Arts

 Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to host an Artist Talk on Saturday, September 17, at 5pm as part of current exhibits featuring the work of Jackie Abrams and Karen Kamenetzky.

The exhibits, Jackie Abrams: Elemental Vessels and Karen Kamenetsky: Hidden Agenda will continue through September 18.

 Abrams’ unique pieces showcase  40 years of  basket making experience; new, non-traditional materials reflect the artist’s movement toward more intuitive, abstract sculptural forms. According to the artist, “These are forms that are universal, familiar from both nature and from daily use in every culture. The bowl-shaped vessels may hold our important invisible things: dreams, thoughts, and wishes. The suspended forms are echoed by their shadows on the wall.”

You are cordially invited to an artist reception, Friday, August 19, 5-7pm at C.X. Silver Gallery for Selections from ‘Edge.’ Cai’s ‘Edge’ paintings 1991-1994 are on view at C.X. Silver Gallery, Brattleboro, VT, through September 18, open daily by appointment, closed August 20-22 and 27-30. Inquiries: Contact Adam Silver, Operations Manager / Co-Director, (802) 257-7898.

Cai is featured in two exhibitions during August, her 1980s portraits in .

“I returned to my gymnastics and calligraphy experiences as a child, finding myself jumping, stretching, and reaching as I painted. Chinese traditional breathing exercise (Qigong) continued to help me channel energy when I painted. Throughout the nineties, materials, surface and texture were self-renewing areas of exploration. I derived a lot of inspiration from living in New York City. On the street and subway, on the ground in the cement sidewalk, a peeling wall, everywhere I went, I kept discovering: ‘Oh, look. There’s a painting!’ The experience of ‘Edge’ is about stepping into and out of myself. My art-making is characterized by this existential process. For me, Art is about Paradox: appearance-disappearance, life-death, nothingness-wholeness, chaos-groundedness, emptiness-substance, movement-fixity.”

Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to introduce Elemental Vessels, an exhibition of recent mixed-media vessels by basket-weaver and fiber artist Jackie Abrams, and Hidden Agenda, new fiber wall hangings by textile artist Karen Kamenetzky, with an artist reception and opening Thursday, August 18, 5-7 pm. The two solo exhibits continue through September 18, with an Artist Talk scheduled for Saturday, September 17, 5pm.

Abrams’ unique pieces showcase  40 years of  basket making experience; new, non-traditional materials reflect the artist’s movement toward more intuitive, abstract sculptural forms.

Summer Cinema Slam returns on August 27th at New England Youth Theater, 100 Flat Street, Brattleboro. The doors will open at 5:30pm. Come join us for evening of films made by Vermont filmmakers and meet the directors as well. We are welcoming some amazing Vermont filmmakers to this year’s event. Check out our event page at Brattleboro Film Festival facebook page. http://www.brattleborofilmfestival.org/2016-special-events/

 The event will include live music during the intermission, free ice-cream. and food trucks, food, beer and wine will be available for purchase.

Burt Tepfer wil lead a discussion of the issues and ideas raised by the play he is directing, “Bad Jews”, on Sunday August 14 at 3:30 pm at Brattleboro Area Jewish Community – 151 Greenleaf Street in West Brattleboro. Since it is Tisha B’Av, the program will include a brief explanation of the holiday from Cantor Kate Judd, with a few words about why talking about what it means to be a “good” or “bad” Jew might be particularly appropriate on that day. Snacks will be supplied for those who are not fasting for the holiday.

http://namayaproductions.com/blog/2016/07/28/great-divide-summer-of-rage-devouring-america-2016/

We invite you to be a children’s face painter at the 2nd Annual Vermont JerkFest in Brattleboro. We seek experienced, friendly, and artistic people who love working with kids! The shifts run from 10 am – 1 pm, 1 pm – 4 pm, 4pm – 7pm.

If you’re interested, click to fill out our volunteer application.

If you have any questions, you can visit our website , email us at or call our office at 617-395-7680.

Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to host an artist talk by the gallery’s current featured artist Jon Gregg on Saturday, July 23 at 5pm. Jon Gregg: evolving a mark will be on exhibit at both MGFA locations (183 Main Street and the new MGFA Annex at 132 Main Street in the Brooks House Atrium) through August 14th.

Jon Gregg’s work features gestural, abstract, richly textured oil paintstick on paper and canvas. Fortress-like structures and crowded spaces are central themes, even as his characters are caught mid-narrative, jostled by insistent markmaking and surface activity.

Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to present the painting exhibit Jon Gregg: evolving a mark, with an opening reception for the artist Thursday, July 14, in two locations: Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts at 183 Main Street and the new MGFA Annex at 132 Main Street in the Brooks House Atrium, both from 5 to 7 pm. An Artist Talk is scheduled for Saturday, July 23 at 5pm.  Friends and alumni of the Vermont Studio Center are encouraged to attend.

Gregg’s work features gestural, abstract, richly textured oil paintstick on paper and canvas. Fortress-like structures and crowded spaces are central themes, even as his characters are caught mid-narrative, jostled by insistent markmaking and surface activity.

The Town of Brattleboro and the artist team of Elizabeth Billings, Evie Lovett and Andrea Wasserman invite the Brattleboro community to bring a picnic and enjoy ice cream floats by the river during Friday July 1 Gallery Walk to celebrate the opening of From the River, To the River, a public art project funded by the National Endowment for the Arts “Our Town” grant awarded to the Town of Brattleboro.

Town officials and the artists will welcome the community at 6 pm at the Brattleboro Transportation Center against the backdrop of River Wall, a kinetic sculpture of 38,000 sequins imagining water patterns on the the Transportation Center. Projected Water, a video of images of over 300 people in the Brattleboro community and water imagery, will play at the site throughout Gallery Walk.

This Sunday, June 19th, welcome to Chef Cai’s Dim Sum Buffet, the Dim Sum Teahouse, at C.X. Silver Gallery, 814 Western Avenue, Brattleboro, VT:

* seatings from 11am to 7pm. Fixed price, all you can eat, with gluten free and vegan options, a selection from the menu

* Call ahead for a visit or reservation: (802) 257-7898.

* other days, throughout the month, dining in, orders to go, or other catering can be arranged from the menu at dimsumvt.com and dimsumvt.com/party-menus.

My soul screams

at this insanity.

My entire being

trembles with tears

How could we

allow this hate?

Having successfully put on our first of two productions for 2016, Guiulford Center Stage needs just a few more actors for the fall.  We were pleased to have many of you from Brattleboro and other towns visit us this past weekend for our one-acts.  Though we’re particularly aimed at making Guilford Center a more viable village, and enjoying the fact that many of our actors and audience members are from Guilford, we are also rewarded by the participation from other towns.

This past weekend’s shows had actors from Westminster West, the West River Valley, Brattleboro (of course!) and Bernardston, Mass., among other towns, along with our Guilford ones.  

West Brattleboro, Vt. – Painters Collin Leech and Lori Schreiner are showing their work in a combined summer exhibit at All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist. An opening reception this Saturday, June 11, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., offers the public an opportunity to meet the artists and learn about their creative process while enjoying refreshments provided by the All Souls Arts Committee.

Showing a variety of large-format and smaller impressionist or expressive landscapes, Collin Leech has been working in a variety of mediums for many years, including oil, encaustic, ink-and-pastel drawing, and acrylic. “This year I have been working on combining these mediums in new ways,” Collin explains. “I have also been thinking about the ways my relationship to the landscape around me is changing.” She attended LaGuardia School for the Arts in New York City and went to Maryland Institute College of Art, taught for many years at Brattleboro’s River Gallery School, and now teaches encaustic collage and plein air painting at Main Street Arts in Saxtons River.

“Hurray for all kinds of things!” – Buoyed by that vague yet uplifting slogan, comedian Jon Gnarr galvanized the disaffected voters of Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2010. What began as political satire in the face of dysfunctional, corrupt and out-of-touch government, eventually became more than a joke, as Gnarr captured the hearts of voters in the 2010 race for mayor of Iceland’s largest city. His surprising campaign is the subject of the documentary “Gnarr,” which will be shown at the Latchis Theatre this Saturday, June 11, at 4 p.m.

It’s impossible not to see similarities with our own political scene, although what’s happening here is certainly less amusing than Gnarr’s campaign. Still, for all its lightness and humor, “Gnarr” touches a chord – people are tired of politics as usual and are looking to outsiders to shake things up. Not all outsiders possess the kindness, humor and common touch of Jon Gnarr, and that’s why, even though Reykjavik is thousands of miles away, “Gnarr” hits home.

Guilford Center Stage begins its second season with the premiere of a pair of one-act plays by Guilford playwright, Michael Nethercott, who also directs the production.   “Nocturne Titanica” is a unique take on the sinking of the Titanic. “The Lace Jury” is based on the first American all-women jury of the 20^th century.  Interestingly, the historic events on which the plays are based happened within 6 months of each other in 1911 and 1912.

There will be three performances: Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4 at 7:30 pm, and a matinee on Sunday, June 5 at 2 pm. at Broad Brook Grange.

Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is a two-year-old gallery showcasing contemporary art in solo and group exhibitions. Along with its 183 Main Street Brattleboro location this southern Vermont destination gallery is planning a celebration for its new Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts Annex located in the Brooks House Atrium, 132 Main Street, with a public opening reception at the Atrium, Saturday, June 4, from 6 – 8pm.

Mitchell • Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to introduce recent paintings by Donald Saaf with an artist reception and exhibition opening Thursday, June 2, 5-7 pm. The exhibit continues through July 10, with an Artist Talk scheduled for Saturday, June 18 at 7 pm.

Donald Saaf’s unique oil paintings provide a personal glimpse into regional landscape and community. His peopled rustic scenes are crafted with attention to overall surface pattern and texture; he utilizes collaged fabric, distorted perspective and highly stylized figures to create  rich, quilt-like surfaces alive with activity. Saaf suggests trying to “…see the pictures simultaneously both for their ‘story’ and as pure abstraction… hinting perhaps at the passage of time or suggestion that reality is more pliable than we usually think.”

General Admission tickets are now available for the Guilford Center Stage premiere of two one-act plays by Guilford author Michael Nethercott.  Nocturne Titanica is a unique take on the sinking of the Titanic. The Lace Jury is based on the first American all-women jury of the 20^th century.  Interestingly, the historic events on which the plays are based happened within 6 months of each other in 1911 and 1912.

There will be three performances: Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4 at 7:30 pm, and a matinee on Sunday, June 5 at 2 pm.  

Tickets are on sale now for the Brattleboro School of Dance annual spring concert, “For You…with Love” at the New England Youth Theatre on 100 Flat Street in downtown Brattleboro.

Artistic director Jennifer Moyse says “For You…With Love” is a collection of dance pieces in varying styles offered as a gift to the audience from the BSD community. “This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the school’s founding. So many of those early students now have their own children studying with us. We dance with gratitude for the years of support we’ve received.”