INTRODUCTION Stay Home / Stay Safe [Executive Order 01-20] is conceived as a call and response exhibition to the Vermont arts community which invites artists to interpret the exhibit’s theme in a diversity of styles and media that range from formal to conceptual observations. Each artist was given a month to create an original work of art using a 24"x36" sized canvas provided by the BCA. The 30 works featured in Stay Home / Stay Safe are installed as a continuous grid within the second floor gallery. Representing ideas of equality, accessibility, and social distancing, the exhibit’s theme and presentation evoke the community mantra that “we are all in this together” yet showcase the myriad of different experiences within this pandemic. Each work will be available for sale at $250, with options for the artist to retain the full commission or donate a percentage toward the BCA Community Grant fund. The works are offered at an accessible price for the public – an amount that signifies the vibrant role of artists within Vermont’s economy.
EXHIBIT OVERVIEW Stay Home / Stay Safe features 30 Vermont artists with new work created in response to the theme of ‘home’ and Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s Executive Order 01-20 | Amendment 6 [Stay Home/Stay Safe] emergency declaration. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the public mandate to remain at home, we are compelled to reassess our relationship to this essential place in an increasingly complex and uncertain world. Beyond a physical building, a house or home embodies a state of being – one of comfort, security, and normalcy. While some have discovered a newfound sense of solace, others dwell in disquiet or boredom. And for far too many, there are those without a place to shelter, or those who are isolated in perilous circumstances. Stay Home / Stay Safe explores our evolving and complicated relationship to home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic through a diverse spectrum of media and aesthetic approaches.
FEATURED ARTISTS: Annelein Beukenkamp, Brendan Bush, Sarah Carlson-McNally, Cat Cutillo, Kylie Dally, Frank DeAngelis, Lorna Rose Dielentheis, Phillip Dolson, Kevin Donegan, Aleyna Feinberg, Barbee Hauzinger, Ella Whittemore Hill, Martha Hull, Aleda Kirstein, Caitlin La Dolce, Noah Lagle, Nikki Laxar, Sarah Letteney, Misoo, Zoe Nicholson, Scottie Raymond, Ken Russack, Seeko the Kid, Ross Sheehan, Sam Simon, Susan Smereka, Dakin Fuller Vasquez (f.k.a. Kara Torres), Isaac Wasuck, Corrine Yonce, and Johanne Durocher Yordan.
All works Courtesy of the Artist (all works 24" x 36")
All works available for purchase at $250 (a red dot indicates the work is sold)
ANNELEIN BEUKENKAMP is a watercolor painter who spent her childhood in the Netherlands, from where she believes her desire to recreate the supple “essence” of flowers originated. Her paintings have been published in “Splash,” a popular watercolor series of books; accepted for exhibition at the Shanghai Biennial in China; and a third-round finalist for the World Watercolor Competition. Her paintings have been displayed in galleries across the state, won awards at several venues, and included in private and corporate collections across the world. Beukenkamp is based in Burlington, Vermont. Spring came regardless, 2020, 24x36, mixed media acrylic
BRENDAN BUSH is a self-taught artist who has been granted solo and group exhibitions at various venues, including Amherst Town Library, South End Art Hop, SEABA Member’s Show, and Vermont Community Access Media From Natural to Abstraction. A self-described “technologically inclined luddite,” Bush uses his expressionist-style painting as a way to disconnect from digital spaces and reconnect with the physical. His moody paintings explore the uncomfortable tensions in life’s fundamental dualities such as freedom and confinement, acceptance and rejection, and clarity and confusion. Bush lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. Know What the Problem Is, Of Course, 2020, 24x36, acrylic on canvas
SARAH CARLSON-MCNALLY works to explore the exploitation of the picture plane utilizing physical materials as well as a range of digital media, radical subject matter, and figurative imagery. Born in Albany, New York, she earned a BA in Art and Design and a degree in Media Studies, Journalism, and Digital Arts from Saint Michael’s College, where she graduated cum laude with Departmental Honors for Art and Design. Carlson-McNally has both exhibited in and helped organize group shows in Burlington, Vermont, and she recently completed a solo show in the spring of 2020 at McCarthy Gallery, St. Michaels College. She now resides in Valley Falls, New York. Comfort Zone, 2020, 24x36, mixed media: acrylic, oil, charcoal, felt
CAT CUTILLO is a photographer, multimedia journalist, writer, and video producer. She is a dedicated storyteller, story-finder, and interviewer. Her niche is finding “people with stories that inspire.” Cutillo graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, studied photojournalism at Brooks Institute of Photography, and earned her master’s degree in Multimedia Communications from Academy of Art University. Her photos have appeared in Budget Travel Magazine, Golf World Magazine, and the New York Post, while her video interviews have appeared on CBS Eye on the Bay and CBS Evening News in 2020. Cutillo is currently a columnist for Kids VT Magazine and has been documenting the quarantine through her series Stay-School Adventures. She currently lives in South Burlington, Vermont. The Backyard Superhero, 2020, 24x36, digital photograph printed on aluminum panel
KYLIE DALLY is a multimedia artist who cites inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including fractal geometry, the seasons, ponds, meadows, weaving, colors, mushrooms, bugs, and much more. She utilizes block prints, paintings, drawings, books, and rugs in pursuit of “freedom, truth, and beauty� in her life and work. In 2017, Dally was awarded a Burlington City Arts Community Fund grant to support collaborative painting sessions with residents of Wharf Lane Apartments in Burlington. Working with plants gathered in the neighborhood, Dally and residents created twelve nature-inspired paintings, which are now permanently installed at Wharf Lane. Dally is based in Starksboro, Vermont. June & July, 2020, 24x36, acrylic paint
FRANK DeANGELIS began painting in 2016. With no formal training or study, DeAngelis has, to date, created over 300 paintings utilizing acrylic, oil, spray-paint, charcoal, water, kombucha, hardware store items, and dumpster contents. He rarely plans a piece, instead allowing his practice to form as an “experiment driven by hopeless romanticism, punk rock, human nature, insomnia, world injustice, and a passion for creating.� DeAngelis is currently exhibiting at the Vermont Senate building in Montpelier. He lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. HAS IT COME TO THIS, 2020, 24x36, mixed media on canvas
LORNA ROSE DIELENTHEIS is a visual artist and illustrator who uses a variety of media—most recently pigment pen and digital drawing. Much of her work is inspired by nature, folklore, and bodies. In addition to her visual art practice, the artist enjoys writing for the Working Proof Project, an online arts journal which she founded in 2019 and frequently updates with studio visits and interviews by various Vermont artists. Dielentheis received a BA in Art History and Studio Art from St. Olaf College in 2014. She currently lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. Witch Window, 2020, 24x36, acrylic on canvas
PHILLIP DOLSON grew up surrounded by street art and graffiti, both of which have been highly influential in his own practice. He cites painting murals on a road trip through the West as an important factor in the development of his style and techniques. Dolson mixes what he learned through his graffiti adventures with surrealism and nature to create a unique visual experience. He most commonly uses aerosol and acrylics but does not limit himself to those materials. Dolson was born in Burlington, Vermont, and has chosen to remain there to live and work. Home is Where the Heart Is, 2020, 24x36, acrylic & spray paint
KEVIN DONEGAN began his stone carving career in his backyard in 2008, which has since expanded to take him around the world. A trip to Italy in 2014 forced him to explore new materials, including steel, repurposed clothing, latex paint, driftwood, trash, yarn, and hardware. His work often results in series unique unto themselves yet related in media, conceptual depth, and eccentricity. While Donegan’s influences are both immediate and wide-ranging, he has learned best from direct experience: time alone in nature, working with his hands and talking to people he trusts. He is currently based in Burlington, Vermont. Stay Home, Stay Safe?, 2020, 24x36, mixed media (plaster, cotton Shirt, PPE, hardware, and recycled house paint) on canvas
ALEYNA FEINBERG is a visual artist who often works from memory and direct observation, using a variety of media to create their imagery. The past five years have transformed Feinberg’s practice: in 2017 they mourned a parent, a loss that both muddled and clarified their artistic studies. At the same time, Feinberg joined and eventually began co-facilitating, the Budding Artist Support Group. Their participation in this group lead to their application and acceptance to the 2019 Vermont Artists Week Residency at the Vermont Studio Center. At present, Feinberg describes their practice as “in transition,” as they hope to continue to reconcile their formal and technical aspirations with a newfound sense of joy and play in their art making. Feinberg lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. Kitchen, 2020, 24x36, acrylic paint and watercolor pencil
MISOO portraits of young Asian women set in fairytale settings combine collage and painting with a balance of whimsicality, candor, and female empowerment. Her paintings range from large-scale monochromatic abstractions to realistically rendered emotional portraits that move between struggle and fantasy. Born in New York City, Misoo spent the first 17 years of her life in her parents’ native South Korea before returning to the United States to continue her education. Painting provided her with a way to explore, communicate, and cope with themes of identity, dislocation, and trauma. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including Scope Gallery, New York, Fresh Paint 7, Tel Aviv, Israel, and BCA Center, Vermont. Misoo received her MFA from Florida Atlantic University and currently resides in South Burlington, Vermont. Screaming in Silence, 2020, 24x36, acrylic paint on canvas
BARBEE HAUZINGER is the artist behind Cut Out Copy, the title of her hand-cut collage practice. A photographer by day, Hauzinger enjoys the physical and tactile art of collage, which allows her to create landscapes never found before. She uses collage to explore different themes and styles, from eerie, dystopian landscapes to found-word poetry. Cut Out Copy has been exhibited in both group and solo exhibitions in Burlington, Vermont, as well as in print in Kolaj Magazine and Art Reveal Magazine. Hauzinger lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. The Ungroundedness Of It All, 2020, 24x36, mixed media
MARTHA HULL describes her style as ‘cute and deadly’; she often uses dark humor and a variety of art media in almost every piece, but her primary tools are acrylic paints, inks, colored pencils, acrylic paint pens, acrylic gouache paints, charcoal, and graphite pencil. Hull’s works feature the use of light and shadow, and she uses optical color mixing to achieve vibrant, emotive images. Hull has a BFA in Illustration from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and spends her time living and working in Burlington, Vermont. Splendid Isolation, 2020, 24x36, acrylic paints, charcoal, ink
ALEDA KIRSTEIN is a New York photographer and painter who graduated from the University of Vermont where she earned a BA in Studio Art and Psychology. Her work with photograms (photographs produced without a camera) explores themes of anxiety, communication, and home. Kirstein creates her photograms using homemade darkroom tools and a screen in her Burlington apartment. In her work, she contemplates the immediacy of the relationship between light and paper, and the photogram’s ability to “translate” in ways similar to other media such as painting. Kirstein lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. Conversation (COVID Walk 1 and 2), 2020, 24x36, silver gelatin prints
CAITLIN LA DOLCE is a multidisciplinary artist whose past and current research includes Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, a discourse that remains inextricably tied to her work. Working in sculpture, printmaking, and installation, La Dolce’s practice explores the themes of home, trauma, rural poverty, and inheritance. Caitlin currently works as a teaching artist for Inclusive Arts Vermont, integrating arts education into school curricula for reactive learners and trauma survivors. Originally from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, La Dolce works in Burlington, Vermont. The Sinister Desire to Fall Asleep (Seven Sleepers), 2020 , 24x36, flashe, acrylic, charcoal and dirt on canvas
NOAH LAGLE has had three hometowns, having split his life evenly between San Diego, California; West Chester, Pennsylvania; and Burlington, Vermont. After studying Art, Anthropology, and Spanish at the University of Vermont, he continued to work there as a studio technician in printmaking and sculpture. Through founding Public Works Press, Lagle has printed and published the work of contemporary artists while facilitating public printmaking workshops. He is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Tennessee printmaking program. Signs Point to Maybe, 2020, 24x36, acrylic, flashe, ash, gouache, crayon
NIKKI LAXAR is a self-taught artist who discovered her love of watercolor in 2013. Ever since, she has blended her talent for detailed ink illustrations with watercolor pigments to create a whimsical, animal-inspired line of reproductions and stationery goods. She has begun to experiment with acrylic paint, portraying exquisite celestial bodies and reproducing the tranquil phases of the moon with her brush. She is currently exploring a series of scientifically accurate nebulas and other out-ofthis-world discoveries, feeling we all share a strong energetic pull to the cosmos. Residing in Burlington, Vermont, she is the director of a local craft fair that supports the region’s woman-identifying artisans. Climbing Up the Walls, 2020, 24x36, acrylic
SARAH LETTENEY creates drawings and cartoons, often illustrating her way through her daydreams and nightmares. Her clean, deliberate lines and use of blank space express a bigger picture via a limited palette, helping the uncomfortable feel approachable. Sometimes uniting unexpected imagery with humor and lightness, Letteney strives to create connections in and for the community around her. She has published cartoons with The New Yorker and has exhibited at The Hall Art Foundation. She is currently based in Burlington, Vermont. Double Vision, 2020, 24x36, ink on canvas
ZOE NICHOLSON is an interdisciplinary artist and graphic designer whose work seeks to explore social, environmental, and economic issues by analyzing human nature through a lens of interconnection. Each piece is governed by subversive ideas communicated through a fusion of text and image. Her work has been shown in numerous spaces in Burlington, including RL Photo Studio and New City Galerie. Nicholson received a BA in Fine Arts in Creative Media from Champlain College, where she was awarded the Dean’s Choice Award from the Champlain College 2020 Juried Student Art Show and the Center for Communication and Creative Media Excel Award. She lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. The Revolution Starts At Home, 2020, 24x36, mixed media
SCOTTIE RAYMOND is a visual and performing artist who works independently as the co-founder of Anthill Collective, a group of artists who promote street art and hip-hop culture in Vermont with the aim of manifesting social change. As a member of Anthill Collective, Raymond has championed graffiti as a contemporary expression of art, having created public outdoor murals for the 2014 A_Dog Day, the 2018 Above the Radar jam in Burlington, Vermont, and Vermont towns such as Middlebury and Lyndonville. In 2018 he co-founded Ante Gallery in Shelburne with Brian Clark. He is a graduate of Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and he currently resides in Burlington, Vermont. Draw the Blinds, 2020, 24x36, acrylic, latex, and aerosol
KEN RUSSACK began his painting career as a freshman in high school and continued it while attending Oswego State, New York. After taking a 30-year hiatus to start a family, Russack was drawn back into the practice of plein air painting and enjoys creating urban landscapes and pastoral scenes. He takes inspiration from many places, artists, and art movements including Edward Hopper and the Impressionists. Russack currently lives in Burlington, Vermont. The Sounds of Silence: A portrait of a home in Stonington Maine under quarantine, 2020, 24x36, oil
SEEKO THE KID discovered his love for art at an early age through drawing characters from his favorite comic books and cartoons. While at Edmunds Middle School in Burlington, Vermont, Seeko was introduced to the vast world of Graffiti art and Hip Hop culture. After further research, he learned about the pioneers of Graffiti, including Dondi, an artist who Seeko still cites as an inspiration today. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a degree in Graphic Design and now incorporates his background in Graffiti into his present work, always pushing and exploring the possibilities of his practice. Seeko the Kid currently lives and works in Winooski, Vermont. Inhale the Good Shit, Exhale the Bad Shit, 2020, 24x36, acrylic and spray paint
ROSS SHEEHAN uses a variety of artistic styles and forms to draw attention to urban spaces and dissect the liminal areas of life using methods of topographical investigation and psychogeographical documentation. Sheehan often revisits earlier works to edit, salvage, or rework past sculptures and paintings. Over the years, his work has shifted from a narrative style to more colorful, experimental, and abstract representations. Sheehan has exhibited his work in Burlington, New York City, San Francisco, and Florence, Italy. In 2012, he founded Outerlands Gallery, Inc., a contemporary art gallery and artist studio in downtown Vergennes, Vermont. He earned his BFA from Syracuse University, New York, and currently lives and works in South Burlington, Vermont. Peripheries, 2020, 24x36, Acrylic, ink, gesso, and collage on canvas
SAM SIMON is a wedding, portraiture, and wilderness photographer whose primary subjects are people. His interest in human connection and its relationship with a sense of place deeply influence his work. He has exhibited at Frog Hollow and Burlington City Arts, and his photographs have been featured in catalogs such as Rebecca Weisman: Skin Ego, and publications including Where Women Work, The Supper Club Mag (UK), and Edge Magazine. For the past 20 years, Simon has lived with his family in Burlington’s Old North End. Homeschool, 2020, 24x36, archival paper and foamcore
SUSAN SMEREKA states that the main goal of her work is for the audience to “come away with something.� In order to do so, she utilizes a wide variety of media, including installation, printmaking, photography, video, and bookmaking. Smereka prefers to choose media in which her entire body can be active in the process of creation, in order to imbue her works with conscious or subconscious positivity. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and group shows throughout the region including a solo exhibition of monoprints and paintings at the AVA Gallery, Lebanon, installations and group shows at the Flynndog, Burlington, and paintings at the Firehouse Gallery, Burlington. Originally from Toronto, she has been a Vermont resident since 1989 and currently lives in Burlington. Surface Diffusion Flux, 2020, 24x36, reworked art work, (old book pages and drawing), machine sewn on canvas
DAKIN FULLER VASQUEZ (F.K.A. KARA TORRES) is a multimedia artist who works in a wide assortment of media, including sticks, taillights, scrap-cloth, acrylic on canvas, ink, polymer clay, and watercolor. As an environmentallythoughtful and resourceful consumer, Vasquez scavenges materials from second-hand shops, friends and family members’ junk drawers, forests, and greenbelts. They use these materials to craft clothing, collages, flags, jewelry, and anything else they feel impelled to make. Vasquez has received commissions from Rice High School and SEABA and has shown at the Cavendish Gallery and the Gallery at Main Street Landing. They currently live and work in Burlington, Vermont. Identity Buffet, 2020, 24x36, acrylic on canvas
ISAAC WASUCK attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and received a degree in Fine Arts with a painting concentration. After years of exhibiting around the country, he found himself drawn more and more to photography and eventually established a commercial photography business. Much of his personal work focuses on human form, time, and androgyny. He is currently based in Burlington, Vermont. Rinse. Repeat., 2020, 24x36, photograph
ELLA WHITTEMORE HILL works primarily with wood, hand and machine stitching, charcoal, and ink. Her work often deals with the structures of memory—how we hold on to and reflect upon images, how we build stories, and how they are altered over time. Hill graduated from Bard College in 2018 with a degree in Studio Arts and received a National Association of Women Artists Award the same year. In 2020, she received a grant from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Hill was born in Burlington, Vermont and splits her time between Brooklyn, New York and Vermont. Cypress: Mourners, 2020, 24x36, charcoal on rice paper
CORRINE YONCE is an artist, fair and affordable housing advocate, and documentarian. She explores the connective qualities of story- sharing and receiving through figurative painting and audio portraits. Yonce’s place-based, storycentered paintings and installations dig into the concepts of home and housing from a community and personal perspective. Yonce has received support from the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Community Fund, and Fair Housing Vermont. Her painting style has been heavily influenced by her recent participation in the New York Studio School summer marathon session. Yonce lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. mysheltercameintime.com, 2020, 24x36, acrylic on canvas
JOHANNE DUROCHER YORDAN is a self-taught artist who as an adult spent two years at the University of Vermont in an attempt to rediscover major themes in her art. Between her time at UVM and a “life-altering event,” Yordan’s practice shifted from still life and landscapes to more abstract forms. This shift has allowed her to push the boundaries of how she paints, leaving room for freedom and emotions. Some paintings are deliberately connected to a specific emotion, while others are an exploration of technique, color, and texture. Yordan lives and works in Burlington, Vermont. Resolving Chaos, 2020, 24x36, collage
2020 EXHIBITION YEAR PRESENTED BY
BCA Exhibitions are funded in part by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vermont Arts Council.
BURLINGTON CITY ARTS 135 CHURCH STREET BURLINGTON, VERMONT, 05401 BURLINGTONCITYARTS.ORG