESSAY: Rita Fuchsberg at Carving Studio and Sculpture Center Gallery, West Rutland

by Joan Curtis

Rita Fuchsberg, ROCK-A-BYE-BABY
February 3 - March 11, 2012

The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center gallery in West Rutland currently hosts Rock-a-Bye-Baby by painter Rita Fuchsberg, who divides her time between Poultney and New York City. The show is an idiosyncratic array of colored-pencil portraits. The repetitive compositions show infants (and very young children) rising upward out of organic settings.

Fuchsberg states that in her mind, she is opening a dialogue about the Earth in general -- wondering what the children would feel if they knew “they are coming into a destructive world -- [that] for them the future is limited.”

However, in most of this series of sixteen pictures, the infants communicate positive feelings, or even joy. Viewing the imagery is an uplifting experience. The babies, floating in a protective environment, mostly seem astonished and amazed at their new world; a few are a little fearful, but most are filled with poignant wonder.

The artist sees the swaddling backgrounds as continuous for the whole group: i.e., all the babies girdled by the same substance. Instead, to this viewer, each background seems custom-designed for each baby personality. Some settings refer to landscape and water, others to fabric; still others seem to map female-anatomy innards (some viewers saw fallopian tubes).

In explaining the work, Fuchsberg, now in her 60s, states that she had never felt maternal longings until recently bonding with Miko, the infant child of a Poultney neighbor. This startling development prompted her wish to draw portraits, some of which are of real-life individuals while others are out of the imagination. “In some way they are my children. I wanted to capture the maternal feeling while it is still with me.”

The artist, who owned and ran the now-defunct Foxhill Gallery in Poultney, is known for her strong, large, visceral collages and paintings. She cites the major influence of Philip Guston. Abstract treatment of figurative images is what we expected from Fuchsberg’s work in the past: strong in rich color and raw textures; often provocative in content and imagery. A major piece that could have prefigured the current project is Ladies in Waiting, a large-scale grid wall piece (1999) shown internationally in three cities: portraits of women on death row.

For the Rock-a-Bye-Baby project, Fuchsberg knew she could not achieve the desired detail without a medium more fine-tuned and controllable than paint -- thus the colored pencils. Indeed her technique with the pencils is extraordinarily descriptive; the eyes of the children are riveting in a way that elicits emotion in the viewer, reminding us -- especially
because of of these armless beings sprouting out of a nether world -- of the unusual attraction humans feel toward baby seals. The exquisite faces loom toward us, some not unlike fisheye lens pictures.

Rita Fuchsberg is private and protective about her art, seeming to struggle mightily before successfully arriving at her goal. It is only on rare occasions that we are able to see the results. The Carving Studio exhibition is her third solo show in Vermont. It is a privilege to see the original and eccentric work of this fine artist.

The Carving Studio gallery is at 259 Marble Street, West Rutland. (The primary Carving Studio buildings are further down the street toward the marshes.) The gallery will be open Fridays (1-6 PM) and by easily attained appointment. It is suggested that visitors call ahead (802 438 2097) in any event.

images above: The Missing Piece. Colored-Pencil Drawing.
below: The Dunes. Colored-Pencil Drawing.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Press Release: Northern Vermont Artists Assoc. at Fletcher Free Library, Burlington


The Northern Vermont Artists Association is "showing" upstairs in the Fletcher Free Library until February 25th. Concurrent with the more than seventy piece exhibit is a "silent auction" of a dozen plus paintings and photograps donated by NVAA members to benefit the Library's children's section which suffered extensive water damage last month. The public is cordially invited to attend a gala reception from four to six P.M. on Friday February 24th. Burlington's mayoral candidates have accepted an invitation to join in the fun and "press coverage" is also expected.

image: Janet Bonneau and Julie Davis (Julie's painting)

PRESS RELEASE: Roger Coleman at Flynndog in Burlington




Flynndog's next Exhibit opening on First Friday of March, 6 to 8 pm

that was so 19 seconds ago murmurations – abstractions – natural highs
recent paintings by Roger Coleman.

Artist’s website: http://www.colemanarts.com/index.php

The exhibit will run thru April 27th.

Image: October Remains

PRESS RELEASE: Northfield Elementary School's 4th Grade Class Artwork on Display at O'Maddi's Deli & Café in Northfield

Artwork by Mrs. Oakes' 4th grade art class will be on display through out the month of February at O'Maddi's Deli and Café in Northfield. The children have created large drawings of owls. It is fun to see the different interpretations that they have made. The art is for sale and all money from the sale of any work will go to additional art supplies or possibly an art field trip that is not currently covered by the school budget. If you are interested in purchasing a piece, please contact Kaylan or Shaun at O'Maddi's. The Deli is located at 7 South Main Street in the historic Mayo Building on the Northfield Common.

PRESS RELEASE: Annual Arts Advocacy Day at the State House in Montpelier

On Friday, February 24th the Vermont Arts Council will convene Vermont’s creative community in a day-long event at the State House and Pavilion in Montpelier. Arts Advocacy Day provides professional development workshops for artists and arts administrators, offers networking and idea sharing opportunities and encourages arts advocates to meet with legislators to discuss the important role the arts play in their communities.


Highlights of the day include a workshop by Craig Nutt; Program Director of CERF+ (Craft Emergency Relief Fund + Artists’ Emergency Resources) called “Building a Better Safety Net” - Tips and Tools for Emergency Planning. In addition, Pam Korza, co-Director of American’s for the Arts Animating Democracy project will present a two-part workshop called “Beyond the Numbers: Measuring the Social Impact of the Arts”. Other events include a Legislative Arts Caucus breakfast, advocacy orientation, and display in the State House Card Room. The Arts Council encourages arts advocates to have lunch with legislators to discuss the importance of the arts to Vermont.

Arts Advocacy Day events are free and open to the public. For a schedule of events or to find out more about any of the day’s activities, visit the Vermont Arts Council’s website www.vermontartscouncil.org.

CALL TO ARTISTS: Exposed 2012 at Helen Day Art Center in Stowe

Helen Day Art Center in Stowe, Vermont invites artists to submit proposals for the 21st annual outdoor sculpture exhibition, Exposed.

Deadline: March 19th
Artists notified: April 15th
Exhibition dates: July 13 - October 13, 2012

Sculptors: Artists may apply in any medium that can endure the outdoors in a public setting for three months. All object-based sculptures must be securely mounted to the ground at the designated site, and all work must be made safe for children and pedestrian traffic.

In addition to sculptural objects, we encourage innovative and broad approaches to sculpture such as, but not limited to: site-specific installations or interventions, and participatory or exchange based works. There are also opportunities for artists to collaborate with local businesses.

Sculptures will be installed on the Helen Day Art Center property, on Main Street and neighboring streets, along the 5-mile recreational path, and in other highlighted sites in the town of Stowe, Vermont. The Exposed curator will assign the sites to the artists. The average audience for this area is 70,000.

Events: We are accepting proposals for inclusion in single-night events. Video artists, filmmakers, performers, writers, and those interested in lecturing about public art history or their own work should apply. We hold video screenings, readings, lectures, and performances Thursday nights throughout the duration of the exhibition.

We will be offering stipends to each sculptor for $300 to help offset transportation costs. Although there are no geographic restrictions, artists are responsible for transportation, installation, and de-installation of their work, as well as returning the site to its original condition. Event-based artists and writers will receive a stipend of $100.

For further information and to download an application, please see our website: www.helenday.com. Contact Rachel Moore, curator, at exposed@helenday.com with any questions regarding the application process or to obtain more detailed information about sites and potential collaboration with businesses in order to create a more specific proposal. For non-object based work, prior consultation with the curator is encouraged.

Monday, February 6, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Dona Mara at Equinox Village in Manchester Center


Artist Dona Mara will show her work at Equinox Village, with a Gallery Opening Event Set for February 16.

Examples of Mara’s encaustic work and other work will be on display during an exhibit scheduled from Friday, February 17 – Monday, March 12 at Equinox Village in Manchester Center, Vt. A Gallery Opening Event for the exhibit—which is named The Forces of Nature—is planned for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 16.

Mara was born in Lewiston, N.Y. She attended Rochester Institute of Technology and received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Art & Design. Her first job was illustrating educational film strips. Even now, Mara says, “I am always combining commercial art and fine art.” Graphic art and illustration have paid the bills, while fine art work has provided the opportunity to create “without having to answer to any demands.”

The flooding after August’s Tropical Storm Irene inspired a series of work she will feature at Equinox Village. She wrote on her blog “Although it is months since it happened, I am constantly reminded of the time at the end of August when ‘the water rose up.’” The series includes several small six-inch-by-six-inch pieces using encaustic paint and mixed media.

PRESS RELEASE: Janet Van Fleet at Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio in Montpelier



Discography:
New Work with Disks in Grids
by Janet Van Fleet
will be at the Contemporary Dance and Fitness Studio, top floor, 18 Langdon Street in Montpelier from February 7 through March 28, 2012.

Technically similar to the work Van Fleet exhibited in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, the pieces in Discography add the graphic elements of letterforms and numbers. "The way these pieces skip and jitter across the wall make them perfect for showing at the Dance Studio," says the artist. "Boogie on up the stairs and have a look."

PRESS RELEASE: Montpelier Art Walk







Downtown Montpelier will be host to a rather lively Art Walk from 4 to 8 pm on Friday, February 10th, with our annual Valentine's - themed Art Walk. We've got 22 venues with so much wonderful local talent. Guidebooks are going fast. If you can't find one at your favorite location, you can find the complete listings here.

Image: portrait by Christine Hartman at City Center

PRESS RELEASE: Seth Tracy, Matt Riley, and Travis Dunning at Korongo Gallery in Randolph

Seth Tracy, Matt Riley & Travis Dunning
Emerging Randolph artists
February 10 – March 11, 2012

Reception/Vernissage
Friday, February 10, from 5 to 7 p.m.


Seth Tracy says he doesn’t do art; art does him. “For as long as I can remember, I have been surrounded by art. Nowadays, I am bound by the skateboarder and graffiti cultures,” influences that show in various ways, including the usage of graffiti tools and old skateboards. Seth’s artwork is usually abstract. “Ink is my favorite medium because it drips.”


“I see things in places where others see nothing,” Matt Riley says: “Dogs in scraped-up paint on old concrete walls, characters in the cracks of the road, and faces everywhere, eyes, noses, jawlines, and teeth.” Matt enjoys things that are where they should not be but that fit in anyway. That’s what he tries to create: “Nonsense with a sci-fi feel. Gizmos and gadgets of a mind-wanderer.”


“I have many sources of inspiration,” says Travis Dunning, “from scary movies, from comics, also from stress and the environment. Most of the time, I just pick up a pen or a brush and start with what comes to my mind.” Travis’s emphasis on black outlines is inspired by comic books. He says that he has been drawing for as long as he can remember, and has taken it seriously for the past five years.

Korongo Gallery is at 18 Merchants Row in Randolph.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Pamela Fraser at Francis Colburn Gallery at UVM in Burlington


Pamela Fraser will exhibit at the Francis Colburn Gallery from February 1–18th, with an opening reception on February 8th, 5–7pm. Gallery talk at 5:30pm.

Best known for her sparse use of bright colors in otherwise empty black or white backgrounds, American artist Pamela Fraser takes color as her main subject and tests the logic of established color systems. Featuring efflorescent colors in arrangements that reference industrial paint-chip samples, color wheels and linear diagrams, Fraser’s newest work is inspired by her research in comparative color theory (from philosophy to design to everyday use). The work reflects a particular interest in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Color, which pokes holes in the logical understanding of color.

With her resistance to the authority of any single convention, style, or visual code, Fraser examines the various ways that color operates and is operated on. She utilizes heavily imprinted color codes such as a funky Pucci pattern or the Ohio State University football team colors as well as less traditional color combinations. Both approaches explore the indefinable quality of color when it becomes detached from its meaning(s) and inherited logic.

Pamela Fraser is an artist, writer, and curator. In 1988 she received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York and in 1992 she earned her MFA at the University of California, Los Angeles. Solo shows include: Golden, Chicago (2010); and 1K Projectspace, Amsterdam (2010); Casey Kaplan, New York (1996, 1998, 2000, and 2007); and Galerie Schmidt Maczollek, Cologne (2005 and 2011).

PRESS RELEASE: Engage Exhibition at Amy E. Tarrant Gallery in Burlington


Engage Exhibition:
A Statewide Exhibition of Artwork
by Vermont Artists with Disabilities

VSA Vermont presents Engage, a juried exhibition featuring Vermont artists with disabilities, from February 26 – April 29, 2012 at the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery of the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts

Opening Reception: February 26, 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Amy E. Tarrant Gallery Hours are Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and First Fridays, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.The gallery is also open to ticket holders at every Flynn Center main stage show.

VSA Vermont, a statewide non-profit 501.c.3 organization devoted to arts and disability, is pleased to present Engage, a touring juried exhibition showcasing works of art by Vermont artists with various disabilities. Over the course of this multi-year project, chosen artworks will be exhibited in a variety of cultural venues.

Participating cultural venues will be physically accessible and the exhibit, Engage, also will provide accessible program and communication features. The Engage initiative will offer participating artists opportunities to be featured in statewide publicity, to build larger audiences for their work, and to receive technical assistance in the professional documentation and presentation of their work. VSA Vermont’s exhibit will bring people with and without disabilities together to Engage in the experience of art.

More information available at http://www.vsavt.org/engage

Images:
Steve Chase, Dr. John, oil pastel 18" x 24"
Emma Walker, 12-27-2009, pen and ink on mat board, 11" x 8"