Thursday, May 31, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: More 1st Friday happenings in the South End, Burlington


The S.P.A.C.E. and Backspace Galleries
266 Pine Street, Suite 105 + 106
Burlington, VT 05401
Opening Reception: Friday, June 1st 5 - 9pm
Open Hours: Thurs - Sat 11 - 4pm
266: The Soda Plant Showcase
June 1 - 30

Built to produce and bottle ginger ale in the early 1900's, The Soda Plant has been repurposed to house numerous creative businesses and artisans. During the month of June you can visit The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery to get a taste of just who uses this old factory to produce their modern day wares. 

266 Studios
266 South Champlain St.
Burlington, VT 05401
Opening Reception: Friday, June 1st 5 - 8pm
Open Hours + Studio Showings by Request
266: Brand that Building
June 1 - 30

Originally constructed in 1923 on the site of an old planing mill for the lumber industry, the building at 266 S. Champlain was used as a bakery for the National Biscuit Company, aka Nabisco. It has seen many uses, though we hope its latest as a creative studio center and gallery is here to stay. Now we just need a name! Come by on First Friday to see a selection of works by the new tenants, lend your creative branding ideas, and check out the few remaining studio rentals for yourself!

PRESS RELEASE: Studio Group Show, Green Door, Burlington


Studio Group Show
At Green Door, (Howard & Pine streets) Burlington, VT

June 1st – June 30th, 2012
Artist’s reception Friday, June 1st, 5-8pm
Live music by The Parts
Fresh juices by Tom Girl

Green Door, the former space of the Combat Papermakers and an eclectic array of Burlington artists, is reopening June 1st during First Friday Art Walk with a new group studio show. This exhibit is comprised of Jason Pappas, Dan LeFrancois. George Gonzales, Nicole Christman, Steve Sharon, and Ben Aleshire – a mix of painting, traditional B & W film photography, clay, and book arts.

Studio Director Jason Pappas is currently renovating the location, creating new studio spaces for artists. The gallery portion will host the first of new monthly exhibits, opening this Friday for a reception with live music, hors d'oeuvres, wine, and fresh juices by Tom Girl (Gabrielle Kammerer).

The site will also be the home of Guignol Puppet Theater, a new entity that will produce puppet spectacles later in the summer. The current group show will be on exhibit through the month of June.

The Green Door is located in the alley off of Howard St, just before Pine St.

Contact: Jason Pappas (802) 363-2005 

Image: Photo by Ben Aleshire

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Ron Lay-Sleeper at Capital Grounds, Montpelier


Artist: Ron Lay-Sleeper
Exhibit Title: "Montpelier Scenes – Joy of Life Photographs of a Winooski River Town”
Medium:  Digital Photography
Dates of Exhibit: June 3rd – July 1st 2012
Reception: Friday, June 8th during the Montpelier Art Walk
Location: Green Bean Visual Art Gallery @ Capitol Grounds, Montpelier, VT 
Emailcurator@capitolgrounds.com
For more information visit:  'Fans of Green Bean Visual Arts Gallery' on facebook,
Image: Street Performer

Ron Lay-Sleeper, a proficient digital photographer, captures the “decisive moment” in each work of art through attention to content, composition, and color.  He is inspired by the underlying chaos of the natural world and the historicity of contemporary photograph, which is documented in the vibrancy of each image. 
RLS’s exhibit “Montpelier Scenes –Joy of Life Photographs of a Winooski River Town” records the ‘mundane’ subjects ranging from landscapes and natural elements to street scenes.  His work will be on display @ The Green Bean Visual Art Gallery through June.  Please join us during the Montpelier Art Walk on June 8th @ Capitol Grounds!  You’ll have a chance to meet Ron Lay-Sleeper to discuss his work and order framed/unframed prints of his digital photography. 
For more information visit  https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Fans-of-Green-Bean-Visual-Arts-Gallery/176207625774864 or email curator@capitiolgrounds.com

PRESS RELEASE: Richard and Nancy Weis at the Jackson Gallery in Town Hall Theater in Middlebury

 

Shared Visions
Richard Weis: paintings
Nancy Weis: encaustic paintings


at the Jackson Gallery in Town Hall Theater, Middlebury
May 25 - June 24. 2012   noon - 5 pm,  Monday-Saturday
Artists' Reception Friday, June 8   5 - 7 pm

Nancy and Richard Weis have been active participants in the Vermont arts community since 1989. They met as undergraduates at Bemidji State University in Minnesota and have worked together for over forty years, actively involving themselves in both studio work and teaching. Shared Visions will feature individual works by both artists - Dick's dynamic and colorful abstract paintings along with Nancy's intriguing small scale collages combining encaustic painting with natural objects.

Dick has exhibited widely in the U.S. as well as in Canada, Wales, and South Korea. 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 Dick 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. Nancy received her MFA in Printmaking from George Washington University, Washington, DC in 1971. Through the years her focus has included a variety of media including printmaking, fibers, handmade paper, encaustic painting, and installation. She has exhibited her work widely and during the past several years has been teaching as an adjunct art instructor at Castleton State College, and the Community College of Vermont.  Dick retired from teaching in 2010 and is Professor Emeritus of Art at Green Mountain College. They maintain studios in Castleton and Poultney Vermont.

The Jackson Gallery is located in the lower level of Town Hall Theater, 68 S Pleasant Street,  Middlebury, VT. Phone: 802-382-9222. email: Jacksongallery@townhalltheater.org

Images:Richard Weis, Shades of Summer, acrylic on canvas   50" x 34"
Nancy Weis, Waiting for the Thaw, encaustic on panel with bone, seed pod, shells   3 1/8" x 2 ½"

PRESS RELEASE: Kim Darling at the VCFA Gallery in Montpelier

Kim Darling, Visual Artist and Instructor of Fine Arts at St. Johnsbury Academy, currently has work on exhibit in Re Count and Re Connect, at the VCFA Gallery of the Vermont College of Fine Arts (Formerly the T.W. Wood Gallery) in Montpelier.  Darling is exhibiting works in various media, including large-scale drawings and oil paintings and smaller works in fresco.  An Artist Reception will take place on June 8 from 4 pm - 8 pm, as part of the Montpelier Art Walk.

Darling has had an essay, "Drawing with my Eyes Closed", selected for publication by Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, as part of their seventh international drawing publication, INDA 7.   The book, which will be available in bookstores and museums, is due to be published in late 2012.

PRESS RELEASE: Frank Woods at Quench ArtSpace in Waitsfield



Quench ArtSpace will be having an opening reception for local artist, Frank Woods, Friday June 1 from 5-7 PM. Woods’ recent work is centered on the kimono; his oil paintings are abstract representations of this iconic form. For Frank, the kimono, at its simplest, is a starting point giving way to a lengthy exploration of surface design, with color and line never very far behind.

PRESS RELEASE: Seth Butler at the Seminary Art Center in Waterbury


Tattered: Investigation of an American Icon
Exhibit Dates: June 9 - July 10, 2012
Opening & Artist Talk: Friday June 15, 6 - 8 PM

Vermont photographer Seth Butler has been working on a photographic essay about the American Flag entitled Tattered: Investigation of an American Icon since 2001. Tattered is a documentary photo essay investigating the identity, misuse, commodification and desecration of the American flag in the context of the U.S. Flag Code. Photographs from Butler's Tattered series will be exhibited at the Seminary Art Center in Waterbury, Vermont from June 9 through July 10, 2012 in a benefit for The Veteran's Place. Twenty percent of all gross print sales from the exhibition to benefit the Veterans Place, Inc. in Northfield, Vermont.

The Tattered series investigates the variety of ways that the American flag can be misused and desecrated when considered in the context of the U.S. Flag Code. The Flag Code is a series of rules and regulations surrounding the usage of the American Flag. Its contents are not widely known and may even be surprising (for instance, the image of the American flag may not be combined with any other sign or symbol or used for advertising purposes in any manner). In the context of the U.S. Flag Code, some well-meaning, patriotic Americans may misrepresent the flag by doing such seemingly innocent things as pinning it to a car antenna or wearing its design as clothing. Butler documents such instances in his photo essay Tattered.

For the exhibition, the artist accompanies images of the American flag installed in conjunction with a given section from the U.S. Flag Code that was violated in each instance. The essay enables those who view his series to have a more intimate view of the governmental policies surrounding the flag, and how that corresponds to its popular use and patriotic intentions.

Butler is an award-winning photographer working in the traditions of Documentary, Photojournalism and Fine Art Photography. Seth Butler was chosen to represent Vermont in 2009 as Vermont's Photographer in the critically acclaimed 50 States Project and his recent work from Tibet was exhibited at the 2011 Angkor Photography Festival in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. His project Tattered: Investigation of an American Icon has been heralded by Harvard anthropologist Grant McCracken and featured in numerous galleries, collections and publications including Der Spiegel, Vision Magazine, BlueEyes Magazine and The Journal of Contemporary Culture.

Seminary Art Center Gallery is located at 201 Hollow Road, Waterbury, Vermont 05677    Phone: 802-253-8790 Email: seminaryart@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE: Leah Van Rees at Uncommon Grounds in Burlington

Montgomery Center artist, Leah Van Rees, will exhibit her Vermont-inspired paintings at Uncommon Grounds in Burlington from June 1 to July 1.

The series, Fluid Connections, was inspired by the ever-changing landscape of Northern Vermont. Paintings range from swimming holes and fish to the trees and ferns that grow alongside. Using bright colors and a unique technique, Van Rees' paintings are known for their vivid and heightened portrayal of nature.

Uncommon Grounds is located on 42 Church Street in Burlington, VT. The café is open daily on Monday through Thursday 7am- 9pm, Friday from 7am- 10pm, Saturday 8am-10pm and on Sunday 9am-8pm. An artist reception will be held on Friday, June 1 from 5pm-8pm.

Image: Ferns Delight

PRESS RELEASE: Elizabeth Nelson at Claire’s in Hardwick

Claire’s Restaurant in Hardwick has a show of very new paintings by Elizabeth Nelson: Symbolic Landscapes until July 29, 2012.

There will be an artist’s reception on Monday, June 11 from 4 PM to 6 PM.

Elizabeth Nelson’s work is on exhibit in many locations currently. At the Bryan Gallery in Jeffersonville,  Ocean Light was awarded a third place prize in the Land and Light exhibition; this annual show will be in the Gallery until July 8, 2012. The main escalator and stairway at the Burlington International Airport is the location for two of Nelson’s paintings in the Interstate Rocks series. They will be there until the end of September. And Jay Peak Hotel and Resort has two of her Interstate Rocks series paintings in the Hotel Jay lobby and two large landscapes in the lobby of the Jay Peak Resort Conference Center.

Image: 38 Opposition

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Underwater Explorations in Contemporary Art at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes

 Lake Studies:
Underwater Explorations in Contemporary Art


Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
On View May 26 - July 29
Included with Museum admission

Opening Reception, Thursday, May 31, 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Chris Cleary, sculptor
Janet Fredericks, painter
Marilyn Gillis, fiber artist
Catherine Hall, painter
Jane Horner, open media
Pierre LaRocque, photographer
Daniel Lusk, poet
Kate Pond, sculptor
Nancy Stone, painter

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is located at 4472 Basin Harbor Road in Vergennes. The exhibit will move to Flynndog during August and September.

Image: Jane Horner, White Spiral Up

Saturday, May 26, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Group Exhibit at Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne Village


Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery will be presenting Here Comes the Sun: the 21st Summer Group Exhibit, June 8-July 10, with an opening reception on Friday June 8, 6-8 p.m. The exhibit will feature the watercolors of Annelein Beukenkamp along with work by:

Bonnie Acker, Mary Alcantara, Kevin Fahey, Betsy Fram, Kerry Furlani, Steven P. Goodman, Kathleen Kolb, Virginia McNeice, Beth Pearson, Kevin Ruelle, Gail Salzman, David Smith, Brian Sweetland, Arleen Targan, Dick Weis, Nancy Weis, and Frank Woods

Image: Annelein Beukenkamp, Better Together, watercolor

CALL TO ARTISTS: Public Art Sculpture for New Hotel in Burlington

Burlington City Arts, in partnership with Redstone, is issuing a Request for Proposals from artists (or artist teams) for a public art project in downtown Burlington.

Project Description: The project will be a defining landmark for a new hotel planned for downtown Burlington. Situated within St. Paul Street, King Street, Main Street and Pine Street, the hotel will restore and merge the historic armory building at 101 Main Street with a new contemporary building and underground parking. The hotel will contain approximately 140 rooms. The armory building will serve as the public space of the hotel with the hotel lobby on the second floor of the building. The first floor of the armory will include approximately 6,000 square feet of retail space. The site for the public art installation will be on St. Paul Street, a small pocket park between the Hinds Lofts and the new building. The wall behind the site will be approximately 20’ high x 20’ wide and made of a dark brick. Landscaping elements may include trees, turf, and low ornamental grasses. The selected artist will work with the project Landscape architect to determine final landscaping details.

The RFP can be downloaded from BCA’s website.

PRESS RELEASE: VAAE Student Scholarship Winners

The board of directors of the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education, which dissolved at the end of 2011, authorized disbursement of some of the funds remaining in the Alliance’s account for Scholarship recipients in 2012 before it voted to dissolve. Thus, the selection of recipients and awarding of scholarships was able to go ahead for this year.

ImageThe Vermont Alliance for Arts Education has selected four Vermont high school seniors to receive $500 college scholarships for artistic achievement. The scholarship recipients are:  Elizabeth Benton, Brattleboro Union High School; Sarah Gray, Springfield High School; Robin McLaughlin, Essex High School; and Sarah Ashby, Bellows Free Academy St. Albans.

“We had a relatively small, but excellent pool of applicants this year,” said Walter Judge, a director at the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, who served on the board of VAAE.  “We are pleased to be able to recognize the hard work and achievements of these talented students by awarding arts scholarships to help defray college expenses.”

Image“Invaluable assistance was provided by the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) to publicize the scholarships to students throughout Vermont and to coordinate the application process,” said Judge, “and by  the judges  – Glory D. Reinstein, Music Teacher, Essex High School; Melinda Johns of Burlington City Arts; Gillian Klein, a professional artist; and Sara Katz of Burlington City Arts – who assisted me in thoughtfully reviewing each application and selecting the winners.” 

ElizabethBenton (above left )
Benton will attend the Massachusetts College of Art this fall.  The judging panel was impressed by her varied sculptural, visual, and photographic works, and the fact that she has held a job and has had demanding commitments outside of school.

Image Sarah Gray (above right)
Gray will attend the University of Vermont this fall.  Her inspired works of detailed and colorful visual art caught the panel’s attention, as well as the fact that she is ranked first in her class at school.

ImageRobin McLaughlin (left)
McLaughlin will attend Houghton College in upstate New York this fall.  The panel noted McLaughlin’s competence in musical performance and composition, her outstanding academics, and her commitment to music education as a career.

Sarah Ashby (right)
Ashby will attend the Massachusetts College of Art this fall. The panel was impressed by Ashby’s photography and her entrepreneurial spirit.

CALL TO ARTISTS: Fletcher Allen Foundation seeks artwork for 2013 Calendar

Fletcher Allen's Foundation Office and Artwork Committee are seeking artwork for our 2013 calendar. Each year, 12,000 calendars featuring artwork from Vermont artists are produced and distributed throughout Fletcher Allen and beyond. A matching set of 12 note cards will also created based on the calendar.

All 2-dimension media will be accepted for consideration. Submissions can be abstract works and can include photographs of three dimensional works. Seasonal artwork is encouraged. Selected artists will receive a total stipend of $250 for the use of the artwork in both the calendar and note cards. Artists will also receive several calendars and note card sets for their use.

An additional stipend of $150 will be provided to two artists for artwork selected to be used as our holiday cards. These pieces will likely be chosen for the November and December pages of the calendar.

Please send in your submissions on a CD or flash drive; the minimum resolution of the scans must be 300 dpi at the image's maximum reproduction of roughly 10 ½" x 8 ½". Please submit no more than 5 pieces for consideration. Submissions sent by email will NOT be considered. The preferred format for the files is .jpg but .eps files will also be accepted. For each piece submitted, please include the media, year created, unframed size and title.

Please also include with your submission the following:
  • A 50-60 word biography/artist statement that will be used in the calendar
  • A resume, including your name, address, telephone number, website and e-mail address
  • Self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like your material returned. 
Please send submissions to:
Attn: 2013 Artist Calendar
Fletcher Allen Health Care
Foundation Office
461OH4
111 Colchester Avenue
Burlington, VT 05401

The deadline for submissions is Thursday, June 28, 2012.  You will be notified of the final selections by Friday, July 27, 2012.

If you have any questions, e-mail stacey.pape@vtmednet.org, or call 802-847-5977.  

PRESS RELEASE: Shawna Cross at Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace in Burlington

Vintage Inspired Lifestyle Marketplace on Flynn Avenue in Burlington is pleased to announce an exhibition in June 2012 of work from Vermont artist Shawna Cross, who creates abstract paintings in oil. The exhibition opens with a reception on First Friday, June 1st from 5-8pm, and runs through the month of June. Vintage Inspired, A vibrant new marketplace for antique dealers, artists and craftspeople, is located at 180 Flynn Avenue, and is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10am to 5pm, Sunday from 12pm to 4pm and closed Mondays.

Vermont artist Shawna Cross makes abstract work that allows felt moments to become physical realities as she combines the psychology of color with the creation of form and rhythm to evoke the id and explore the chaotic circumplex of emotion. She was raised in northern Vermont and, infused with a large sense of wanderlust, studied in universities between the Adirondack region of New York, western Europe, and New York City; eventually receiving a degree in painting and drawing from Plattsburgh State University in 2007. She has studied under several contemporary New York artists, filled 19 notebooks with poetry, and at the start of 2009 founded Borough Gallery & Studio in Burlington, Vermont. She currently resides in Middlebury, where she works as graphic designer, in-house photographer, and web designer for Edgewater Gallery. More information about the artist can be found at www.shawnacross.com.

Image: Trigger (more), oil on canvas, 41” x 41”, 2011

Monday, May 21, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Brian Zeigler at Vermont College of Fine Arts Gymnasium in Montpelier


Brian Zeigler will be showing three of his large collages in an event called Cut-Continuity, at the VCFA Gymnasium in Montpelier on June 8, from 6-8 PM. The pieces are 9 feet by 14 feet, made from original drawings Brian makes and then cuts up, with the addition of found paper.  He will be continuing to cut up the collages in a live performance in an endless process of cutting and remaking. The meaning of this art making lies in the understanding of impermanence.

Each collage has its own sound track. The July 26 Movement, a group of musicians from the Golden Dome collective in Montpelier, will be playing songs they have come up with for each collage.

Brian Zeigler lives and works in Montpelier Vermont. He received his MFA from Vermont College of Fine Art. His work was recently shown at Quench Gallery in Waitsfield Vermont and He took part in the Pop-Up galleries that took over downtown Winooski.

Image: Nets of Sound

PRESS RELEASE: 2012 Summer Members' Exhibit at the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland

Starting May 25, 2012 the Chaffee Art Center will be exhibiting artwork of Chaffee Juried Members in the 2012 Summer Members' Exhibit. The exhibit will be on view through July 7, 2012 and will have an opening reception on Saturday, June 2 from 4-7 PM. The reception will feature music by John Lyons, hors d'oeuvres and wine. Alongside the artwork of Chaffee Juried Members will be the Vermont Pastel Society's Annual Juried Show. The show is juried by Robert Carsten, and features a selection of artwork from the 100 members of the Pastel Society.

Image: Renee Warren Mendon Mt. Orchard

PRESS RELEASE: Elissa Campbell Open Studio in Montpelier




Elissa Campbell of Blue Roof Designs will show her handmade books during Vermont's Open Studio Tour on May 26th and 27th. From 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., come for a tour of the studio, demonstrations, & savings up to 50% off seconds and discontinued styles. Bookbinding supplies will also be available for purchase.

Blue Roof Designs is located at 846 Gallison Hill Road in Montpelier, VT. For more information, please visit www.blueroofdesigns.com/OSWSpring2012 or call (802) 229-1342.

Image: Key Lime MonoJournal

PRESS RELEASE: International Artists in Residence at Vermont Carving Studio in West Rutland

Greek sculptor Leonidas Chalepas will create new work  at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center as Artist in Residence for the 2012 workshop season. Mr. Chalepas has Bachelor's degrees from the Athens School of Fine Arts (Sculpture) and the National Technical University of Athens (Architecture). He is currently based in Brooklyn, New York, following MFA studies at Pratt Institute on a Fulbright scholarship. He is interested in working at the Studio this summer because our "place and mission give an excellent opportunity for a focused debate, thought and creation of sculpture."

 Leonidas says, "My work is an everyday exploration." The artist works intuitively, often incorporating found materials and color in his mixed media (metal, wood, plastic, stone etc.) creations, which you can see on the artist’s website.


The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center continues its relationship with SIAS University (Henan Province, China, since 2008) by hosting 2012 Intern Ivy (Hao Li) of ZhengZhou.

"The desert means arid climate and scorching heat.
Any plants in the desert represent vitality and refreshment.
The blue color can bring the cool and calmness to the audience."
-Hao Li

Images: Leonidas Chalepas, Archaic-antiCyclops, marble, 2008, work by Hao entitled Haoli Desert.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Henry Swayze at Tunbridge Public Library


Celebrating Nature All Around Us, a show by Tunbridge, Vt., photographer Henry Swayze, is to be on display at the Tunbridge Public Library from June 1 to August 11, 2012. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 1, from 7-9 p.m. A short gallery talk will be held at 8 p.m. The public is invited. The library is located on Route 110 in Tunbridge village, across from the Post Office, about five miles north of Route 14. The library’s 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.


Artist's Statement:
"This is a collection of more than 50 images mostly from Vermont and many from Tunbridge. Many are grouped in triptychs. The images are nearly all color and range in size from 5x7 inches to 20 X 30 inches. These are focused on our landscape and natural surroundings. I hope this collection will encourage each of us to generate a habit of seeing our environment as we go about our lives. We live in a beautiful world.
Technical data: Photographs mostly taken since 2009 with a Sony 14 MP A350 digital single lens reflex using two lenses, a Minolta 50mm f1.7 lens and a Minolta “beer can” 70-210mm f4 zoom lens. I chose this camera because I like the way the old “A” mount Minolta lenses rendered color and how they treated the out-of-focus part of the image."

Bio:
"I started making pictures when I was very young. My father and to some extent my mother made photographs before me. All the family learned to develop and print our own black and white photos with the windowless front hall of our New York City apartment becoming a temporary blackout zone for developing and printing. By the time I was 13, I had converted my very small bedroom into a full time darkroom with counters built above my bed and the window permanently sealed. In my early 20s, I studied briefly with Paul Caponigro. He told me to just go for it and gave me a wonderful film and developer combination to work with. Once I had moved to our Tunbridge farm and started a family, photography went on hold and it is only recently in my late 60s and early 70s that I have become active again. I still love the images that come from working on medium format single emulsion films developed in compensating developers and printed on silver emulsion paper, but digital keeps me out of the darkroom and gives me immediate feedback with which to improve my work."

PRESS RELEASE: Kevin Macneil Brown at Christ Episcopal, Montpelier



Kevin Macneil Brown will exhibit a selection of paintings in watercolor and acrylic at the Christ Episcopal Foyer in the Parish House, Montpelier, Vermont, from June 8 through the end of the month.   An opening reception will be held during Montpelier Art Walk, Friday, June 8, from 5 – 7:30 PM, with the artist presenting original music/ sound art to accompany the images.
 

Kevin Macneil Brown makes art inspired by the revelations and mysteries of shorelines and mountains in New England light. “I spend a lot of time outdoors in nature, in motion and meditation,” Brown says, “and the layers of the landscape, of water and landforms, of a perceived past and present, come alive with something that I just need to explore and convey.”


In particular, the changing waters and mountainous horizons of Lake Champlain offer a deep connection and communion, and Brown engages with those energies in visual art, writing, and musical composition.

   

The exhibit space will be open Mondays through Thursdays, 10-5. For more information, please contact the artist at:  liminaleditions@gmail.com

Images: Dawn Sky and Mountains, watercolor on paper; Lake Champlain,April Light, watercolor on paper

Thursday, May 17, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Ted Zilius at Gallery at River Arts in Morrisville


The Gallery at River Arts is pleased to present a retrospective of paintings and collage by Ted Zilius at the River Arts Center in Morrisville from, June 14 - August 10.   An opening reception will be held on June 14, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. 

The retrospective exhibit, encompassing seventy years of work, reveals Zilius' development as an artist.  The exhibit,  begins with childhood drawings, moves into early realist painting, and finishes up with his distinctive collage/paintings, many done during his various sessions at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont.

Born Tadas Zilevicius in 1938, he spent his childhood in the Lithuanian countryside during World War II.  His early drawings reflect this experience, and include soldiers on horseback, airplanes dropping bombs, farmhouses, and trees.  His family fled the country when he was five, living in the Displaced Persons Camps in Germany until they arrived in America in 1949.  After serving in the U.S. Navy, Zilius studied under Ad Reinhart at Brooklyn College, attended the Pratt Institute of Art, and studied design with Milton Glaser and Henry Wolf at the School of Visual Arts.  Ted's interests in design led him to work in the design office of Charles and Ray Eames, though his painting continued, inspired by the work of Willem DeKooning and Franz Kline.  Zilius' art soon took another turn, influenced by the work of Frank Stella, Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, the Op Art movement and Mark Rothko, and set him on a course towards minimal, hard-edge painting.

Zilius moved to Vermont in 1971, taking a hiatus of 15 years to homestead, raise his two children, and write about ecological and environmental issues.  Ted continued designing, building houses and creating one of a kind furniture and cabinets, which he continues to work on today.  After a brief partnership designing and building "art furniture", which was shown in Baltimore at the American Crafts Council annual exhibit, Ted went to the Vermont Studio Center in the mid '80's.  Here, he became interested in doing art again, revisiting the Vermont Studio Center numerous times over the years to develop his own collage/painting style. In Ted’s recent work, he has come full circle, to once again draw cowboys and horses.

The Gallery at River Arts is located at the River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant Street in Morrisville, VT.  Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10-2.  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: Local Artist Show at Village Frame Shoppe & Gallery in St. Albans

The Village Frame Shoppe and Gallery presents their Local Artist Show which opens on May 8, 2012 and features the art of Meta Strick, Tinka Theresa Martell, and Jill Snapp. Reception: Friday May 18, 2011 6:00PM-8:00PM; Refreshments will be served and the reception is open to the public.The exhibit runs from May 8, 2012 through Thursday June 7, 2012.

Meta Strick (image at left) is a lifelong artist with a Fine Arts Bachelor Degree from Carnegie Mellon University and 25 years teaching experience at Community College of Vermont. She is noted for her mixed media Art Dolls, wall hangings, and acrylic paintings which are produced with a number of mixed materials from buttons, to string, sand, wire and many other materials.

Tinka Theresa Martell (image at right), an abstract artist from Fairfax Vermont works with several media, wood, paper, canvas, she also uses many recycled and other found objects. Mostly she enjoys working with small scale collage, especially playing with copper leaf and ink. Her large scale works are often three dimensional, and her medium varies.She incorporates bold colors, using black to define her shapes she creates large asymmetrical compositions, adding hammered copper plate to imply a solid feeling and blends in soft muted colors till the right color arrives.

Artist Jill Snapp (image at left) was born in St. Albans, and grew up in Florida  and  Virginia.  She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree  in 1984 and her Master of Fine Art Degree  in 1991.  She taught in the theatre and arts deparment at  Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Jill was also the scenic artist for the Virginia Opera, Virginia State an Virginia Scenic. She is now the stage artist for the Society of the Performing Arts (SASPA) here in St. Albans. Jill usually paints on a large scale, depicting colorful landscapes and barns. She has had numerous exhibitions in Virginia and Massachusetts. She is currently employed with Northwest Counseling and Support Services in St. Albans.

Village Frame Shoppe and Gallery is located at 72 North Main Street in St. Albans, Vermont.

PRESS RELEASE: Jacobie Z at BLCARTGRP Gallery in Chester

After a slow Spring season in Southern Vermont, BLCARTGRP Gallery in Chester is gearing up for an exciting Summer of fine art shows as well as performance art events which will be bringing a cast and crew together which artist Bryce LeVan Cushing has worked with for many years.

The first in a series of shows to kick off the high season is titled Modern Mayhem, featuring the textural encaustic paintings of Putney, Vermont based artist Jacobie Z. Mr Z uses figures drawn and painted from life and incorporates them into a setting of mixed media using color, tone and rhythm.  The materials he uses include cut paper, acrylic inks and paint, photographic prints and encaustic paint.

Jacobie and LeVan Cushing have collaborated on sculpture, fine art shows, and video performance art for the past 5 years. It is an honor to have the work of Jacobie Z on display now at BLCARTGRP Gallery. The show will be up until June 15, 2012.

As part of the opening for Modern Mahem, Jacobie Z will be painting live in the space on May 26th from 2-5:00 PM.  His encaustic style of mix media painting is quite unique and the public will be able to view the heated wax process and application to canvas.

Modern Mahem will also feature a live taping of Cushing’s comedy video performance art series Moondoggie Isreal.  Several NYC and Philadelphia based performance artists are scheduled to appear in this top secret fashion explosion.  Open call to all area musicians, comedians and trouble makers.  There is a fifty dollar cash prize for best costume.   The assembled cast will write a short script, rehearse the numbers, perform the piece, shoot the video and upload to the internet all in the same night.

For more information regarding the paintings of Jacobie Z please call 802-451-6655.  To find out more about Modern Mayhem performance art party please call 802-289-1663 or visit www.brycelevancushing.com  This is an Adult Only Event from 7-9 PM.  The event takes place at 295 Main Street in Chester, Vermont.  The entrance to the gallery and parking is in the rear of the building.  BLCARTGRP Gallery is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM.

Image: My Parents

PRESS RELEASE: Vintage Vermont at Festival Gallery in Waitsfield

The Festival Gallery in Waitsfield, Vermont presents Vintage Vermont, a show of classic Vermont landscapes from antique glass plate photographic negatives.

The images, dating between 1890 – 1920, represent the foundation of the agrarian culture that still remains strong here in Vermont.  They show a glimpse of life just before the modernization of our society and depict a romantic time in Vermont’s history.  Six men on a railroad trestle, a baby sitting in a field, a snow covered village complete with a sleigh, or a family climbing into their horse and buggy – all of these images represent real people, real places and a real time in our past.

Neil Dixon, of Yankee Imaging, is a trained archaeologist who works in the historic preservation field.  Over time, he has collected old glass plates that he has found during his travels.  Though he owns over 350 plates, he has only just begun to print them.  Photographs belong to the photographer, and Dixon was reluctant to  reproduce the images as he did not “own” them.  “I decided I had a responsibility to reproduce and display this shared cultural heritage,” said Dixon.  “I am sensitive to the ownership of the images, but felt it was important to make them available for the next century.”

Of the 350 glass plates Dixon owns, he has only printed 11 so far, as the process is complicated and expensive.  By digitizing them for enlargement, he has been able to restore the images back to their original quality.  Choosing which images to print has not been easy.  Dixon shared that “It is a gut reaction to a negative that leads me to print it.”  All eleven images are on display at the Gallery.

Though Dixon has done some detective work to determine where the photos were taken in Vermont, a few of the plates had clues.  Alma with a Gun is a simple title for a mysterious photograph of a young woman, a small owl and a gun.  Why was the picture taken?  Who is Alma?  And why is she holding an owl?  The photo draws you in and leaves you with more questions!

Vintage Vermont
runs through June 12 at the Festival Gallery.  For the remainder of June and July the Gallery will host the photography of Henry Erickson.   The Festival Gallery is located at #2 Village Square, next to the Tempest Book Store.  For more information call 802-496-6682 or go to www.vermontartfest.com.

PRESS RELEASE: The Artist Collaborative at SEABA Gallery in Burlington


The Artist Collaborative is made up of 10 Northern Vermont public k-12 art teachers who have come together in bi-monthly meetings to support each other through the challenges of creating art while teaching art. “We all spend our days doing art with young artists, but find it difficult to call ourselves artists. For many of us, commitments to our jobs, our communities, and our families leave us very little time to focus on our own creative process. Through our collaborative group, we support each other in prioritizing and celebrating our own art.”

They will be showing at the SEABA Gallery during the month of June.  Artist Opening Reception, June 1, 5:30 – 8:00 PM.  For more information contact director@seaba.com or 802 859-9222.

PRESS RELEASE: Carol E.S. MacDonald at VCAM/RETN in Burlington

The South End Art & Business Association (SEABA) is pleased to announce a major mid-career retrospective featuring the work of Carol E.S. MacDonald. Carol MacDonald has been an art activist and major supporter of the visual arts in Vermont for quite some time.  She has served on the boards of the Vermont Women’s Caucus for Art, the National Women’s Caucus for Art, and in 1986 she helped found Art’s Alive, a nonprofit organization that promotes the work of Vermont-based visual artists through an annual festival, and it is still active today.  She also served as its Director for a number of years.  Starting her career as a painter and then becoming best known as a printmaker, her creations span many media and genera. The work will be on exhibition at VCAM/RETN, 208 Flynn Avenue, Suite 2 G, from June 1 – August 31.  Artist Opening Reception, June 1, 5:30 – 8:00 PM.  For more information contact director@seaba.com or 802 859-9222.

Image: Carol MacDonald Knit-Structure

PRESS RELEASE: Winners Announced at Bryn Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville

Bryan Memorial Gallery announces that James Coe of Hannacroix, NY won its coveted Alden Bryan Medal for Best in Show, for its 2012 Land and Light and Water and Air exhibition.  The awards were juried by David Schutz, Curator of the State of Vermont, with Coe's oil painting September Shoreline (left) winning from an original field of 300 paintings.  Ninety-five paintings were selected for the current exhibit.  Coe won a gold medal and a cash award.

Cash awards were also awarded to Tom Nicholas of Rockport, MA for his oil painting Late Winter Dusk; Third Place was awarded to Elizabeth Nelson of West Glover (below) for her acrylic painting Ocean Light II; and the First Honorable Mention recipient was Gabriel Tempesta of Craftsbury, VT for his milk paint painting  Old Birch on Elmore Mountain.

Additional honorable mention awards went to Mary S. Martin of Dunham, Quebec, Canada for her oil painting Morning on the Lamoille; Susan Bull Riley of Montpelier, VT for her oil painting Coastal Calm; Robert Wiefewick of Freeport Maine for his watercolor Geese Flying, and Craig Pursley of Bath, New Hampshire for his oil painting Sunburst on the Haverhill

The cash awards for Land and Light and Water and Air are made possible by the Mary and Alden Bryan Art Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation.  The entries are submitted by artists from all over the US and Canada, although the subject matter must be New England landscape painting. 

Land and Light and Water and Air is on exhibit at Bryan Memorial Gallery through July 8, 2012.  The gallery is open Thursday - Sunday, 11 - 4, and by advance appointment at any time.  Bryan Memorial Gallery is located at 180 Main Street, Jeffersonville, Vermont, 802-644-5100, www.bryangallery.org

Friday, May 11, 2012

REVIEW: Street Level - Galen Cheney at BCA, Burlington


Galen Cheney, Street Fair, 2011, mixed media on birch panel


review by Laura Di Piazza

Galen Cheney detours us from any expected niceties and motors us to the gritty and raw levels of the streets, be they our internal, external, peaceful and/or chaotic spaces. Cheney’s current exhibit 
Street Level at BCA in Burlington, Vermont, includes the multi-layered, graffiti style abstract pathways ofStreet Fair, which can be reminiscent of NYC street art in the 1970’s and 80’s.

Born in Los Angeles but showing her New England roots through the use of birch panels, Cheney separates and positions these panels in Cross Town and Lariat (lasso type rope) that reveal the disconnections and flow of a city’s accessibility for or from it’s inhabitants. One city and countless ways to move around it or get stuck within it. Cheney inscribes ancient letterforms in urban settings and includes 19th and early 20th century calligraphic lettering, which in some places pop out or hide out among the high-energy spaces of the paintings.

Galen Cheney, Calligraffiti 1, 2 & 3, 2012, oil on birch panels

The brilliant colors and labyrinth-style paths, the eyes try to follow, express the vibrancy of a highly alert state. If one is sleeping will they fall off the Dr. Seuss-like striped highways?
In the Calligraffiti paintings there’s interconnectivity among the tubular shapes that do not appear to be constrictive. In them Cheney develops her own curvaceous alphabet.


The artist describes her work as having its “own energy and direction almost apart from [herself]”. When viewing the external scenes, and possibly internal ever-negotiating psyche in pieces such as Periscope,Street Level journeys us out of any lazy-boy cushioned bubble we may live in when we walk through it.

Galen Cheney is a Vermont-based artist. Street Level is on exhibit at BCA until June 23rd. Cheney is currently co-curating Natural Constructed Spaces at The Painting Center in New York City.

Galen Cheney, Periscope, 2012, oil on birch panel

Monday, May 7, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Sweet at Studio Place Arts (SPA) in Barre

“Sweet dreams” is a common bedtime wish that is the spirit behind the main floor show at Studio Place Arts (SPA). Part Willy Wonka factory tour and part bakery case, the Sweet! art exhibit reveals the serious and amusing relationships that artists and others have with sweet treats.
Sweet! includes 26 artists, from Vermont primarily but also from New York and the Midwest. Their media choices range from the traditional such as graphite, watercolors, and oils, to the far less traditional: bright furry fabric, strawberry-flavored Twizzlers, melted Gummy bears and an old door. Taken together, the show has an imaginative streak that, when fully digested, leaves viewers with much more than sugary, throbbing numbness.
Spaulding High School art instructor, Mary Reardon, who took up a temporary studio residency at SPA for the winter season to focus on a new body of work, demonstrates her facile use of pencil tones by capturing the rippled chocolate, soft cream fillings, and dappled cake surfaces of Hostess Ring Dings, Twinkies, and Cupcakes. In gray pencil tones, these luscious and often trivialized treats emerge as serious portraits.
A large expanse of the back wall is occupied by 10 pastel-toned, watercolor paintings of candies by Alan Alejo of Burlington.  These affectionately rendered, small paintings are presented behind glass with silver frames, and they conjure memories of banks of glass candy cases in neighborhood shops that specialized in sweets and wide smiles.  Rather surprisingly, the paintings of paper-wrapped candies like the Nut Zippers Squirrel and Mary Mary Jane Jane seem just as seductive as the “naked” Jelly Belly and Lifesaver images.
Food in motion is featured prominently in the gallery.  Spiraling peppermint hard candies are dynamically painted in Peppermint Racetrack by Jessica Nissen of Middlebury.  There are rainbow colored Gummy bears floating, surreally, against a dark black sky, painted by Suzy Kopf of Brooklyn.  A fork propelled by a large rocket ship is aimed at a dollop of whipped cream on a cherry pie slice in Stellar Pie, by Jonathan Schnapp of Rochester.  From his Dropped Food Series, Robert Brunelle, Jr., ofJericho, presents a painting of a chocolate layer cake tumbling from its plate, with a lighted candle intact.
A large sculpture of carved, wooden doughnuts, created by art student Roxanne Burton, You Are What You Sweet, looks like a big, rogue wave rising from the platter with sugar-coated surf.  Comically, Nancy Drew is attempting to solve mysteries involving fluffy meringue topped, chocolate pie (Lethal Layers) and a layer cake dredged with toasted almonds (Died and Went to Heaven) in Burlington artist Jude Bond’s Nancy Drew and the Baked Goods series.
A gigantic layer cake painted on the surface of a wooden door by Lisa Lillibridge, Burlington, possibly best captures the reasons behind our passion for sweets.  Her large-scale painting, I Made It For You, is a towering treatise to the deep emotional connections that many of us have in our memories of sweeter times.

Images: Partial installation shot
Watercolor paintings of candies by Alan Alejo

Saturday, May 5, 2012

PRESS RELEASE: Art thefts motivate benefit for sculptor

A rash of art thefts occurred in central west Vermont between February 29 and March 20th. The first hit was the Ilsley Library, where a piece by Kerry Furlani was stolen from her Words to Stone exhibit in the library lobby. These heavy stone sculptures were sprinkled throughout the library rooms, as if to be found like Easter eggs. Attachment,  the piece that was stolen, was the only piece in the show that did not incorporate words, a 17” x12” bas relief of a mother and child. It had been on a shelf behind the magazine rack in the library, before it went missing. A reward for information leading to the recovery of the piece was posted in the Addison Independent by David Clark, the library’s director. The piece is valued at $1,200

On March 17 two paintings disappeared from the Chaffee Art Center, in Rutland, as reported by the Rutland Herald. On March 23 a sculpture was also discovered missing. The sculpture and the paintings were returned with a note of apology from the person who stole the artwork on March 28th. The third venue victimized was Artisans Gallery in Waitsfield. More than a few pieces were stolen there between March 12 and 15. These have not been returned. All this was reported in the Rutland Herald as well.

That’s enough to call a “rash of art thefts” but there has been one more recently. On March 20 two small paintings, a landscape and a still life valued at a combined total of $650 were stolen from the Edgewater Gallery on Mill Street in Middlebury.

These events have motivated members of the Middlebury community and the arts community to come forward in support of our artists and our public spaces. To this end a benefit for Kerry Furlani is scheduled for Friday, June 8, from 5-7 p.m. at the Ilsley Library to coincide with the Middlebury Art Walk. The art walk happens every second Friday of the month, May 11 - October 12 . The public is invited to not only come out and enjoy what local artists and our downtown has to offer during the seasons art walks but to also come out in support of Kerry Furlani, and all the people and places that make our community rich, on June 8 at the library.

There will be a silent auction of featuring donated items by local businesses and artists. The money raised will go to Kerry Furlani to help pay for the stolen piece. Any extra funds will go to the library and to create an organization to support artists and community rebuilding.

Something is wrong when trust that things won’t be stolen in the library, or that art won’t be stolen off a gallery wall is unrealistic. This fundraising benefit is an effort by people who care to make things better. There will be information available about how to help prevent such thefts from happening as well.

To show our thanks to participants who come to this benefit and make it a success we are offering a free raffle ticket to the first thirty bidders. 

For artists who donate artwork half of the money that your item brings in is returned to you. If you are an artist or a business and would like to donate Please contact the benefit organizer  Alice Eckles at aeckles@hotmail.com or call 802-310-9364. Remember: June 8, 5-7 pm, at the Ilsley Library, light refreshments will be served.

Image: Kerry O. Furlani, Butterfly You Make Me Cry, slate-quartzite, Poultney, VT, 11 3/4 x 2 1/2"