Archive for the 'Vermont Artists' Category

UVM’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture is hosting “Bounty: A Celebration of Vermont’s Farming Artists” tonight  (Friday, Sept. 25th) at the Seminary Art Center in Waterbury Center. Artists include Barbara Flack, Kristan Doolan, Kate Stockman, Nancy Hayden, Pete Guenther, Jenn Colby, George Woodard, Gerianne Smart, Phyllis Bowdish, Diane Petrie and Emily Curtis Murphy. The show includes paintings, sculptures, videos, photography and textiles by artists who are also farmers. The show will be at the Seminary Art Center (pictured above) for a while, though specific dates are not yet listed, and then will be travelling to other venues around the state (also not yet specified). I would recommend calling ahead to see if the installations are still there.

Image by Tony the Misfit via Flickr

Middlebury, VT based artist, Douglas Lazarus, came up with the idea for an art show with pieces by Vermont artists inspired by Lake Champlain. His intention is “to announce to the rest of the country that Vermont has a disproportionate number of artists living here” while highlighting the increasing popularity of regional artwork and showing pieces representative of “the rising, new environmental consciousness, and a frustration with the rootlessness of late 20th-century life”, according to a June 2008 interview with Seven Days.

The show, titled “Champlain’s Lake Rediscovered” contains 39 pieces, primarily paintings, and will start it’s tour at the Shelburne Farms Coach Barn on May 8, 2009. From there it will head to the National Arts Club in NYC, the Boston Public Library and the Southern Vermont Art Center in Manchester, VT. The show is coinciding with Vermont’s year-long celebration of Lake Champlain’s 400th anniversary.

For a sneak peak of the pieces, visit the gallery here and read more about the show in Pamela Polston’s article for Seven Days here. Access dates and locations here.

Vermont based visual artist Susan Abbott started a wonderful blog in October of 2008 titled ‘Let Me Show You Vermont’, named after a book of the same title written in 1937 by Charles Edward Crane, which is also the first book she bought when she moved to Vermont. Inspired by Crane’s vivid descriptions of Vermont’s rural past, Abbott’s blog – in her own words – “[is a report] of what’s still here, what has vanished forever, and what may be coming to my wonderful adopted home state.”

Her blog shows both paintings (which are available for purchase) and sketches from her personal journals of her travels throughout Vermont. Most of the towns she visits are new to her and she faithfully refers back to her guiding text comparing what she observes today with what Crane observed over 70 years ago. Abbott notes businesses, buildings of interest, historically relevant tidbits as well as the driving route in each post. It’s comforting to read along and recognize the places in her sketches, or to learn something new about a place that may only be a name on a sign you see on your daily commute.

I highly suggest reading through her past posts and checking in on her blog every so often to see where her travels have taken her. She is a joy to ‘travel’ with and shares a wonderful view of Vermont. You can also visit her website, www.susanabbott.com for more information and images of her work.

For information about other Vermont based artists with work featured on our site, visit our About the Artists page.