Preachers and Poets, the third collaborative poetry reading by Tom Ragle and Don McLean, will be presented on Thursday, April 21 at Guilford Community Church at 7:00 pm.  Admission is by a donation in any amount,  to benefit the work of the Church.

This program, the third in the series,  takes its title from the fact that four of the poets were also ordained ministers in three different denominations: Anglicans George Herbert and Robert Herrick, and, on very opposite poles, both strict in their particular ways, American Puritan Edward Taylor and English Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins.  Another connection between the poets is that a majority of them did not see their poetry published in their lifetimes, and several were unknown to the public, including Emily Dickinson, who joins the lineup.  Completing the cast of three English and three American poets is Walt Whitman.  Numerous and interesting connections, in terms of both subject matter and technique amongst these poets, will be revealed during the evening. 

West Brattleboro, Vt. – Putney-based artist Adrienne Ginter has just installed two solo exhibits for spring viewing at opposite ends of the state. Locally, a show of twenty finely detailed watercolors, oils, and paper-cuttings can be seen through May at All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist in West Brattleboro. An opening reception is set for Saturday, April 16, 4:30 to 6:-00 p.m. The Governor’s Gallery at the State House in Montpelier is hosting a large exhibit of her paper-cuttings through late June.

The exhibit gracing gallery spaces at All Souls Church includes both intimately scaled and large-format works, some in archival print form. Ginter’s work explores elements of the natural world as well as fanciful narratives depicting ancient myths, history, and her personal experience. In her artist’s statement, Ginter shares that “every scene in nature tells a million little stories, and I work to incorporate an extreme amount of detail to tell not only the macro but the micro stories in a scene. This gives the viewer a greater sense of depth, not only visually but narratively, depending on how close they choose to engage with the piece.” It can take weeks to complete her largest paintings and 30 or more hours for up to ten layers of work in paper.