Mark Burke resides on the rural edge of Brattleboro. He is a music-lover, writer, photographer, cardiologist and co-founder of Music New England, Inc. He is currently a member of the Brattleboro Town Arts Committee. He is an accomplished amateur photographer and enjoys showing locally. His work is eclectic, running the gamut from people in their environment to pictures of the environment. Mark is a founding member of Music New England, Inc, a 501(c)3 whose goal is to provide a classical music festival event that will move from place to place around Vermont under a mystical, large-scale tent. Its mission is to promote the communities, cultures, businesses, sponsors and individuals who reside around it and who participate with it, as well as making art and music accessible to a broad swath of the population.

Mark makes his living as a practicing cardiologist and has been active in promoting health in the community. He is an original member of the Pioneering Healthier Communities initiative sponsored by the National YMCA and the Centers for Disease Control, an effort later reincarnated locally as the Healthy Communities Coalition.

At home, he is a small gardener and amateur woodsman. He enjoys, among many things, a (very) small scale manual logging operation, stepping out of his door and taking a ride on his mountain bike, taking a hike in the woods surrounding his home or bushwhacking up a mountain on his back country skis or snowshoes.

"As I contemplated a possible journey on the Vermont Arts Council board of trustees, I reread its mission statement: “to advance and preserve the arts at the center of Vermont communities;” an undertaking based upon the foundational premises that the arts “enrich lives, expand minds and form a vital thread of community life.” I looked back to see the many places where that statement has come to life and looked forward to projects in progress which will serve to the great advantage of the people of Vermont and which will advance the goals of the Arts Council.

In parallel with that mission, those premises, and those many projects, I have my own internal vision of the arts in Vermont. In the foreground is a landscape composed of the broad-based recognition of the central, unspoken, unacknowledged and often unrealized role the arts play in the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Vermont life. As the perspective of the vision moves toward the horizon, the panorama begins to percolate with possibility. There are more and more glimpses of communities enriching their heritage (architectural, cultural, economic, collective and individual) as they recognize and promote the arts and the artists who are integral to them. There are centers where artists and businesses and everyday people congregate, communicate and create. Those creative places become a magnet for more business and more visitors and more art, all elevating the local community and its economy. All of these become the “vital threads” that will be woven into the fabric of our local lives.

I believe there is a great synergy between the Council’s vision and its goals and mine. I am energized by the possibility of working with the Arts Council. It will be an honor and a privilege to be a member of the board of trustees and to operate within the framework of its stated mission and goals."

Ed Clark is an art dealer and appraiser and President of Look North, an Inuit art gallery dealing in sculpture, painting, prints, and photographs, with locations in Guildhall, VT and New York City. He is a graduate of Ruskin College at Oxford University in England, the former chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts College of Art and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Frost Place in Franconia, NH. He is an accomplished fine arts photographer and co-founder of Collective Vision, a Boston-based photography collective. Mr. Clark has worked and lived in both the United States and Europe and brings diverse managerial level experience in the arts, banking, government, and labor relations to the Council.

He now lives full time in Guildhall, VT with his partner, Laura Wilson. His pastimes include hiking, raising and training Belgian Sheepdogs and dog sledding in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

“Art is a necessity almost as old as humankind and is an indispensable means of uniting the individual with society. State involvement in and patronage of the arts is nearly as old. The work of the Vermont Arts Council is crucial to the enrichment of all Vermonters.”

James Clubb is a partner with a large professional services firm working primarily with global wealth managers.  He grew up in rural Colorado and has since lived in three countries outside the United States (Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom).   Additionally, for the past ten years he has traveled on a regular basis to over 20 countries giving him the opportunity to develop a wider appreciation of the diversity of art and artistic pursuits.   Jim's interests include both the visual and performing arts.   He also has a keen interest in architecture and historic preservation. Jim holds degrees from the University of Denver and the London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London).

"I am very interested in the role of art in the community beyond the economic impact and the way it helps to define our state.   This includes the objects, designs and performances that enrich our lives on a daily basis.    It also includes the diversity of perspective that artists bring as residents of our communities."

Ann DeMarle is an associate professor and director of the Emergent Media Center (EMC) at Champlain College. In 2010 she founded and now directs the MFA in Emergent Media. Founder of the Game Development and the Multimedia and Graphic Design degrees, she launched the EMC upon the receipt of the Perry Endowed Chair, supporting innovation, change, and entrepreneurship.  Completed projects include: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Games for Health grant, Massachusetts General’s Center for Integration of Medicine & Innovative Technology Emergency Response training simulation, student partnership with America’s Army, and an IBM virtual world project. Her current project is BREAKAWAY; an episodic, global game sponsored by the United Nations with the goal of eliminating violent behavior against women.

In 2009 DeMarle was appointed as a National Endowment for the Arts review panelist for “Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth: Media Arts”. She was also was elected to the prestigious IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors becoming a Golden Core Member. In 2008 she received an IBM Faculty Award. In 2004, DeMarle was recognized as an Apple Computer Distinguished Educator. She is the founding director of the Governor's Institute of Vermont in Information Technology for outstanding high school students. She trained Vermont teachers on integrating art and technology as an instructor and mentor for the WEB Project and as an organizer of Champlain College/VITA-Learn Dynamic Landscapes program.

DeMarle holds a BFA from State University of New York at New Paltz and an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology. Before entering academia she had a long career in computer graphics that included creating media for corporations such as Eastman Kodak, Lotus, AT&T, Lockheed Martin, and IBM Research.

"In the past 30 years, my career has mimicked the evolving nature of art production–from working as an oil painter and potter, to freelancing as a computer graphics artist working with internationally, to teaching at Champlain College and working with creative students and partners to create a free-to-play electronic, global game for the United Nations to end violence against women and girls. All of this from the hills of the beautiful state I call my home – Vermont.

My opportunities as an artist have been due to the broad reach of the technology. From a studio or stage in Vermont, it is now possible for local arts to be shared internationally, artists to reach new markets, creatives to embrace new forms of expression, and conversations on art to reach broader audiences. However at the same time these technologies are challenging our ideas of authorship and creative expression, and radically altering the roles of long-standing organizations, institutions, and businesses. I believe that as a premier leader in the Vermont artspace, the Vermont Arts Council should embrace this shifting landscape to promote Vermont’s vibrant Creative Economy and showcase its unique artistic spirit. To do so thoughtful dialogue with local communities, future-forward strategic plans, and powerful partnerships are a must.  As a member of the Arts Council, I would look forward to this work, believing it would “open the door” to Vermont arts; positioning the state as a mecca for art audiences and growing economic opportunities for our art communities."

Irwin Gelber is a resident of West Barnet.  He served as the Executive Director of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum from 2006 to 2010.  From 1999 to 2006 he was an Adjunct Professor at Lyndon State College teaching a core curriculum course entitled “Experiencing the Arts”. He served as a Trustee for The Vermont Arts Council, Montpelier, VT from 2000 to 2006, and served as the Council’s Chair from 2003 to 2005.  He also served on the board of The New England Foundation for The Arts, Boston, MA and the Paul Pantano Scholarship Fund, Boston, MA.

From 1987-2000, he was a member of the piano and chamber music faculties at The Boston Conservatory where he also served as Director of Special Programs; an administrative umbrella embracing applied education, community outreach, public presentations and summer institutes.  From 1984-87 he was at Newbury College in Brookline, MA as Director and Faculty Chairman of the Culinary Arts department. While at Newbury College, he hosted a radio talk show called “The Restaurant Show”, broadcasting twice weekly from station WTTP in Natick, MA.

Educated at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City where he earned B.S. and M.S. degrees, Irwin Gelber attended the Akademie fur Musik in Vienna, Austria, as a Fulbright Scholar. His career in the performing arts as a performer and teacher spans more than four decades and includes solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States and Europe.

His piano works for children have been published by Henri Elkan, Philadelphia and Carl Fischer, New York and he has authored three books on international cuisine published by Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.

“I was first asked to serve on the Vermont Arts Council’s Board of Trustees more than a decade ago. It proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences in my long career as an advocate for the Arts.

For many years, as a performing artist and educator, I sat on the opposite side of the table as a potential recipient of public arts grants. I never realized that, for the funding organizations, there are monumental difficulties in delivering support in a fair and meaningful manner. The Vermont Arts Council has painstakingly developed ways to equitably disperse its limited funds over an extremely broad range of services to the community. Its efforts might very well serve as a model for other community service organizations.

In the four years since my first term as a trustee and Board Chair I have had the honor to serve as Executive Director of one of Vermont’s most distinguished institutions, the Athenaeum in St. Johnsbury. And, once again, I moved to the other side of the table. If elected, I believe this recent experience will be helpful in furthering the work of the Arts Council as it confronts the formidable challenges presented today.

My previous involvement with the Vermont Arts Council was a privilege, and I look forward to continuing the work with my fellow trustees and members of the Council."

Elisabeth W. Gordon is currently the Arts Program Coordinator at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a position she has held for nine years. As coordinator, she curates the Medical Center’s permanent collection of art, organizes rotating art exhibitions, manages the live performance schedule, oversees the Creative Arts Program and advises the institution on matters of aesthetics. Prior to coming to DHMC, Gordon worked at the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College in a variety of roles—as the Exhibitions Assistant, an educator and an educational program coordinator. She is currently enrolled in a Certificate Program for Arts Administration at Boston University’s Metropolitan College.

She has served on the board of the Upper Valley Arts Alliance and is currently a Montshire Corporation member. Her professional affiliations include The Society for the Arts in Healthcare, the AVA Gallery and Arts Center, The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing and has published short stories in The Chaffin Journal and The Nassau Review. Gordon lives in Hartford, VT and has two children—Catherine, 20 and Connor, 17.

Stephanie Jerome

Stephanie is the co-owner of the Visual Learning Company with her Husband Brian Jerome.  Visual Learning Company is the producers and distributors of science programming for students in grades 3-14.  Visual Learning is unique in that it is a total production company: writing scripts, filming original footage, producing animations, employing its own salesforce and shipping its products – all from its Vermont headquarters.  It employs a staff of nine talented people to accomplish the tasks at hand.  The company has specialized in the production of high-quality, core-curricular, and visually appealing science videos since it first production in 2000.  Each video is accomplished by an extensive teacher’s guide, which saves the classroom teacher countless hours of prep time by providing assessments, lab activities and cross-curricular activities.  The programs are sold throughout the United States to individual schools, media centers, educational consortia, television stations, and to state departments of education.  In addition, there is a growing interest in Visual Learning’s core-curricular programs in Europe, Latin America and Asia. 
   
The visual Learning Company is proud of its ability to stay at the forefront of educational visual media.  Its first productions were in VHS and then progressed to DVD, and all broadcast formats.  Now, all productions are available in H.264 and WMV, and in formats compatible with viewing on iPods and other hand-helds.  In addition, middle schools videos are available in Spanish language narration, and all programs are closed captions or subtitled for the deaf and hard of hearing.  All teacher’s guides are available in .pdf, as well as hard copy.  The website www.visuallearningco.com details the earth, life, physical science, health, biology and integrated science programs that have been produced, as well as provides clips of the videos, sample teacher’s guides and journal reviews. 

Stephanie lives and works in Brandon, Vermont a small town of 4,000 people nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.  Here, she and her husband, Brian Jerome, have raised their children, ages 15, 13, and 10.  Their science programs are used in the local elementary, middle and high school, which their children attend.  They are incredibly busy keeping up with their children’s academic, musical and sports activities.  In addition, they are active in the local Nordic ski community and teach 40 children to cross-country ski each Saturday, having started the local Bill Koch league three years ago.  Each summer, they take an extensive filming trip with their children, and also travel and film throughout the year.
   
In Brandon, Stephanie and Brian have totally renovated an 11,000 square foot “Granary” into 14 working artist studio spaces.  This circa 1900 building had been used as a grain mill, long underwear factory, and woodworking manufacturer during its long life.  This ongoing renovation currently house the Brandon Arts Guild’s off-site salon space, as well as jewelers, weavers, painters, sculptors, photographers, fabric artists, and poets.  “The Granary” has become a hub of the local arts community.   

Statement: "I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve on the board of the Vermont Arts Council.  As an active member of the Brandon business, arts and education community, it would be my pleasure to serve on a boader statewide level.  Over the past ten years, I have witnessed the economic benefits. civic pride and townwide enthusiasm that the arts can bring to a small rural community."

Sarah Wendell Launderville has worked in the disability rights movement since 1997, and has a psychiatric disability. She is the Executive Director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living. She has a MS from Springfield College in Human Services, Organizational Management and Leadership. She serves as the President of the Disability Rights Vermont board of directors, is the co-founder and co-chair of the National Council on Independent Living’s Women’s Caucus. She is a member of the Vermont Statewide Independent Living Council, Vermont Coalition of Disability Rights, the Vermont Statewide Rehab Council, and ADAPT. She has three young children and spends her free time wiping paint off surfaces her creative young children paint and draw on.

“Seeing others express their creativity through the arts gives me a warm feeling of pride and sense of community. The Vermont Arts Council plays a vital role in making sure everyone has access, and can witness the imagination and talent of others, that gives inspiration to find the creativity within oneself.”

Reeve Lindbergh, a daughter of aviator-authors Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is the author of more than two dozen books for children and adults. Her work has also appeared in a number of periodicals and magazines including the New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker and the Washington Post. Reeve has served on the boards of local, state, and national organizations including the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum Board of Trustees, the Vermont State Library Board, the Charles A. and Anne  Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. She lives in Barnet, Vermont, with her husband, writer Nat Tripp, and enjoys visits from their children and grandchildren.

“I believe in the arts for all kinds of reasons, but especially because they give such strength to individuals, families, and communities. Over and over again, local economies are enhanced while shared values are communicated and celebrated through the arts. At every stage of life, and at every level of expression, the arts represent the very core of who we are and what we can do as human beings, and they need to be available to everyone.”

Jason P. Lorber has trouble sitting still.  Or picking just one profession.  An actor of stage and screen, comedian, filmmaker, and improvisational artist, Lorber incorporates improvisation in his team-building and executive coaching to Fortune 100 firms and non-profits, and is currently serving his 4th term in the Vermont House of Representatives (D-Burlington).

On stage, Lorber has performed in Vermont, including at Vermont Stage, Lost Nation, and Middlebury Actor’s Workshop.  Lorber's films have been screened at numerous film festivals, including Vermont's Green Mountain Film Festival and the Vermont International Film Festival.

Improvisationally, Lorber has performed with troupes in Vermont and San Francisco, and leads improvisational workshops for actors, attorneys, politicians, seniors, and business executives. He has headlined comedy shows throughout Vermont, and performed and produced shows in VT, NH, and CT. Lorber also regularly hosts benefits for non-profits throughout Vermont.

"Performing arts isn’t my hobby.  It’s an integral element of who I am. I used to think of performing as a way of getting attention.  Now, I know it to be an energy-producing passion that determines which part of me it’s time to share with others.  To do that successfully, I’m forced to understand myself pretty well.  And usually, I’m surprised."

 Barbara Morrow has had a rich, lesson-filled career as an administrator in many kinds of nonprofits, including hospitals, higher education, and economic development. She is a former commissioner with the Vermont Commission on Women, an organization she continues to champion. Barbara is currently the executive director of the Newport Community Justice Center, which seeks to be an anchor in the community for resilient relationships, communities, and organizations. While not an artist (although she comes from a long-line of writers and can spew out a few cogent sentences herself sometimes), she understands the power of the arts for Vermont’s economy, families and individuals, and disenfranchised populations. Barbara has a Master’s degree in Education, and has taken a turn or two at teaching on the college level in addition to having a small consulting practice, Equilibrium.

“Beyond their intrinsic value, I respect the arts for the voices they strengthen and the transformation they inspire. (I adore “outsider” art!) A life or a healthy society is not possible without them. From a practical perspective, participation in the arts challenges and sharpens so many parts of our brain, our thinking ability. They are essential to us as fully functioning humans dealing with complex social, economic, scientific and interpersonal issues.”
 

Rich is a digital strategist with over 17 years experience in leading online programs. One of his many strengths is the ability to put himself in the customer’s shoes to create engaging, intuitive, and results-driven online campaigns. Rich has helped develop digital strategies and campaigns for clients including Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, State Street, Stowe Mountain Resort, Time Warner, and Sharp Electronics Corporation.
 
Rich has led work that has won Webbys, WebAwards, and Adobe Sites of the Day, among others, and has been highlighted on Communication Arts’ Web site. He is a member of the International Academy for Visual Artists and judges the W3, WebAwards, Davey, Mobius, and MITX awards.

Rich’s firm, Digalicious, is a digital strategy and marketing firm based in Burlington, Vermont and specializes in helping companies map out successful marketing initiatives through social media, e-commerce, online advertising and mobile.
 
Before starting his own digital strategy and marketing firm, Digalicious, Rich was Interactive Creative Director, Digital Strategist and Partner at Kelliher Samets Volk for 9 years.

Rich founded #BTVSMB, Burlington Social Media Breakfasts. He is a regular commentator on Vermont Public Radio and a contributor to the Huffington Post. He is a frequent speaker at social media events throughout the U.S. He has served on the Frog Hollow board and was board president for two years, and currently sits on the Champlain College communciations advisory board.

Rich has a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.S. in New Media from Boston University.

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/richnadworny
Blog: http://digitalstrategy.typepad.com

Gayle Ottmann is a Vermonter, born in the Northeast Kingdom.  After high school, she attended Boston University and Hesser Business College. She has been Executive Director of the Quechee Chamber of Commerce for 19 years; completing 11 years on the Hartford Board of Selectmen; served five years on the Hartford Zoning Board as Chair; Hartford Development Corporation Board, CCV Citizens Advisory Board.  She also serves on the Upper Valley Food & Farm Steering and Outreach Committee, the Connecticut Rivers Joint Commission as a Vermont Commissioner and Connecticut River Scenic Byway Steering and Marketing  Committees, and sits on the newly-organized Upper Valley Regional VSO Advisory Board. She also sits on the Steering Committee of the Upper Valley Arts Alliance (an organization that came out of the Creative Economy Initiative

She is a 2000 graduate of the Snelling Leadership Institute; I received the Vermont Travel Person of the Year Award in 2005 as well as the Rotary Club’s Citizen of the Year Award in 2006 and 2008.

She likes to spend her “down time” in the garden, entertaining, being a grandmother, reading, golfing, walking, enjoying performing arts and all forms of music.

“The most exciting economic development to come to Vermont in many years is the creative economy initiative.  Its diversity covers the widest range of entrepreneurship and is bringing, for the first, an awareness to the general public of the value of Art in all its forms.  Vermont is the perfect setting for the Artist – whether on its mountain tops or valleys, its small villages or urban communities, its farms or historic sites, its galleries or its classrooms.  Art creates a sense of place for this generation and those to come.”

Jill Pfenning is General Counsel and VP of Risk Management for NG Advantage LLC, a Vermont compressed natural gas startup company.  Jill recently returned to her home state of Vermont from Washington, DC, where she worked for a large international law firm.  Before attending Vermont Law School, Jill was a high school teacher in Vermont and New York City, and spent a year teaching English to high school girls in Korea through the Fulbright Program.  Jill has been a strong supporter of the arts throughout her life, and has had brief stints as a pianist, choral singer, and aspiring painter and architect.

"Appreciating and participating in the arts are an essential, enriching part of life. The arts foster creativity, innovation, open-mindedness, risk-taking, and discipline, all skills that contribute to success in any field. All learning is interdisciplinary—the arts are woven into everything we do, how we see the world, how we make decisions, how we solve problems. I am excited for the opportunity to be part of the Vermont Arts Council, which has the important role of both fostering support for the arts and fostering the artist in each of us."

Edie Sawitsky has resided in North Bennington since 2006.  She and her husband moved here because they were impressed with the genuineness of Vermont –its people, its quality of life and its natural beauty. 

Edie’s background is diverse: She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Ceramics) from Syracuse University and a Masters in Art Education from New York University.   After several years working as a potter with her own business and studio, and then seven years as an art teacher in a private school, she decided, armed with an MBA from CCNY-Baruch College, to try her hand in the financial services industry.  Over the next 25+ years she worked for top names in financial services: Manufacturers Hanover Trust, Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas, Shearson Lehman Brothers, and Charles Schwab & Co.  Edie brings an artistic sensitivity and good business insights to what she does!

Edie finds herself once again fully engaged in the arts in her volunteer work.  She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Bennington Museum and the Board of Directors of the Better Bennington Corporation (BBC), where she serves on both the Arts and the Design Committees. Edie is dedicated to bringing out the arts in Bennington.  Her volunteer work has also involved her in the founders’ group for the BBC’s “One Hundred for $100” bi-annual art exhibit and sale. In 2010 she was a member of the Steering Committee for the first annual North Bennington Plein Air Competition.   She recently organized the very successful community vignettes for the Bennington Museum’s Festival of Trees in 2011.  She also sits on several panels for the Diversion and KAOS Programs of the Center for Restorative Justice in Bennington. 

As a member of the Board of the Vermont Arts Council, I would focus on my first passion: bringing art to the general public – particularly in the Southwest Region of Vermont – so as to make southwestern Vermont a choice arts destination and an arts asset for Vermont.  The arts in Vermont play a large role in the state’s economic development as well, and we need to capitalize on that. As a member of the Arts Council, I’d work toward enriching art programs at the community level with the added benefit of positive economic impact on our communities.

“I have always enjoyed studying history, particularly as interpreted through the arts.  The art of the past tells us a lot about what was, and it helps define how we see ourselves today.    Vermont has so much important, defining history – much of which is explained through art work of one kind or another.  Today, the arts in Vermont welcome appreciation from the neophyte and the experienced.  Whether visual or performing, the arts enable people to express themselves and to be touched – to be open, spontaneous, authentic, energized, rejuvenated, and, many times, to learn something new – as well as to tell the future what we were like today.“

Gerianne Smart is the director of Marketing and Communications at ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center on the waterfront in Burlington, VT. She was owner/president of her own advertising sales and marketing firm Smart Communication, Inc., for several years prior with a variety of clients from Vermont Life Magazine to Amtrak. Gerianne was the President of the Vergennes Opera House  during the theater's most intensive restoration phase (1994 through 2000) and is pleased that today the theater has an executive director and plays host to a myriad of performances both local and national as well as serve as a venue for weddings and special occasions. Gerianne is also the producer of the award-winning independent feature film "The Summer of Walter Hacks" which was directed by George Woodard of Waterbury Center. 

"I believe the arts, in all its forms, touches people's lives in a non discriminating way and in a way that can resonate for a lifetime. I am delighted to be part of an organization that supports and nurtures the arts and encourages creativity to be a part of our every day lives. In Vermont, true wealth lives in the heart of the artist."

The arts have been a core component of Caro Thompson’s life since childhood. Taking piano lessons, singing in choirs, acting in plays and studying dance in college established her lifelong joy in the performing arts.  A degree in Art History from the University of Rochester, New York, added a deep respect and appreciation for the visual arts. Special studies there in dance film and video led to her career in video production and communications.

Since her move to Vermont in 1988, Caro has captured the spirit, history and rural activities of Vermont and New England as an independent television producer and documentary filmmaker. In Days Gone By and Barns: Legacy of Wood & Stone received Boston/New England Emmy nominations.  Other programs include New England’s Great River: Discovering the Connecticut, Noble Hearts: Civil War Vermont, and the Rural Free Delivery series. Her most recent documentary, Champlain: The Lake Between, garnered a 2009 Boston/New England Emmy award for historical/cultural documentary and that year the Vermont Historical Society honored her with its Richard O. Hathaway Award for research on Vermont.

Through her company, Broadwing Productions, Caro also does communications consulting on media relations, web content and promotional videos.

"In my perfect world, everyone would be encouraged to sing, dance, draw, and write without judgment. People would participate in art on a regular basis… not just look at it or listen to it.  Art and life would be intertwined, bringing joy and satisfaction and contemplation into living rooms large and small.  With this broad foundation of shared experience, individuals who choose the rocky path of Art as a way of making a living would find the support they need abundantly near at hand."

For the past 20 years, Greg has provided a place for hundreds of craftspeople and artists to show and sell their works. He and his wife, Susan, own and operate Vermont Artisan Designs & Gallery 2 on Brattleboro’s Main Street. Additionally, Greg has been active in community affairs. He recently stepped down from the Brattleboro Selectboard after serving for 12 years, two as chair.

Greg was a founding member of Brattleboro’s Gallery Walk, a monthly celebration of the arts which has grown to include more than 50 venues that feature art-related openings around town on the first Friday of each month. He also helped found Building a Better Brattleboro and the Creative Communities Council of Windham County, organizations that have helped stimulate the town’s economic and aesthetic activities. He has been an active member of the Vermont Crafts Council, the Vermont State Craft Center Overview Commission and CRAFT (Craft Retailers Association for Tomorrow), organizations promoting American-made craft and artistry.

Before owning Vermont Artisan Designs & Gallery 2, Greg worked as reporter, photographer and assistant managing editor of the Brattleboro Reformer. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the Defense Information School and the University of Vermont’s Snelling Leadership Institute. He enjoys photography, reading, motorcycling and finding art.

“Throughout my years in our state, it is increasingly apparent that Vermont has a special attraction for artists and thinkers. To be part of a Vermont Arts Council which brings these people together with those who appreciate their talents would be my goal."