FOCUS ON: Southern VT
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Ann Coleman, Wilmington, VT: Autumn, 2001.
bove a hill jacketed with maples and birch, wood smoke stirs in the winter air. This is Southern Vermont, a New England retreat of small villages, red covered bridges, and inviting country stores. Its exceptional beauty ismatched only by the quality of art blossoming from the wide range of artists who call it home. This art has become all the more vital in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, which flooded much of Southern ! Vermont’s architecture and infrastructure. Since, the area has rebounded with an unparalleled display of community as well as an astonishing creative output. Arriving from the south on I-91, begin your sojourn in the handsome town of Brattleboro, just over the Massachusetts border. On Main Street, peppered with coffee shops and elegant turn-of-the-century architecture, sits the Gallery in the Woods. Begun in 1998 as home
for Visionary Artists, the gallery shows exceptional pieces featuring surreal and sacred imagery. Recent paintings by Wendy Cross are lyrical and primitive by turns. The gallery also displays world folk art, ceramics, glass, jewelry, sculpture, furniture and fine craft work— all remaining true to the transcendental impetus of this unique space. Further up Main, visitors will find one of the leading groups for arts advocacy in Southern Vermont, the Brattleboro Arts Initiative or B.A.I. The Initiative’s valued stewardship centers around their project of restoring the Latchis Hotel and Theatre, a masterpiece of art deco craftsmanship housing a thirty-room boutique hotel and four theatres. Since acquiring the space in 2003, the B.A.I. has transformed the Latchis into the town’s leading cultural nexus. Begun in 1973 as an importer of quality handcrafts, A Candle in the Night features
11,000 square feet of home furnishings and an array of natural-dyed oriental rugs made with handspun yarn. Along with complete commercial and residential interior design services, this Brattleboro institution exhibits fine art from local and world-renowned artists during the spring, summer, and fall months. Stop by any time of year, however, for some of the most exceptional furnishings and home décor in New England. The River Gallery School of Art, one of the finest arts schools in Vermont, has, for thirty-seven years, provided year-round studio space and superb classes. From late January through June, students take classes in such subjects as ink on paper and origami. The school also offers outreach opportunities, including scholarships, student exhibitions, and a wealth of collaborations with individuals and organizations. The school’s trips to Italy are extremely popular. Before leaving Brattleboro’s active arts scene, visitors should stop by Josh and Marta Bernbaum’s glassblowing studio. World-class pieces of glass art are produced here, including avant-garde fused glass, blown glass receptacles, beads, and sumptuous glass sculpture. Josh’s fused glass creations resemble Zulu shields with their sloping, ovular shape and complex, inlaid detail. Marta’s glass sculptures of delicate and vibrant flora are both stunning in their complexity and startling in their attention to detail. Those continuing north must stop at the
Exhibiting established & emerging artists from Vermont and beyond 4716B Main St. Manchester Ctr, VT 05255 802.768.8396 www.Gandergallery.net
!Gandergallery@gmail.com
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January/February 2012
Southern VT
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Hunter Gallery, a Grafton staple that displays an array of masterful watercolor paintings by artist Peter Jeziorski as well as oil paintings, pastels, and blown glass works by various artists from May through October. The quiet beauty of Maine seacoasts and the charm of snow-lined barns are all captured by Jeziorski’s brush. Robert Sydorowich’s impressionist oil paintings and Robert O’Brien’s celebrated watercolors are also often on show. Manchester, a populous township east of Grafton, is host to a thriving arts scene. One of the bright stars in this cultural constellation is the Gander Gallery, aptly named by owner Adria Schozer after a vision of sudden transcendence by mythologist Joseph Campbell. Transcendence is exactly what this gallery
strives for and achieves with its impressive collection of paintings, including Sabra Field’s starling geometric landscapes and the linear meditations of Rich Gombar. Tim Allen’s evocative realist studies of intertwining trees are yet another reason to head east toward this top-notch gallery. Along West Road in Manchester lies one of the state’s most notable creative hubs, the Southern Vermont Arts Center. Striving to bring visual and performing arts to the greater community, the S.V.A.C. provides arts instruction and education, exhibition and performance space, as well as numerous opportunities for community service. This January, the Center holds its 20th Annual Winter Member’s Exhibition, and will open an “Off The Hill�
pop-up gallery. The Yester House, a twentyeight-room Georgian Revival Mansion purchased by the S.V.A.C. in 1959, holds ten galleries open year-round with works for sale from more than 600 artists. Also operating out of the S.V.A.C., Irene Cole produces stunning abstract oil paintings as well as pieces in everything from papiermâchÊ and collage to photography and metalwork. Her Beach Stone Series is perhaps Cole’s most impressive oeuvre, with abstract circular forms and expansive gradations instantly reminiscent of Gustav Klimt’s flattened, floral explosions. The series will be hanging through January and is a body of work no art enthusiast should miss. Continue onto Ludlow, home of the
CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY
The Heart of the Arts in Southern Vermont
featuring artists
exhibits UĂŠĂŠperformance UĂŠĂŠeducation UĂŠĂŠĂƒVi˜iÀÞ
Irene Cole Jeremy Kraft Jessica Phillips Erika Schmidt Q
Marla Korr
Harry Rich
Q
Come visit us in Grafton,VT for discriminating fine art.
with guest artists each month Open Fridays & Saturdays 12–5pm and by appointment
74 Main Street, next to The Old Tavern Inn 802-843-1440 hunterartworks@aol.com
in the Garden Arts Building 47 Highland Avenue, Manchester Depot, VT
Eric Tobin
802.233-1850
FLETCHER FARM SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS AND CR AFTS Over 200 Arts and Crafts Courses Year Round for Adults and Young Artists 1 to 5 Day Classes Taught by the finest instructors in the country!
LUDLOW, VERMONT
802.228.8770
WWW.FLETCHERFARM.ORG
Art Classes for all Levels
Open May-October
20th Annual Winter Members’ Exhibition January 14 – February 3, 2012 Opening Reception: January 14, 2–4pm Featuring paintings, sculpture, photographs, and mixed media pieces. A juried show open to Arts Center Artist members from throughout the Northeast.
February Solo Shows February 18 – March 19, 2012
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Opening Reception: February 18, 2–4pm Featuring the art of Brad Guarino, Marta Johansen, Mary Jean Kenton, Marla Korr, Dan Mosheim, Harry Rich, Eric Tobin, Thomas Torak, and Oscar Trugler. 930 SVAC Drive, West Road Manchester, Vermont 05254 nĂ¤Ă“Â°ĂŽĂˆĂ“Â°ÂŁ{äxĂŠĂŠUĂŠĂŠĂœĂœĂœÂ°ĂƒĂ›>VÂ°ÂœĂ€}
January/February 2012
ART NEW ENGLAND 21
Southern VT
Special Advertising Section
Fletcher Farm School and its array of excellent classes, workshops, and festivals. Operated by the Society of Vermont Artists and Craftsmen Inc., the school maintains enduring artistic traditions while fostering new techniques in an idyllic Vermont setting. Classes range from decorative arts and painting, needle arts, and jewelry to woodcarving, fiber arts, and fine art photography. A roster of world-class artists, including Louise Minks and Chester Kasnowski head the workshops. Begun by artist Ian Baldwin, Two Rivers Printmaking Studio in White River Junction offers lectures, exhibitions, workshops, and field trips to teach working artists about the world of print. After spending time at an atelier print shop where artists could come and
go, Baldwin decided to bring this informal model to Vermont by offering tutelage and work space for an extremely low fee. Upcoming classes include Intro Etching, Monoprint Madness, and The Contemporary Woodcut. Next August, Two Rivers will hold their celebrated bi-annual juried show, Momenta, open to New England printmakers. Next, it’s onto Woodstock, Vermont’s quirky, quintessential New England gem, home to a multitude of artistic and cultural venues—one of the finest of which is the Woodstock Gallery, featuring an array of jewelry, painting, photography, metalwork, and pottery. Bonnie Acker’s sublime landscapes; Anne Cady’s surrealist-inspired paintings; and stately images of homes and barns painted by
Peter Batchelder, are all on view. Offering art consulting and a superb roster of local artists for over fifteen years, this gallery is a fitting finale for anyone visiting this laid-back locale. Stay the weekend! Just fifteen minutes north of Woodstock, Twin Farms offers a regal country hideaway tucked amidst 300acres of unspoiled woodlands. This elegant retreat, adorned with museum-quality paintings and American folk-art peppered throughout the gracious dining room, cabana, pub, and barn room, offers twenty unique lodgings that boast sitting areas with wood-burning fireplaces and king-size feather beds. Winter guests enjoy skiing, ice skating, sleigh rides, and much more at this exceptional accommodation. —Paul Adler
The Woodstock Gallery from folk art to fine art
featuring a great selection of New England artists 6 Elm St, historic Woodstock, VT 802/457-2012 www.woodstockgalleryVT.com
AN ART LOVER’S
$5 7 *$/ / ( 5 <
PARADISE
Donald Roller Wilson www.donaldrollerwilson.com
452 Royalton Turnpike t Barnard, VT 05031 800-894-6327 t www.twinfarms.com
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ART NEW ENGLAND
January/February 2012