The Arts Council of Windham County announced some recent grantees and the projects that are being funded:
“The 2021 TAF Grantees include:
- Puppet Companions (Shoshana Bass, Sandglass Theater) Sandglass Theater and Garden Path Elder Living team up to combat loneliness, promote creativity, and inspire story telling in residential care facilities through the magic of puppetry. Sandglass will create a collection of inviting puppets and accessories, along with a series of guided play suggestions for residents at Holton Home and Bradley House. Puppet makers will also bring Sandglass puppeteers and puppets for window visits with residents.
- Hearts of Hope (William Forchion) Artist and performer William Forchion will paint 50 healing hearts of hope on locally-sourced repurposed Guilford slate. The healing hearts will be distributed in locations around Brattleboro for residents to discover and take on a first come basis. The healing hearts are a display of resilience in trying times. Each heart symbolizes the power of love to handle all things.
- Lost Frequency – Sci Fi Podcast (Doran Hamm, Ben Stockman) Imagine two separate timelines diverging in the year 2020. In ours, we have been beset by an uncontrollable virus, are reckoning with centuries of institutional racism and oppression, and are living in an ideologically divided nation. What is happening in the other? And what if that one is even stranger? Lost Frequency will be a scripted science fiction podcast in the vein of 1950s radio anthologies, and television programs like The Twilight Zone, written and voiced members of the local theatrical community. The pilot episode will be a double-feature, consisting of two 15-minute tales designed to thrill, amuse, and delight the listening audience.
- PenPal Your Neighbor (Lauren Harkawik) PenPal Your Neighbor is a project aimed at connecting neighbors to neighbors from inside their homes this winter, through the power of snail mail. Participants will be paired with another Windham County resident and encouraged to write five letters back and forth to one another. The project is free to participate in. In addition to a penpal, participants will receive postage, stationery, and ideas for what to write about. Details at: www.penpalyourneighbor.com.
- Daydreaming: Windows of Imagination (Laura Lawson Tucker & Darlene Jenson, Theatre Adventure) Challenges during the pandemic have given Theatre Adventure students with disabilities an opportunity to expand their creative pursuits. Puppetry will be introduced to Theatre Adventure performance troupes as a new storytelling medium using themes of inspiration, imagination, and connectivity. This project will provide art boxes with puppetry materials to support continued engagement in online learning and will culminate with three online performances April 14, 15, and 16.
- Wishing Well (Em Hexe) The Wishing Well serves as a conduit for the lost wishes of this past year, as well as space to offer wishes for what is to come. Community members are invited to call an anonymous hotline with a wish they would like to put forth into the ether. These recorded wishes will be played inside an ice shanty on the Retreat Meadows, within which a creative wishing well will be found. The Wishing Well will be on view as part of BMAC’s Art Shanty Project, February 13-28.
- Snow-Heads Competition (Rolf Parker-Houghton) This winter, Brattleboro community members are turning piles of snow in parking lots and near driveways all over town into “Snow-Heads.” Three $100 Prizes will be offered to snow-head creators, whose creations will be judged based on artistry, goofiness, or level of delight their snow-head inspires. Creators can submit photos of their snow-heads to universetyofbrattleboro@yahoo.com. All snow-heads will be celebrated. See examples and details at: www.universetyofbrattleboro.com.
- Folk Duo Video Concert (Lissa Schneckenburger, Corey DiMario) When fiddler and folk singer Lissa Schneckenburger joins tenor guitarist Corey DiMario for a live performance, they deliver a great mix of fiddle tunes and classics from the American songbook. The duo will film two video concert specials for the residents of Holton Homes and Bradley House in Brattleboro, aimed to get toes tapping, audiences smiling, and voices singing along.”
