Arts

Guilford Center Stage concludes its second season with A Battle of Wits by Vermont scenic artist and showman, Charles W. Henry.   The 4-act comedy-melodrama will be performed this coming weekend, with shows on Friday and Saturday, October 7 & 8, at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, October 9, at 2:00 pm, upstairs at Broad Brook Grange.

General Admission tickets are $10, available in advance at:    or  1-800-838-3006, or at the door.

(huffingtonpost.co.uk) Story: An exhibition entitled Slow currently on show at the China Exchange in the heart of London’s Chinatown. It’s a commission from an arts initiative called Shaire, based in London, Singapore and Beijing in which interdisciplinary groups are invited to explore the broad theme of nature.The most eye-catching exhibit in Slow is by the internationally acclaimed American sculptor, Brattleboro local, Aaron Distler. [Aaron Distler is the son of Arlene Distler, Brattleboro’s longtime art critic.]  It comprises what looks at first like a large caterpillar but, in fact, is a Chimera, a mythical fire-eating dragon (above) that supposedly vanishes when you look at it. So it has both a physical and ethereal presence about it.

Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts is pleased to present Passaggi, a collection of artwork by Marlboro, Vermont, artists Michelle and David Holzapfel. Opening with an Artist Reception September 22, 5-7pm, the exhibit continues through October 23. Of special note, MGFA welcomes folklorist and co-director of the Vermont Folklife Center, Greg Sharrow, to facilitate an Artist Talk on October 8, 5pm.

David’s unique, locally sourced hardwood furniture and sculpture highlight both his material’s inherent beauty and the artist’s unexpected and sensitive response to it.

Michelle’s exquisitely turned and carved bowls, vases and vessels transport the viewer to places where magic and fancy are transformed into handheld objects of singular delight and beauty.

West Brattleboro – On Sunday, September 11, from 2 to 4 p.m., the public is invited to an artist’s reception for Stu Copans’ exhibit “Peace, Gratitude & Stones from the River,” gracing gallery spaces at All Souls Church Unitarian Universalist through the end of October.

A continuation of Copans’ long-term paper-cutting project using the Hebrew Arabic, and English words for “Peace,” this year’s exhibit includes black, painted, and multilayered papercuts, as well as a number of word paintings exploring the importance of Gratitude as a way of being incompatible with Hatred and War. It also explores flow, the passage of time, and the interaction of water and rocks through an exhibit of stones from a 50-year collection of local and regional river rocks.

The Michael S. Currier Center, Putney, VT September 10 – November 6, 2016, open daily to the public on the campus of The Putney School. This survey of Cai’s work includes her portraits and landscapes of the 1980s, ‘Edge’ series of the ’90s, ‘WuJi (Infinity Within)’ series of the past decade and recent monumental portraits. For further information: (802) 257-7898 or caixiart [at] gmail [dot] com. 

You are cordially invited to the Artist Reception, Saturday September 24, 4:30 – 6:00 pm., at the Currier Center Galleryon the campus of The Putney School, 418 Houghton Park Road, Putney, VT. Inquiries: (802) 257-7898 or caixiart [at] gmail [dot] com.

 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.