Spotlight: Harris Hill Ski Jump
The Harris Hill Ski Jump, New England’s only Olympic-sized, 90-meter ski jumping hill, hosts its annual two-day ski jumping event Feb. 20 and 21, 2016. The event features the Brattleboro-specific Fred Harris Memorial Tournament and the Pepsi Challenge. The weekend also serves as the U.S. Cup Finals of the United States American Ski Jumping (USASJ) series. Founded in 1922, the competition attracts several thousand spectators each year...
Inner Fire: Healing the soul
Inner Fire offers a different approach to mental illness and addictions: art By Katherine P. Cox They reach rural Vermont seeking peace from the tumult of their lives and healing from the illnesses and addictions that feed that turmoil. At Inner Fire in Brookline, adults suffering from mental illnesses and addictions spend a year in an intense farm-based, artistic program that helps bring order back to their lives through various...
Wild Madder Design: Paring down to the poetry
Interior designers help their clients find the simple beauty in their home environment Native fall foliage in an antique ceramic vessel Interior designers help their clients find the simple beauty in their home environment By Katherine P. Cox Chatting over a picket fence in Grafton, they became friends. It’s a perfect metaphor for the two women who also became business partners two years ago with their Grafton-based home design firm,...
A quality of warmth: R. John Wright’s collectable dolls
A Bennington company lovingly produces felt dolls the old-fashioned way By Bonnie J. Ross R. John Wright was meeting up with his wife, Susan, to cast their votes for Jimmy Carter in the presidential election of 1976. John, who had just lost his job at a hardware store in Brattleboro but who had spent several years becoming fascinated by the world of doll making, held something wrapped in a blanket. “Want to see?” he asked Susan. She...
Cozy-casual Four Columns Inn lives again
Luxury stays, fine dining, gardens, and you Four Columns Inn has been the touchpoint of southern Vermont’s cultural, artistic, and culinary scene since 1965. That tradition is honored in the newly renovated and reopened Four Columns. In the 1960s, when the Inn was first opened as a guest house, it was imagined as a top-level lodging and dining destination. Operated by Rene and Pierrette Chardain, the Four Columns was the first true...
Maple season events
Vermont Maple Open House Weekend Various locations throughout Vermont http://www.vermontmaple.org April 2-3: Visit sugarhouses and restaurants across Vermont and see how maple syrup is made. Join our family tradition and take part in all the fun! Each sugarhouse offers guests a unique experience: Some hold pancake breakfasts; others offer wagon or sleigh rides. At some sugarhouses you can ski or snowshoe through the woods; others...
Winter carnivals & festivals
Brattleboro Winter Carnival Various locations throughout Brattleboro http://www.brattleborowintercarnival.org Feb 13-22: Every year, the town of Brattleboro comes together for Winter Carnival. There will be music, karaoke, an ice fishing derby, a queen’s pageant, a pancake breakfast, an ice skating show, sleigh rides, a petting zoo, a country-western jamboree, and more. This is always a fun party in downtown Brattleboro. Stowe Winter...
Music & theater
Vermont Arts Exchange Masonic Temple, 504 Main St., Bennington http://www.vtartxchange.org, 802 442-5549 Jan 9: Bella’s Bartok, Balkan-inspired, Klezmer-influenced, a circus-like sound, group harmonies, a bohemian vibe, dancy tunes, all with something of a punk edge. Jan 30: Dirty Bourbon River Show. Tight, multi-faceted sound and high-energy performance blending New Orleans big brass, smooth-croon lounge, jazzy sax solos, and...
At the museums
Bennington Center for the Arts 44 Gypsy Lane, Bennington 10a to 5p, Wed-Mon (closed Tues) http://www.thebennington.org, 802 442-7158 Ongoing: Exhibitions by many of the country’s most prestigious groups along with artists we chose to participate in shows that we curate annually have given The Bennington a reputation of a venue that exhibits only world-class art in an elegant, state-of-the-art facility. At the Covered Bridge Museum,...
Spotlight: Helmholz Fine Art
Following a successful pop-up gallery in 2014, the new permanent home of Helmholz Fine Art Gallery is now in Manchester Square, where a raw space that stood empty for four years is transformed to a wonderful modern gallery. Lisa Helmholz-Adams boasts an impressive background in the fashion, arts, and sports worlds. She spent 20 years running a local gallery in Manchester and now, with her own fine art gallery, she has the freedom to...
Farmers’ markets
Bennington Bennington Winter Farmers’ Market First and third Saturdays through April 16, 10a-1p First Baptist Church on East Main, http://www.benningtonfarmersmarket.org Brattleboro Brattleboro Winter Farmers’ Market Saturdays thru March 26, 10a-2p River Garden, downtown Brattleboro, http://www.Facebook.com/BrattleboroWinter FarmersMarket Dorset Dorset Winter Farmers’ Market Sundays thru May 1, 10a-2p J.K. Adams Kitchen Store on Route...
Champagne: When it’s time to sparkle
By Marty Ramsburg Celebrate — ’Tis the season! No wine connotes celebration more than something sparkling. Those gorgeous little air pockets so excited to be released from captivity set the tone and convey the mood. We have tried to spread the love by starting many of our get-togethers with sparkling. Family and friends, after all, are the relationships that deserve the greatest commemoration. At our shop, Windham Wines, we have...
We’re celebrating 10 years!
Southern Vermont Arts & Living chronicles the innovative culture and sophisticated country lifestyle of Southern Vermont.
Subscribe! We'll mail you the next four issues if you send us a check for $25 made out to Primetime Concepts, Inc. The address is 1484 Middle Road, Dummerston Center, VT 05301.
