PRESS RELEASE: Judy Kniffin at Bennington Museum in Bennington

For me, the process of painting is both a meditation on -- and thanksgiving for -- the natural beauty that surrounds us all. It is this quiet sense of awe that I wish to convey through my paintings. -- Judith Kniffin

On view through September 25 in the Regional Artists Gallery at the Bennington Museum is On Hallowed Ground, works by Judy Kniffin. Kniffin has so entitled her exhibit because “this is what my paintings reflect back to me: We visit our brief lives upon this sacred ground, and, like good guests, would give it our due respect and grateful thanks.” Join the artist on Saturday, September 3 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm at her reception held at the museum.



Kniffin grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia during the post-war years of the 40s and 50s, when industry switched its focus to crank out all the conveniences of mechanized living inside homes, on neighborhood blocks, in Anytown, USA. “Bike rides to the countryside, catching tadpoles, and summer camp in surrounding farmland notwithstanding, I had very little sense of the earth under and around me. Cloud formations, weather patterns, rocks, soil, and the plant and animal growth they nurture were not part of my consciousness in the suburbs.” states the artist.



Painting with watercolors and oils, Kniffin explores these natural surroundings — the woodlands, mountains and waters, corners of her gardens, and streets in her towns. Her style is representational, while always teasing out the rich colors and patterns that a cursory glance at nature often overlooks. Kniffin explores the color relationships, shadows, reflections, textures and visual distortions of the objects. “Painting is my way to focus in on the quiet and sometime surprising beauty around us; to tune out the "noise" of modern technology and fast-paced lives.” she reflects. Recognizing that we are not in control of nature On Hallowed Ground nods to our fragile relationship with it.



Kniffin pursued studio painting at Skidmore College in New York, the Silvermine Guild Art Center in Connecticut, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Her works have been on view at NAACO Gallery, North Adams, MA; Bennington Arts Guild and Southern Vermont College, both in Bennington, VT; The Heart’s Eye Gallery, Athens, GA among others. She serves on the board of the North Bennington Plein Air Competition, North Bennington, VT. Visit her website at www.judykniffin.com



The Bennington Museum, located at 75 Main Street (Route 9), Bennington has the largest public collection of Grandma Moses paintings in the world as well as the largest collection of 19th century Bennington pottery. In the other seven galleries, the museum presents a 1924 Wasp Touring Car, one of only twenty produced, military artifacts, one of the earliest ‘stars and stripes’ in existence, fine and decorative arts, and more. On view through October 30 is “Grandma Moses and the ‘Primitive’ Tradition.” The museum is just a short ride from Manchester, Williamstown, and eastern New York, and open every day in September and October from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and students over 18. No admission is charged for younger students or to visit the museum shop and café. Visit the museum’s website www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571 for more information.

Images: On Hallowed Ground, 2010, 38” x 38”, oil on canvas Kniffin in her studio

PRESS RELEASE: Joan Curtis at Brandon Artists Guild in Brandon

An exhibition entitled Greener Grass, with richly colored drawings by Joan Curtis, is featured during the September/October foliage season (September 2 - November 2, 2011) at the Brandon Artists Guild gallery.



The artist explains that the Greener Grass title may be interpreted a few ways. The pictures, which seem to tell stories, can convey a gentle sense of longing or yearning for “greener grass.” Alternatively, many of the images are so serenely bucolic that we imagine the scenes depicted to be the “greener grass” we seek.



The artist, in her visionary figurative work, often conjures up the feeling that a Quest is taking place.



This body of work, created since January 2011, comprises colored-pencil drawings on archival Arches paper. The surprise for the viewer is the layering of papers, a technique which allows a shallow three-dimensional appearance.



The public is always invited to BAG opening receptions; this one will be Friday, September 2nd, from 5 to 7 PM.



Image: End of Day, 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Joseph L. Smongeski at Towle Hill Studio in Corinth

Towle Hill Studio in Corinth will present a retrospective show of the paintings and drawings of Joseph L. Smongeski (1914 - 2001). On Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, the show, organized by Smongeski’s daughter, Josette Lyders of Peacham, Vermont will also feature the 2009 biography about Smongeski, written by Lyders. Designed by Dean Bornstein, renowned book designer and owner of Perpetua Press, Joseph L. Smongeski: A Life in the Art World will be available for purchase, as will some of Smongeski’s paintings.



The gallery will be open on Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. Lyders and her sister, Mary Patch of Boothbay Harbor, Maine, will be hosting a reception with refreshments on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m.



Joseph L. Smongeski studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and began his working career in 1941 in the art department of Western Printing Company in New York City. Five years later, he was invited to join D. C. Heath Company in Boston, where he served as a book designer for 31 years. He painted as well during all these years, creating an extensive inventory of landscapes, portraits and still lifes. In addition, he taught adult art classes for more than 25 years in Quincy, Milton, Weymouth, and Cohasset, communities on the South Shore of Massachusetts.



Altogether, Smongeski had 40 one-man shows including two very large invitational retrospective exhibitions near the end of his painting years, one at The Rahr-West Art Museum in Racine, Wisconsin, and the other at the Milton Art Museum, in Milton, Massachusetts. He also participated in some 30 group shows in Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. He was elected to membership in the Salmagundi Club of New York City and he was given the honor of “Copley Artist” by the Copley Society of Boston.



Critics wrote favorably about his art. A few remarks regarding the larger exhibitions reveal much about his style and achievement:



From Virginia Freyermuth, The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Massachusetts), June 19, 1984, p. 15. “Color, spatial control and simplicity of form give the subject an added dimension of importance. . . .Although the aim of Smongeski’s work is to capture the moment at hand with a concern for color and light, the paintings are not impressionist in style. In fact, there is something very American about his style. . . .”



From Sandy Coleman, The Boston Globe, April 15, 1990, p.9. “The beauty of the painting (“Model in the Garden”) comes in the way the artist allows the light to play throughout, as if a gentle breeze is blowing color here and there. . . . Smongeski creates his vividly striking paintings by building them through layers of ‘constructive color.’ You can almost separate the color into planes, but they all form one harmonious unit, the painting.



From Constance Gorfinkle, The Patriot Ledger, April 19, 1990, p.32. “Color, bold and bright, is what most strikes the viewer about the. . .paintings. Smongeski’s landscapes and street scenes in particular are sunny evocations of a simple life. . . .[his] landscapes convey a sense of peace. . . .Smongeski often celebrates summer in his works. . .yet it is not just the season that we see in his paintings, but its place in our feelings and memories.”



Renowned Cape Cod artist, Richard C. Bartlett, a dear friend of the artist, wrote a tribute to Joseph Smongeski for the Towle Hill Studio show. He noted: “Joe and I were colleagues as book designers at D. C. Heath. . . . Joe had the taste required of a fine artist, and it showed in his judgement in how he presented an author’s manuscript visually. His typographic solutions were reasoned, making the author’s intent crystal clear for the reader. . . .he ran the Bookbuilders of Boston printing workshop with John Manganelli . . . and he taught adult ed classes in painting. If you can believe it, he still found time to paint! We sometimes went out sketching together. Joe could work as rapidly in oils as I could in watercolor, reputedly the quicker medium. . . . When you look at Joe’s paintings, you can tell they are the work of a happy artist.”



Lyders has written in her book about her father: “Perhaps it was the result of his growing up in a very large family and noticing the importance of everyday things on the progress of life. Perhaps it was the huge constraints of his student years in the Great Depression that made grandeur out of reach. Or, perhaps it was just a warm and caring nature that influenced his choice of humble subjects to paint. In my recollections of my father, I see a man who consistently found beauty in the world around him. It could be pastoral scenes, as he found in his visits to Vermont; it could be a small bouquet of flowers given to his wife; it could be in the look on a face. I see a man who never lost the wonder of life. I remember certain observations he would make: “Oh, God, look at that–how beautiful!” and, “I would like to paint that!” His subjects were never grandiose and never done for effect. He found the desire to paint in the intrinsic worth of the subject and he reveled in the joy of transforming that subject into his art.”



For the Towle Hill Studio show, Lyders has selected some twenty works representing different time periods in the artist’s body of work and a sampling of landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and more.



In the summer and fall seasons since 2009, Mark Nielsen, owner of Towle Hill Studio, has presented weekend exhibitions featuring the work of area creative artists, including painters, photographers, sculptors, and more. For more information about the gallery, visit the Web site www.towlehillstudio.com, or email Mark Nielsen at

mjnart.nielsen@gmail.com.



For more information about the artist and about Lyders’ book, Joseph L. Smongeski: A Life in the Art World , email josette@fairpoint.net.



Images: Sugar Shack #1, 1976, oil, 16" x 22" A Rose, 1941, oil, 12" x 9" Reflections, 1985, oil, 10" x 14"

PRESS RELEASE The S.P.A.C.E. and Backspace Galleries: Opening Reception August 12th, 5-8pm, Burlington

The S.P.A.C.E. and Backspace Galleries: Opening Reception August 12th, 5-8pm

+ Closing Reception September 2nd, 5-8pm

August Art Auction and August Afternoons by Robert Waldo Brunelle, Jr

The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery

266 Pine Street, Suite 105

Burlington, VT 05401

(802) 578-2512

www.spacegalleryvt.com

Open Hours: Thursdays - Saturdays 11-4pm

August Art Auction

2nd Friday Opening: August 12th 5-8pm

Closing Reception: September 2nd 5-8pm

Up all month: August Art Auction.com

The S.P.A.C.E. Gallery is pleased to announce it has survived its second year! To celebrate and help continue the fun for another, we are hosting a 2nd Friday opening to kick off the third annual August Art Auction. Area artists, close to the gallery have donated pieces for a month long auction ending September 2nd, the work can be found online as well, at www.augustartauction.com.

image of auction piece by John Brickles, Tractor Shed, Ceramic

The Backspace

(through the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery)

266 Pine S

treet, Suite 106

Burlington, VT 05401

(802) 578-2512

www.spacegalleryvt.com

August Afternoons

work by Robert Waldo Brunelle, Jr.

2nd Friday Opening: August 12th 5-8pm

Closing Reception: September 2nd 5-8pm

Recent paintings, cartoons and sculptures by Robert Waldo Brunelle, Jr., with the theme of summer pastimes. The urban landscapes, beach scenes and summer pleasures one sees on a lazy, hot August afternoon.

PRESS RELEASE: "Intuitive Color: Recent Paintings by Elizabeth Allen" at Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery, Shelburne

Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery will be showing "Intuitive Color: Recent Paintings by Elizabeth Allen", beginning with an opening reception for the public on Friday, August 19th, 5:30-7:30. The exhibit will run through September 20th.

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Elizabeth Allen participated in the European Honors Program in Rome, Italy, and the Art Students League of New York with artists Ted Jacobs David Leffell and Nelson Shanks. She currently resides in Williston.

Her work had been exhibited in many juried shows including the Hudson Valley Art Association. Influenced by the Luminists, Elizabeth aims to “capture the soul of the landscape. I find the scenes I want to paint in the early hours of the day as the mist envelopes the land and in the twilight hours when the colors created by the setting sun spread across the landscape in a rainbow of unexpected color.”

The work in this exhibition explores the Vermont landscape with a recent concentration on the bucolic meadows of Shelburne Farms.



Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery is located at 86 Falls Road, in Shelburne Village. Hours are Tue-Fri 9:30-5:30, and Sat 10-5.

For more information call 985-3848, write: mail@fsgallery.com, or visit

the website at www.fsgallery.com

www.fsgalleryvt.wordpress.com



images:

Waterville Hills

Shelburne Bay

Clouds over Charlotte

All paintings are oil on canvas or linen





Joan Furchgott

Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery

86 Falls Rd.

Shelburne, Vermont 05482

802-985-3848

www.fsgallery.com

PRESS RELEASE: Robert Black at Gallery in-the-Field in Brandon

The final presentation of Gallery In-the-Field Encore 2011 Season will feature a three-part exhibition by Robert Black, Brandon-based architect, artist and teacher:



THE MEMORY CHAMBER, An architectural installation

PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, An exhibition by photographers of all ages

FORMINGS AND MARKINGS, A lecture and workshop series



September 8- November 4

Reception : Friday September 9, 5 to 8 pm

Artist Talk: 6 pm



Gallery hours: Friday through Sunday, 12 to 5 pm and by appointment

Fran Bull, director of Gallery in-the-Field is pleased to announce the opening reception on Friday, September 9 of an exhibition by Brandon-based architect, artist and teacher Robert Black composed of three distinct yet interrelated parts: an installation entitled The Memory Chamber, an architectural installation; an exhibition by photographers of all ages entitled Photographic Memory and a four-session lecture and workshop series, Formings and Markings. Black explains the content of the lecture and workshop series thus: "The series is designed to awaken the power of art and creative expression in your life. We will explore memory, motivation and meaning in a safe, collaborative and lively setting."



The Memory Chamber is a walk-through architectural structure whose aim is to encourage a reconnection to images, sounds, smells and feelings of the past, present and future and an invitation to the gallery visitor to leave his/her own mark on the world.



Robert Black comes to Brandon from Ann Arbor, Michigan where he was a principal of Sunstructures Architects, award-winning and nationally recognized experts in sustainable design and energy-conscious architecture. His diverse professional practice includes community planning, architectural design and construction, group dynamics and facilitation, and the creation and production of installations and performance works of art. A current board member of the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, Black has been active in creating a Master Plan for future expansion and design of the Carving Studio campus. Black's teaching includes a course entitled History Through Architecture which he brings each year to several Waldorf High Schools around the nation.



For more information and to register for the four-part lecture and workshop series contact Fran Bull at Gallery in-the-Field. Cell: 802-558-8609, Phone: 802-247-0125, Email: franbull@franbull.com

PRESS RELEASE: Katherine Buchmayr at Equinox Village, Mancester.

The Surprising Development of a Local Painter

Painters choose their favorite type of paint in any number of ways. Whether it’s water color, oils, or acrylics, they note drying time and the virility of color. Katherine Buchmayr—who often paints in the sunny bay window of the kitchen in her Dorset, Vermont home—chose her medium when her cats walked through her paint. When she was using acrylics, the cats left indelible paw prints all over the house. Because she can sacrifice neither her passion for painting nor her beloved cats, she has switched to water-based oils.

The Gallery at Equinox Village and the Greater Manchester Arts Council are pleased to host an exhibit of Buchmayr’s paintings from August 18 – September 19, 2011. The Gallery, which is located at 49 Maple Street in Manchester Center, is open from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily. The opening of Buchmayr’s exhibit is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 18, 2011. The event is free and open to the public. Visitors can view the artwork, meet the artist, enjoy live music from Andy Avery, and taste hors d’oeuvres from the Equinox Village kitchen. Kindly R.S.V.P. to (802) 362-4061.

Buchmayr has been sketching and painting since she was a child, when she lived in Amsterdam, NY; Albany, N.Y.; Vail, Colo.; and in Connecticut. She lived in Vermont and Boston for a time and took classes at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Southern Vermont Arts Center. While there at SVAC, she was encouraged to show a piece she had painted of her brother-in-law’s barn. To her surprise, it sold for $600. It was then that she started taking painting more seriously.

Buchmayr belongs to the Northshire Artists Group. She is well-known for her Dorset landscapes and enjoys painting both farm and domestic animals, including her own cats. She has had solo exhibitions at the Southern Vermont Arts Center, the Dorset Library, the Northshire Medical Center, the Village Fare, Spiral Café, and the Stratton Arts Festival.

Equinox Village is a vibrant independent living community situated on eleven pristine acres in the heart of the Green Mountains’ rich cultural and recreational opportunities. Residents enjoy private, spacious apartments with exquisite views and fine dining in the community’s full-service white-tablecloth restaurant. Well-appointed common areas provide ideal places to meet family and friends and to participate in cultural events, health and wellness programs, and educational opportunities. Equinox Village was founded in 2006 by brothers Dr. Jim Russell and John Russell. They lead a team of caring professionals to offer the premier independent living experience in the region.

The Greater Manchester Arts Council, Inc., a regional arts organization, is committed to engaging community in creative partnerships that enhance life-style and long-term economic stability. Their aim is to provide abundant opportunities for the community—artists, writers, performers, educators, residents and visitors—to become involved with the arts. They sponsor and promote the Southern Vermont Arts Trail, the Manchester and the Mountains Poets and Writers Weekend, and many partnerships throughout the region.

PRESS RELEASE: Elizabeth Torak at Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester

The Feast of Venus I: An Exploration of The Artist's Process

July 23-October 16

Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum

Southern Vermont Arts Center

Manchester, Vermont

Tu-Sat 10-5 Sun 12-5 Closed Mon

The Feast of Venus: an Exploration of the Artist’s Process is a door into the mind of the artist at work. The exhibit centers around a large figure painting The Feast of Venus I and includes 37 drawings and 8 oil studies that went into its development. From inspired scribbles to highly finished working drawings, to experiments with composition, this exhibit invites the viewer to walk with the artist along the creative path to a complex piece.

Venus is the mythological goddess traditionally associated with beauty, love, and fertility. A theme of the Baroque period, paintings of The Feast of Venus typically depict a voluptuous goddess surrounded by dozens of frolicking men, women, infants, and the occasional satyr. In Elizabeth Torak’s interpretation Venus is an internal force: not a goddess to be worshiped, but an inner strength to be felt. Her feast is a celebration of women, a consideration of the relationship between women and food, and a meditation on the mystery of creativity.

Image: Feast of Venus I, oil on linen, 60 x 108"

PRESS RELEASE: "Out of the Woods" at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild in St. Johnsbury

Here, in Vermont's portion of the Great Northern Forest, trees sustain us -- body and soul : we use them to build and heat our houses, to grace our landscapes, and to restore our spirits. A new exhibition, Out of the Woods, at the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild, explores the many ways that artists and artisans celebrate wood as a medium both for fine art and for elegant and practical handcraft.

"Out of the Woods" opens on August 12 and continues through September 28, 2011. Located at 430 Railroad St., St. Johnsbury, the Guild's hours are Monday-Saturday, 10:30am to 5:30 pm.

There will be an artists reception on Saturday, August 20, from 3:00-5:00 pm, and the public is cordially invited.

Artists in this exhibition include Al Stirt, whose work is in the Smithsonian Institution, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the American Craft Museum in New York, and many others; Ford Evans of Hanover, and David Brown of Craftsbury Common. All three make extraordinary bowls, as well as other work. Naomi Bossom of Lyndonville and Claire Van Vliet of Newark, are printmakers; the wood blocks from which they make prints are works of art in themselves. Van Vliet is a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, and has works in the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery. In addition, the exhibition will have work by Doug Clarner, from East Burke, and Bill Peberdy, from Corinth, who both make furniture, mirrors, cabinets and other household items. Jack Alan Stewart, of Barnet, sculpts in wood. Louis Pulzetti, in Concord, is inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement and combines wood, metal and stained glass to make lamps, tables and other pieces that, while functional, are also works of art. .

These artists find not only inspiration but spiritual qualities through working in wood, as the quotations below make clear.

Al Stirt, says, " From the earliest times bowls have had meanings for people beyond the purely utilitarian. The bowl as vessel has a resonance deep within the human psyche . . . Even in the most simple pieces I try to find a harmony of grain and shape. I seek a balance in my work between the dynamic and the serene . . . By playing with the tension created by combining the circle's perfection with the energy of pattern I am trying to make pieces that have life.

Jack Alan Stewart believes that "All that we do and all that is within nature is art. Art is a process where form transforms and reforms again and again. In life, in art, it is important to practice over and over again so that what was at first most difficult and unnatural becomes a very wonderful and natural act."

"Out of the Woods" will delight and surprise you, and you are invited to meet the artists the Guild's August 20 reception..’

Image: Curly Maple bowl, by Al Stirt

PRESS RELEASE: Snap! Crackle! Pop! at CVAG Cricketers Gallery in Grafton

Who: Grafton Valley Arts Guild
What: Snap! Crackle! Pop!
When: Opening Saturday August 20th at 3 PM Show Runs Thru Sept 15th
Where: GVAG Cricketers Gallery, 45 Townshend Road, Grafton, Vermont
For More Information Please Contact: Adam Howard at 802 843 1162 or email brycelevancushing@gmail.com

It has been a very productive summer season here in Grafton, Vermont and a busy time at the Grafton Valley Arts Guild Cricketers Gallery. The guild is pleased to announce a season of upcoming group shows featuring our entire membership. The first in the series being: Snap! Crackle! Pop!. The show features the work of top selling artists: Dante Falcone (Photography), David Stone (Pottery) and Frances Holliday Alford (Hand Canceled Postal Collage). Snap! Crackle! Pop! opens on Saturday August 20th at 3 PM with a gala event. The show runs through September 15th. The Cricketers Gallery is located at 45 Townshend Road in Grafton, Vermont and is open Thursday thru Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM.

Dante Falcones' photographic style involves a micro eye on flowers and insects. His delicate point of view allows the viewer inside the life of a flower and the insects that inhabit them. He also captures images of the architecture of the village of Grafton and his work has been very well received by our patrons. GVAG will be showing a retrospective of his work as well as several self published books and other print material.

The guild enjoys great success marketing the pottery of David Stone. An excellent potter and a Grafton Village Cheese Company employee, David is a welcome addition to GVAG. The Cricketers gallery will be featuring his wheel thrown carved vessels with iron oxide wash as well as his smoked fired burnished vessels and functional pottery.

The pop element of Snap! Crackle! Pop! comes from accomplished fiber artist Frances Holliday Alford of Embellishment Studio. Curator Bryce LeVan Cushing is hanging an entire wall in the gallery of her hand cancelled postal collages. All the pieces have been sent many times through the mail as postcards and feature intricate pop-inspired design and detail. They are a favorite of our customers and we look forward to viewing the entire collection of these magically whimsical pieces!

For more information about the Grafton Valley Arts Guild please contact the President Adam Howard at 802 843 1162. For information regarding the Cricketers Gallery please call Bryce LeVan Cushing at 802 843 1162.

Images: Top to Bottom: Dante Falcone, David Stone, Frances Holliday Alford

PRESS RELEASE: Women’s Work at T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier

PRESS RELEASE: Women’s Work at T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier

Women’s Work IS Done – and Exhibited!

August 16^th-Septemebr 25^th in Montpelier’s T.W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center

The T.W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center is pleased to host one of their largest and most comprehensive Group Shows in recent memory –Women’s Work – The Visual Art of Vemont’s Women.

Some two dozen Artists will be on exhibit in the Wood’s Main Gallery from August 16^th through September 25^th. This eclectic and exciting exhibit of some of the State’s most accomplished and acclaimed artists will kick off with a Gala Opening reception on Thursday, August 18^th from 5-7 pm. Please join many of the artists represented as well as the Wood’s Board and Staff for a celebration of these wonderful works by Vermont’s Visionary Visualists!

Among the Artists represented are: Gladys Agell, Alex Bottenelli, Judy Dales, Lois Eby, Elizabeth Fran, Marcie Hemansader, Barbara Korecki, Sally Linder, Linda Maney, Janet McKenzie, Riki Moss, Liz Nelson, Jane Pincus, Barbara Readon, Delia Robinson, Anne Sarcka, Diannne Schullenberger, Kathy Stark, Missy Storrow, Susan Swayer, Janet Van Fleet, Ann Young, & More! And don’t forget to visit the newly refreshed exhibit of our founder, T.W. Wood and some of his friends and contemporaries in the Wood Room, and browse our fine collection of Vermont Arts and Crafts in the Wood Shop.

The T.W. Wood gallery & Arts Center is located in College Hall at the Vermont College of Fine Arts - 36 College Street in Montpelier, VT. Gallery hours of operation are Tuesdays through Sundays – 12 Noon until 4:00pm. The T.W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center is an accessible venue.

Image: Summer Installation #1, a photograph by Barbara Korecki of her own work

PRESS RELEASE: Jane Stickle Trunk Show and Workshops at the Bennington Museum

From September 6 through October 16 the quilt that inspires quilters all over the world will be on its yearly display at the Bennington Museum. Brought to the museum 60 years ago, the Jane Stickle Quilt is only shown for a short time each year due to the fragility of the fabric. Quilters from all over the country plan trips to the region during that time to see the 1863 quilt that is comprised of 169 five-inch blocks, each in different patterns, containing a remarkable total of 5,602 pieces surrounded by a unique scalloped border. The craftsmanship of the quilt has been mentioned in numerous quilting books, and is the topic of Dear Jane, The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt, by Brenda Papadakis.

"The significance of quilts, with their vibrant colors and precise geometric patterns, goes beyond the comforting, everyday use they received by their original owners. Today, within the context of museums, these early textiles can be re-envisioned as works of art on par with any abstract painting of the twentieth century. The Stickle Quilt, with its dizzying array of printed cloth patterns and individual block designs, surely embodies this idea of quilts as art,” states Jamie Franklin, curator of the Bennington Museum.

Jane Stickle was born Jane Blakely on April 8, 1817 in Shaftsbury, Vermont. Married to Walter Stickle sometime before 1850, they did not have a family of their own. They did however take responsibility for at least three other children. In an 1860’s census, Jane Stickle was listed as a 43 year-old farmer living alone. She eventually reunited with her husband, but during that time alone she lovingly created what is now known as the Jane Stickle Quilt. As a reminder of the turbulent times the country was going through, she carefully embroidered “In War Time 1863” into the quilt.

There will be several presentations and workshops at the museum related to the exhibit of the quilt. For more information, visit www.benningtonmuseum.org

The Jane Stickle Quilt can be viewed with regular museum admission. The Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main Street (Route 9), Bennington in The Shires of Vermont and is just a short ride from Manchester, Williamstown, and eastern New York. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the museum is closed on Wednesday except during September and October when it is open every day of the week. Visit the museum at www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571 for more information.

Image: Jane Stickle Quilt (detail), courtesy of the Bennington Museum

PRESS RELEASE: The Church of Circus in Downtown Burlington

Check out 152 Cherry Street, former home of Outdoor Gear Exchange and new home of Church of Circus!

This project brings a core group of Burlington artists together during the month of August to create an interactive, spectacular, accessible, performative, informative space for art.

The Church of Circus is a ‘pop-up’ group art exhibit installed temporarily in the space that was formerly Outdoor Gear Exchange, a huge retail space in downtown Burlington. In a dizzying installation of sculpture, painting, photography and performance, ten Vermont-based artists plan to put their own spin on the Brechtian tradition of collaboration and audience participation as a vehicle to aesthetic experience. The Church of Circus preaches ‘Art For All’, creating an interactive lively and provocative atmosphere for all who enter.

Information at the group's blog. Artists Currently Include:

Art Bishop Bell
Kat Reverend Clear
Clark Choir Boy Derbes
Andy Abbot Duback
Nancy Deacon Dwyer
Wylie Your Grace Garcia
Elliott Dean Katz
Abby Church Mouse Manock
Lindsay Canon Vezina
Tony- Lee Preacher Sangastiano

Image below: The space before Church of Circus

PRESS RELEASE: Carolyn Enz Hack at the Vermont Arts Council’s Spotlight Gallery in Montpelier

Carolyn Enz Hack’s exhibit, Evil Divided By Good, will be at The Spotlight Gallery at the Vermont Arts Council, 136 State Street in Montpelier, during July and August. Gallery Hours are Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

ARTIST STATEMENT: This work starts with an idea of how I want to manipulate the materials. Cutting, folding, sewing, etc. creates an interplay of surfaces. While I am crafting the basic structure there is time to let my subconscious wander until an idea intersects with the piece that is taking shape. The left-brain aspect of planning and executing is overtaken by the right-brain gift of free association. The piece is then finished with the influence of that idea hovering in the background.

The act of making is highlighted in each piece. Hand making has become rare in our culture and is often trying to mimic the machined and mass-produced as a value judgment against the “homemade.” This work invites the viewer to explore both the technical and fun aspects of turning a piece of paper into a complex work of art.

“Why do we make things?” is a question that I often ask myself. Many objects are made out of necessity but others are made to extend the limitations of communication. These pieces are expressions of the subconscious bubbling away even while I’m focused on cutting and weaving. Metaphors that come from the depths are then literally expressed with openings in the picture plane.

Image: Antigone, Paper, Watercolor, Wire , 18x23x5”

PRESS RELEASE: Historical Potographs and Documents at Goddard College in Plainfield

The History of Goddard College Exhibit:
An Era of Growth, Expansion, and Transitions, 1960-1969

When: June 25th—December 20th, 2011

Where: Eliot D. Pratt Library, Goddard College, 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, Vermont

Curated by Goddard staff and alumnus Dustin Byerly, this exhibit of historical photographs and documents focuses on the ways in which Goddard College responded to the rapid growth of the 1960s. It examines the development of several different College programs and experiments using photographs, historical records, college papers, interviews and video recordings.

These were also the years when Goddard began developing "low-residence" adult programs: the Adult Degree Program (ADP), in which students planned semester-long independent studies in two-week intensive residencies; and the Goddard Experimental Program in Further Education (GEPFE), originally a Head Start Staff Supplementary Training Program, which expanded to serve low-income and other working adults living near the college with a combination of "weekend workshops” and independent studies.

Topics covered in this exhibit include the Adult Degree Program, GEPFE, the Goddard College Fire Department, the construction of the Village for Learning, the Multi-Campus Experiment, the construction of Northwood Campus, the Countercultural Movement, Allen Ginsberg’s 1966 visit, the construction of the Eliot Pratt Center and Library, and President Tim Pitkin’s departure from the College after 31 years. This is just the fourth in a series of exhibits that will eventually document the entire history of Goddard College.

For more information, contact Michelle Barber at 802.454.8311 or visit www.goddard.edu.

Image: Eliot D. Pratt, about 1950

PRESS RELEASE: Jan Ghiringhelli at the Drawing Board in Montpelier

Montpelier native, Jan Ghiringhelli, will present The Still Life: Flora & Fruit, the theme of her new show at the Drawing Board in Montpelier.

Painting Alla Prima in oil & acrylic, the representational artist paints from life close up floral & fruit portraits using a shallow depth of field. There is a quiet beauty in the shapes & colors of her simple and ordinary objects. Working on a toned surface, she lightly blocks in her shapes and the painting evolves shape to shape without any preliminary drawing.

Ghiringhelli also works in the genres of landscape and the figure.

The show runs August 1st - 31st.

For more information about the Drawing Board, contact 802 223 2902, or the artist, PainterJan2004 @yahoo.com.

Image: Mock orange & Blues

PRESS RELEASE: Photography Contest and Exhibit at the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland

The Chaffee Art Center is excited to announce the 4th Annual Amateur Photography Contest and Exhibit opening Saturday August 6th, from 4-7 PM, at the Chaffee Art Center, 16 South Main Street, Rutland, VT. Over 150 photographs have been submitted by amateur photographers on the theme of "Special Places: the place we like to go".

This year's Photography Exhibit is featuring photographs by professional photographer and juried artist Katrina Mojzesz, of South Royalton, VT, as well as photographs from Chaffee Juried Artist Members in the second floor galleries. A special reception has been scheduled for Katrina on Art Hop Friday, August 12, from 5-8 PM.

Grand prizes and popular choice awards will be given away at the Closing Reception on Saturday, August 27, 5-7 PM. People's Choice Voting starts August 6 and runs through August 26. Stop by to vote for your favorite photo!

Exciting changes have been made this year. All photos have been matted and framed and will be auctioned off as part of a silent auction, benefitting the amateur artists as well as the Chaffee. The 4th Annual Amateur Photography Contest and Exhibit runs through August 27, 2011, and is sponsored by Cape Air and Phototec.

Image: High Rise, by Kiernan Lackney

PRESS RELEASE: Stephen Huneck Retrospective at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury

Stephen Huneck - Dogs, Angels and More Dogs
-a Memorial-Retrospective Exhibition
Dates: Monday, August 1st through Friday, September 30th
Reception: Friday, August 12m 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Dogs, Angels and More Dogs: Works 1985-2010, presenting the whimsical creations of late Vermont artist Stephen Huneck, will be the featured exhibit at Catamount Arts in St. Johnsbury from August 1 through September 30 of this year. The exhibit is the first major retrospective of the artist’s works since his death in January, 2010, and includes early work from the 1980's---some of it never shown before. A special reception honoring Huneck and his work will be held from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Friday, August 12, at Catamount Arts, which is located at 115 Eastern Avenue in St. Johnsbury. The reception is free and open to the public.

Mounted with the full cooperation and involvement of Huneck’s wife Gwen, the exhibit spans the period of Huneck’s greatest productivity and fame and includes not only many of the artist’s most famous prints of Labrador Retrievers, but also sculptures, stained glass, books and even furniture featuring his signature look. A special highlight of the exhibit will be the “Dog Chapel” installation, a personal meditation area that will include a bench handmade by Huneck, a window he created for the original chapel, a message wall and even a live, internet connection to the chapel so that exhibit goers can share in the actual experience of visiting the famous tourist attraction, which is located just outside the village of St. Johnsbury, and is currently under the threat of sale for back taxes, see http://www.dogmt.com.

PRESS RELEASE: Owen Bissex at Blinking Light Art Gallery in Plainfield

The Blinking Light Art Gallery in Plainfield, Vermont, announces:
A show of work by artist and Plainfield native Owen Bissex from Aug. 12 through Sept. 30, 2011. There will be an artist’s reception Friday, Aug. 12, from 4-7 pm. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Maine College of Art, 27-year old Owen works as a classically trained artist in a range of mediums. His current projects include both realistic and allegorical figurative sculpture in mixed mediums, drawings and rough studies in conte crayon, and a fanciful genre he calls, simply, “monster stuff.”

Owen’s artistic trajectory owes something to the many forms and functions in nature that continue to catch his eye. Soon after college, Owen worked as a studio assistant in Kansas City, Missouri, where he helped to craft natural history and prehistoric life models for such prestigious clients as the Smithsonian Institute, the National Geographic Society and others. He helped create one of the world’s largest dinosaur models for the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.

But Owen has far more than dinosaurs to his artistic credit. His drawing and figure sculpture run from the elegantly classical to the whimsical. He sometimes melds components from the natural world that may seem disparate, but have a lyrical or underlying thematic connection. Some have an uncanny power to delight and disturb simultaneously.

To “Like,” “Tweet,” and otherwise repeat: Look for a feature article about Owen and his work in the upcoming Aug. 4 edition of the Montpelier Bridge.

Images: Empty Threat, Pasture 1, Pasture 2

PRESS RELEASE: Performance and installation at Goddard, by Dana Heffern, Plainfield

Antidote

an evening of performative dining and installation art.

Goddard MFA student Dana Heffern presents Antidote, an evening of performative dining and installation art that brings to the table the concept of proper dinner behavior and looks at the questions: Is it okay for a diseased person to perform medical procedures in front of people eating, and in front of the public in general? The situation will ask the performers, guests, and viewers to examine their ideas of "right" and "wrong" as well as the "good" and "bad" of the event, challenging the criteria of conduct around food and public display, medicine and sickness. The event will highlight and make visible the private experience of living and eating as a Type 1 diabetic.

The artist will also address the environmental impact of non-recyclable medical supplies that Type 1 patients use through her visual bricolage artwork as part of this installation.

Location: Haybarn Theatre, Goddard College, 123 Pitkin Road, Plainfield, Vermont.

When: Tuesday July 26th 7:30-9:30 pm.

About the Artist

Dana Heffern has been working as a decorative painter, interior designer, and Broadway scenic artist in New York City for over a decade. She has either painted or lead the painting crews responsible for many of the top selling and Tony awarded scenery on Broadway today. Shows such as Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Spamalot, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spring Awakening, The Lion King, The Color Purple, and Mamma Mia. She has recently moved with her husband to the Burlington area where she is currently working towards her MFA at Goddard College. A United Way 2010 ‘Hometown Hero’ nominee through Spectrum Youth and Family Services, she is working with her mentee and offering guidance as a mentor. Dana is excited about teaching workshops she is involved in at both the BCA and the Flynn Arts.