Catherine Dianich

Catherine Dianich

Down an inviting alleyway, through glass doors and at the far end of a low-ceilinged lobby in an old brick industrial building repurposed into offices, retail stores and apartments, resides a unique Brattleboro gallery in an unlikely location behind floor-to-ceiling windows that make it seem like you’re entering an art-filled snow globe.
That is how people first encounter Catherine Dianich Gallery, which for the past nine years has been a notable player in the town’s vibrant art scene, carving a path distinct from other galleries, reflecting the unique vision of its founder and owner.

“I never intended to own a gallery. I was keenly interested in the curatorial process,” said Catherine Dianich. “In some ways, I’m not a traditional gallery. I might better be described as a curator/art consultant. I‘m interested in cultivating long-term relationships with artists, patrons and the community.”

Whatever it is, the gallery is located in the small southeastern Vermont town Dianich first saw more than three decades ago. An aspiring and talented photographer, Dianich first came to the Brattleboro area to study with the renowned artist Fred Picker.

“I drove into town and said ‘This is going to be my town,’ and 20 years later it became my town,” Dianich said.

After studying with Picker, she moved on to take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime — a chance to study photography with Ansel Adams. So she moved to California around 1980 to learn from the master.

“He was just such a heroic figure…to even be in his presence,” she said. “I was much younger. I think he was just really drawn to young people with ideas. …I still use the same film, paper and developer as I used with him.”

After that, she moved on and nurtured her interest in curatorial work by helping to launch the nonprofit Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts.

“We were working with artists who were doing work that was really on the cutting edge. That was very exciting, and that’s a piece that I bring to the gallery,” she said. “I’m interested in showing work that I want people to have a dialogue with.”

She kept her promise to herself by moving to Brattleboro in 2002, where she intended to set up shop as a curator and consultant. She worked with the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center to curate a show of work by photographer Justine Kurland. But Dede Cummings, a local designer and writer who shares office space with Dianich, urged her to turn the unlikely space in the lobby of the Hooker-Dunham building into a gallery. It very quickly established itself as a unique player in the local arts scene, showing work that more commercially oriented galleries wouldn’t.

“Someone once said the gallery is a lot like a small museum,” said Dianich. “I want an artist who’s passionate about their work and has an exhibition record. I show very established with museum records. …I have a personal mission. It’s work that I have to resonate with before I put it on my walls.”

Most of the artists she exhibits are based in Vermont or very nearby.

But she’s also committed to showing the work of younger, unproven artists. She devotes one month a year to showing the work of students from nearby Marlboro College. One of those students, Marguerite Fields, now works with Dianich.

That partnership is one of many in the community she cherishes. She has collaborated with the Women’s Freedom Center, the Brattleboro Literary Festival, the Brattleboro Museum and breastfeeding campaigns, among others. In 2008, she brought “Berditchev,” a challenging exhibit of photos, film and sculpture about the killing fields where Nazis murdered Ukrainian Jews, to town, with powerful results.

Her exhibits have a lighter side, too — February is given over to an annual “Love and Passion” show, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

These relationships with community groups, and the ones she has with the artists, are what she values most. Dianich’s work is about long-term relationships with a personal touch — studio visits, suppers in the backyard and close friendships are part of the deal when Dianich works with you.

“I think that’s something the gallery brings — that level of trust and integrity,” she said. “It’s many dialogues to get to a fit between the artist and the potential client.”

That level of trust shows in the way she prefers to do business.

“I simply operate with a handshake, and that’s what I love about being in Vermont,” she said. “I feel like I have an incredibly rich life in intimacy, family and friends — and all revolving around living an artful life,” she said.
The Catherine Dianich Gallery is open by appointment. Call 802-380-1607 or e-maildianichgallery@gmail.com. To check out her gallery, visit http://www.catherinedianichgallery.com.