Arts

ON EXHIBIT at Brooks Library in February:

MAIN FLOOR: Sequencing paintings by local artists and students River Gallery School of Art. The RGS is a vibrant hub for Brattleboro’s artistic community, with bright, spacious studios on Main Street overlooking the Whetstone Brook.

Founded in 1976, RGS offers classes, community workshops, and summer and school vacation programs for students of all ages.  Our core faculty members are all professional working artists, and teach a wide range of visual media including all types of painting, drawing, printmaking, and encaustics. RGS also partners with community organizations to offer classes to seniors and adults with physical and cognitive challenges

Do you write poetry?  Or perhaps you write prose ? Either way this Friday you will have a chance to read your work in front of an audience. 

This Friday, February 20th, is the third Friday of the month, and at 7:30 PM on every third Friday, Write Action hosts the Open Reading.

We meet at the Blue Dot Studio, in the Hooker Dunham Building to share our poems and stories. Each person gets about 7 minutes

Starting Friday, Feb. 6, the Gallery at the Garden features two exhibits: “Touring New England through Oil Paintings” by Shawnna O’Connor, and “Lights, Camera, Action….Motion Pictures,” an exhibit of photographic works by Sam Groves. Both shows will continue through February.

O’Connor is mainly a self-taught artist.  She uses oil paints to create bright works illustrating historic sites in New England.

She originally focused on smaller canvas depictions of cats.  After the 2011 fire that ravaged the Brooks House apartments where she lived, O’Connor began to paint larger pieces, featuring some of New England’s many historic landmarks.

This Sunday and every Sunday at 5 PM, the Write Action Radio Hour, brings ;literature to the air waves. This Sunday, I will be reading Mary Wilkins Freeman’s crime story, “The Long Arm” My mission is to give it a reading worthy of the story, and worthy of radio. If you are interested in reading this story yourself,

This story was printed in numerous publications, including Brattleboro’s newspaper, the Vermont Phoenix, in 1895.

We are open for registrations at the In-Sight Photography Project!

This semester we have a great selection of classes in both film and digital photography that are filling up fast. 

Students can get their photography fix from the following classes…

ON EXHIBIT at Brooks Library

MAIN FLOOR:  Local artist Matti Salminen curates an exhibit of works by other local artists in various media, about issues of mental illness.

2ND FLOOR CHILDREN: Picture book author and illustrator Anna Dewdney. 

On Exhibit at Brooks Library:

MAIN FLOOR:  Local artist Matt Saliman curates an exhibit of works by other local artists in various media, about issues of mental illness.

2ND FLOOR CHILDREN: Original hand-painted relief etchings by Brian D. Cohen from his recent alphabet book, “The Bird Book,” with rhyming couplets about each bird by Holiday Eames

River Gallery School will display the work of Jamis Lott, artist, puppeteer, maskmaker, and philosopher, throughout January with a public opening during Gallery Walk. Jamis, along with his father Steve, was killed recently in Townshend. He was 28.

Since early childhood, Jamis had an exceptional interest in and talent for art. Along with his friend and teacher, Margaret (Missy) Stearns, he worked on art projects exploring his vivid imagination. When he was a child, she helped him collage a giant dragon, which hung for years in his family’s kitchen. They remained close and important friends throughout Jamis’ life.

Thursday, December 18, 8:30pm – 10:30pm, join us for a celebration of performance poetry in a unique visual arts environment.

Featuring:

• Clara Rose Thornton, 2014 Dublin (Ireland) Slam Poetry Champion whose work examines memory, lust, social justice and racial injustice.
• Nye Ffarrabas, innovator and word alchemist, active since the New York Fluxus scene of the 1960s.
• Alec Silver, actor and enthusiast of language.
  

Post Oil Solutions, continuing its innovative efforts to raise awareness about the growing climate crisis, is organizing Climate Change & the Arts, an evening of poetry, music, and dance that will be held on the evening of Saturday, May 2, 2015 at the Hooker Dunham Theater in Brattleboro. An art exposition will also be held in the Hooker Dunham Gallery.

Members of the literary, visual and performing arts communities of Windham County, both professional and amateur, interested in contributing their time and talent are invited to answer our call for poetry and performers. For more information consult the event website: http://www.climatechangeishere2015.com/, or contact Linda Brown at rise.up.vermont@gmail.com.

Brattleboro-West Arts members are collaborating with Strolling of the Heifers to present an art exhibit entitled “Harmony: Health” in the hallways of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, beginning on Friday, December 5.

Expanding on the agricultural themes featured in twoshows presented by the organizations last summer, the artwork will explore pathways to better health including spiritual pursuit, engagement with the natural world, and through local agriculture.

All of the works are for sale, and proceeds will benefit Strolling of the Heifers as well as the artists.

Middlebury College artist-in-residence Jule Emerson will discuss the fashions worn by Lady Mary and her family in the popular PBS series Downton Abbey in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on December 3 at 7:00 pm.

Her talk, “The Costumes of Downton Abbey,” is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and is free and open to the public. 

Emerson has been an Artist-in-Residence, costume designer, and professor at Middlebury College since 1990. Prior to coming to Middlebury, she worked professionally as a costume artist for television, feature films, commercials, and the professional theatre.

Flash Fiction writers who have written pieces on the theme of hope will be reading their stories at the Blue Dot Studio in the Hooker Dunham building on Friday, Dec 5 at 7 PM. The prizewinners of Write Action’s writing contest, Anna Blackburn, Stephanie Greene and Helen Neswald will read as will other talented writers, including Olivia Howe, Jennie Reichman, Pamela Mandell, and Elayne Clift.

After these readings, there will be 20 minutes reserved for anyone who wants to read a flash fiction piece on the theme of hope. Bear in mind that all readers are limited to no more than 5 minutes to read. This is about excellence, hope, and brevity.

16th Annual Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale at 74 Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro, VT on Saturday, December 6, 10am-6pm and Sunday, December 7, 10am-4pm.

It’s that time of year again to share in the holiday spirit with family, friends, and artists at the much anticipated 16th Annual Cotton Mill Open Studio and Holiday Sale, Saturday and Sunday, December 6 and 7, 2014.

Everyone is invited to experience the hospitality of 25 resident artists, musicians, bakers, cooks, dancers, circus performers, and craftspeople of the Cotton Mill, and an additional 32 juried, local participating artists and artisans. Putney Grammar School’s K – 8 student art will also be on display. This is a festive event for the entire family. So much to see, so much to do, so much to sample and to buy!

Company of Muses has announced tickets for the 2014 Brattleboro School of Dance production of The Nutcracker will go on sale Monday, November 17.

Show times for this year’s run of the holiday classic are 7:00pm on Friday and Saturday, December 19-20, and then matinees at 1:00pm and 5:00pm on Sunday, December 21. All performances will take place at the New England Youth Theatre, located at 100 Flat Street in Brattleboro.

Tickets can be purchased online through BrattleboroSchoolofDance.com or by visiting the studio, located at 22 High Street in downtown Brattleboro, on Saturdays between 11:00am to 3:00pm. The studio will not be open on Saturday, November 29, due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

PUTNEY, VT—This year the 36th Annual Putney Craft Tour slated for Thanksgiving Weekend is not only a Top Ten Winter event as named by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, but also is helping to fight hunger in the community. The tour is partnering with the Putney Foodshelf by using art to support food for those who are in need.

BRATTLEBORO, VT (November 3)—The Boston Gay Men’s Chorus served up a memorable night of song, advocacy, and community spirit in front of a capacity crowd at the Latchis Theatre on Saturday night, November 1st. The sold-out event helped raise more than $25,000 for the Brattleboro Retreat’s LGBT Program, now in its 5th year of serving the LGBTQ community.

As a part of the evening’s program, the Retreat presented Representative Bill Lippert of Hinesburg with the hospital’s 2014 Anna Marsh Award in recognition of his advocacy on behalf of people with mental illness or addiction.

I remember Galway as a man of action, conviction, and kindness. Some years ago I had spoken to him about our mutual poet friend Hayden Carruth, and Hayden never receiving the recognition that he deserved as one of the truly great Vermont poets. I had suggested that Hayden should be recognized as a state poet laureate, but the state wouldn’t offer that recognition. Galway quietly said, “Let’s see what we can do.”

November’s exhibit in the Gallery at the Garden (Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main St.) features works by painter and set designer Clay Coyle in a show titled Fresh Paint: Reflections of Color in Landscapes and Trees.

Concurrently, the River Garden, home of Strolling of the Heifers, will host an exhibit of historical materials from the archives of Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, the Westminster residential school for children at-risk or in need. Established in 1894, Kurn Hattin serves boys and girls, ages 5-15, who are affected by tragedy, social or economic hardship, or other disruption in family life.

Now a resident of Venice, Florida, Coyle maintains a studio in Putney and just recently moved from his S. Londonderry, Vermont homestead which he had kept since 1980. Clay has actively painted and worked on set and lighting design since he entered Williams College in 1968. He graduated in 1972, winning the Gilbert W. Gabriel Prize in Drama for his design and technical work. From Williams he headed to New York City where he designed sets for the Classic Stage Company, the New Dramatists Inc., the Producer’s Association for Young America, the Spanish Repertory Company, and others.

WESTMINSTER, VT—Kurn Hattin Homes for Children will hold a public reception to celebrate the unveiling of a new historical exhibit entitled, A Legacy of Caring: Adapting to the Changing Needs of Children and Families. All are welcome to attend Thursday, November 6 from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main St. Brattleboro.

This opening reception will be hosted by Kurn Hattin Homes for Children’s Executive Director, Connie Sanderson, and will feature a brief presentation and Q and A session. Refreshments will be provided.