Behind the bylines
Summer 2013 issue: Behind the bylines In putting together this issue, the theme of connections came into focus in so many ways — connections among people and communities, connections among artists engaging in a common medium, connections between farmers and the rugged terrain of Southern Vermont. “A sense of place is vital to community, say the founders of the West River Community Project in West Townshend,” reports Thelma O’Brien , a...
Calendar: Garden Tours
Bennington Arts Guild 103 South St., Bennington benningtonartsguild.org, 802-447-0388 Thru June 3: New Works by BAG members show. June 7-July 1: Zentangle-inspired art in 2D & 3D. July 29: Contemporary ceramics & stoneware. Aug 2-Sept 2: Group show featuring exquisite glass works, jewelry and other items fashioned from recycled zippers and vintage fabrics and buttons.
Tony Conner, Visual Art
By Allison Teague Like many who take up the arts following a first career, Tony Conner needed only the right moment to act. When downsizing loomed in 2003, this former AT&T account executive leaped at the chance to paint full-time. He’s glad he did. But painting the rural landscapes of Vermont and New England, and tackling commercial work, is not all Conner, now a Bennington-based watercolorist and teacher, does — and many,...
Reaching for the stars
Nurturing the Arts: Dina Janis, Theater: Reaching for the stars By Allison Teague Dorset, in Bennington County, has nurtured performance theater since 1927, when residents staged a three-act play, “39 East,” in the Town Hall. It was received with such great enthusiasm that it spun out the Dorset Players, and a legend was born. Two years later the community raised funds for a larger space, the Dorset Playhouse. Let’s leap ahead,...
Live performance as community
Nurturing the Arts: Liisa Kissel, Music: Live performance as community By Allison Teague It took the Grafton Music Festival only three years to rise to the status of go-to music festival, held in tandem with the annual visit of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra & Fireworks, itself a Grafton staple of the past 23 years. Grafton resident Liisa Kissel, president of Grafton Music Festival, Inc., serves with a board of three to get the...
Hot glass in cool Vermont
Hot glass in cool Vermont By Joyce Marcel If we’re going to talk about art glass, we might as well begin with Aldous Huxley. In “The Doors of Perception,” Huxley’s 1954 book on his mescaline experience, he theorizes that mankind’s “otherwise inexplicable passion for gems” might arise because precious stones “bear a faint resemblance to the glowing marvels seen with the inner eye of the visionary.” And if you can’t have gemstones, he...
Raising a ruckus in Southern Vermont
Raising a ruckus in Southern Vermont A show celebrating major themes of influental artist Red Grooms over 60 years — his first show ever in Vermont, and his first in New England in 16 years — opens in Brattleboro this summer By Arlene Distler And now, under the big top, in the center ring, Red Grooms, ringmaster of the human comedy, brings you jugglers, wild animals, acrobats, clowns, and trapeze artists; whole chunks of Manhattan,...
A husband and wife collaborate on art that places our own Planet Earth in a cosmic context
A husband and wife collaborate on art that places our own Planet Earth in a cosmic context By Arlene Distler The drive to Old Manchester from Bennington on Route 7A takes in historic mansions, the poet Robert Frost’s modest home, numerous old stone walls and foundations, lovely meadows, and majestic trees. It was difficult to concentrate on driving, but eventually I arrived in the manicured and elegant part of Manchester that is quite...
Creative careers: Tucked in the hills of Southern Vermont, Brattleboro-West Arts members make beautiful art and live rich lives
Creative careers: Tucked in the hills of Southern Vermont, Brattleboro-West Arts members make beautiful art and live rich lives By Chris Lann West Brattleboro basket maker Jackie Abrams’ studio shelves are filled with sculptural woven baskets. The body of her own creative work sits side by side with pieces that exemplify the traditional techniques she teaches. Walls and doors are covered with photos of people she’s met and taught...
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