A fortunate life: Morning coffee with artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason
By Joyce Marcel In the summer, artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason live and paint in paradise: a blessed hillside in Southern Vermont. At 90, Kahn is a colorist; Mason, 85, is an abstract painter whose focus is color. The rest of the year the treasured members of the Windham County community live in New York City, where they each have a studio. They arrived in Brattleboro somewhat accidentally. In 1967, the couple began looking for a...
Scott MacDonald: A man, a plan, and lots of guitars
By Meg Brazill Imagine a cabin at the edge of a woods with everything at the ready, even freshly brewed coffee. Light filters in through a canopy of trees. Outside, it’s noisy with birdsong and the rustle of wildlife just out of view. Scott MacDonald, who makes and repairs guitars and stringed instruments, turned his dream to reality this year: he pounded the last nail in place and moved his luthier business of 25 years from Long...
Out of the studio: Craft tour artists talk about living with art
By Ann C. Landenberger Beautiful, functional and now local. Using handmade objects in the home continues to be a pleasure. Now with emphasis on the benefits of upcycled, recycled, and environmentally green artwork, careful selection allows us to be socially responsible too. The fact that buying from Vermont artists puts money back into the Vermont economy makes this an even better action for the homeowner, the artist, and the...
Wine Observed: Smitten by Grüner Veltliner, our introduction to Austrian wines
By Marty Ramsburg One of the great things about owning a wine shop is that we have to try a lot of different wines. (I must say here that the greatest thing about owning a shop—hands down—remains our terrific, interesting and loyal customers. I am sorry if it sounds like pandering, but it is nonetheless true). We first became enamored with Austrian wines in 2006 just after we opened Windham Wines. Until then, we drank wines made...
Design Observed: New theaters design the experience
It’s been a momentous year for two venerable Southern Vermont performing arts institutions. The Weston Playhouse Theater Company and the Brattleboro Music Center both embarked on ambitious building projects that resulted in state-of-the-art performing arts centers that recently opened, which will allow both facilities to expand their offerings, provide enhanced audience experience and take them into the future. By Katherine P. Cox...
Retail grace: Brattleboro merchants import goods with rich backstories
By Nicole Colson When we give businesses our patronage—in, say, grabbing a cup of coffee on the way to work, looking for a special gift, or picking out home decor—most of us probably don’t give much thought to the stories behind the products we buy. It might surprise us to learn that several downtown Brattleboro retailers help populations around the world land an education, feed their families, and make a decent wage for a better...
39th Annual Putney Craft Tour
Putney enjoys one of the most exciting concentrations of artists in the state. A wealth of artists came to the area in the 1960s and ’70s as part of the back-to-the-land movement and put down roots. Each year for three days at Thanksgiving many of these artists open their studios to the public as part of the Putney Craft Tour, the country’s oldest continuously run craft tour. If this isn’t part of your fall tradition yet it soon might...
Cotton Mill Arts Open Studio and Holiday Sale
Cotton Mill Hill, Brattleboro, Dec 1–3 This 19th annual seasonal event celebrates the work and creations of artists, musicians, bakers, cooks, and craftspeople of the Cotton Mill, and many other talented, juried artists and artisans from Brattleboro and surrounding communities. This popular spirited, sensory extravaganza spread throughout the three floors of the Mill is sure to provide something for everyone. Tenants invite you to...
Open studio tours and arts festivals
North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show Downtown Bennington http://www.northbennington.org Thru Oct 29: Artist Joe Chirchirillo organizes and curates the 20th annual North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show. Through the ages, classic sculpture—whether a Greek or Roman marble or a Far East depiction of Buddha—tends to follow a familiar visual aesthetic with which most lovers of art, as well as the lay public, are familiar. Enter...
Columbus Day weekend
Heirloom Apple Tasting Day Scott Farm, Dummerston http://www.scottfarmvermont.com Oct 8, 10a, 12p, 2p Each October during Columbus Day weekend we open our packing barn at Scott Farm for an heirloom apple tasting celebration. Our orchard manager, Ezekiel Goodband, offers all a taste of a select group of apples while sharing apple lore. What was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple? Who was Mr. Greening and what was his claim to fame? Come...
Pumpkin fests
33rd Townshend Pumpkin Festival Townshend, on the Common http://www.townshenvermont.org Oct 14 The Pumpkin Festival is a country fair with a craft show, plus pumpkin decorating contest, Halloween costume parade, best pumpkin pie contest, food vendors, and free pony rides for kids during Vermont’s foliage season. Buy your pumpkin pies whole or by the piece. Manchester Pumpkin Festival Equinox Valley Nursery, Manchester...
Fall Festivals
Weston Antiques Show Weston Playhouse, Weston http://www.westonantiquesshow.org Sept 28-30, 10a-5p, preview Sept 28, 7:30p Featuring renowned dealers from across the United States with American and English furniture, accessories, Americana, folk art, silver, samplers, paintings, Oriental rugs, jewelry, and more. Since the Weston Antiques Show’s inception, more than 85,000 attendees have enjoyed the show and more than $1 million has...
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