MORE THAN 60,000 TO PARTICIPATE

MONTPELIER – The Vermont Arts Council will launch their newest initiative, Art Fits Vermont: A Statewide Community Arts Project That’s Greater than the Sum of its Parts, on Wednesday at the Statehouse.

The project, which is expected to involve more than 60,000 Vermonters, will be kicked off during an 11:30 a.m. press conference in the Cedar Creek Room.

The announcement is part of the Annual Arts Achievement Day which showcases art and artists, and provides an opportunity for arts advocates to meet with legislators to discuss the important role the arts play in their communities.

In 2006, 40,000 Vermonters from 247 towns took part in Palettes of Vermont, a statewide art project involving wood and paper palettes. Participants represented more than 180 organizations and 145 schools. Between Memorial Day and Columbus Day 2006, there were more than 250 palette exhibitions and festivals spanning the state.

Art Fits Vermont will allow even more Vermonters to create and share art, according to Arts Council officials. At least 8,000 wood and 50,000 paper puzzle pieces will be distributed to individuals, community organizations and schools. Puzzle events will begin this spring and continue through January 2010.

Art Fits Vermont has been designated one of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration Partnership Projects. PuzzlePalooza, a statewide celebration involving all Art Fits Vermont participants, is scheduled for July 2009 in Burlington, as part of the Quad Celebration. In addition to distributing puzzle pieces to Vermonters, a number of pieces will be given to artists in New York State, Quebec and France. These pieces will be joined with Vermonters’ pieces to form a massive art display during the celebration.

Other Arts Achievement Day events include advocacy training and tips on effective citizen lobbying, lunch with Legislators, tour of the State House Art Collection, and a recitation by Caleb Smith-Hastings, Vermont’s Poetry Out Loud State Champion. At 2 PM, the Council on the Future of Vermont will host a session titled “A Conversation on the Future of Vermont”. This discussion is an opportunity for artists and cultural organizations to envision how the arts can impact Vermont for the next generation.

The day will conclude with a reception at 4 p.m. in the Cedar Creek Room. Arts Citation Awards will be presented to Sabrina Brown, Executive Director of Pentangle Arts Council in Woodstock, Paul Costello of the Vermont Council on Rural Development, and Mary Prior of Danville. Members of the Vermont Youth Orchestra will perform during the reception.

Arts Achievement Day events are free and open to the public. For a schedule of events or to learn more about Art Fits Vermont, visit the Vermont Arts Council’s website www.vermontartscouncil.org.

CONGRESSIONAL ARTS AWARD PRESENTED TO SEN. PATRICK LEAHY

THE BIG READ COMES TO SAPA TV

RICHMOND -- Suburbs sprawl to accommodate cars; cities charge for parking and periodically throw up another multilevel garage.

Neither option suits Richmond residents, who this year will revive a streetscape project that aspires to balance aesthetic, commercial and transportation needs in the village center.

The $31,000 project, funded mostly through a Vermont Transportation Enhancement grant, will create a blueprint for construction that could begin as early as next year.

If it succeeds, pedestrians, motorists and bicyclists will find themselves on more equal footing -- and at fewer cross-purposes. Better lighting, safer sidewalks and a greener landscape will be bonuses.

Erik Filkorn, the town's Selectboard chairman, said improved parking is key to the future vitality of downtown Richmond. "We want to change the conversation from, 'I'm looking for a parking spot in front this particular store,' to 'I'm parking, and I'm going downtown,'" he said last week.

Finding more spaces for cars that will also promote foot traffic in the core commercial district is a longstanding challenge in Richmond. It's a challenge compounded by limited town money.

"Parking in Richmond's like file-sharing on the Internet," Filkorn said. "Everybody's stealing it, but no one wants to buy it." The town commissioned a streetscape plan in 1998. It envisioned the return of gracious trees, calmer traffic and inviting sidewalks. Its ambitions outstripped Richmond's budget.

The author of that study, landscape architect Kathleen Ryan, is part of the design team for the project. With an emphasis on the consolidation -- and modest expansion -- of parking spaces, she hopes to rescue deteriorated curbs and trampled green belts for walkers and bikers.

"We'd like to return some of the advantage to the pedestrian," she said.

Project leader Erik Sandblom is the civil and environmental engineer who, with Ryan, will complete several options of a revived streetscape this spring. He will present them at a series of public meetings this spring.

"They'll be specific enough to generate construction cost estimates, but they won't be designed down to the inch," he said. "That will come later.

Public comments were gleaned at the Selectboard meeting Feb. 18.

Most of the comments highlighted the irritation between motorists and pedestrians at intersections, crosswalks and poorly defined pull offs and parking spots. Sandblom said advocates for change would have to be patient.

"If the town had its own money to spend, it could conceivably get to the construction phase this fall," he said. "But they don't." They'll be looking at another state highway enhancement grant -- and they'll have to go through a lot of hoops with environmental and right of way reviews. If all of that goes smoothly, there's a possibility of completion in 2009.

Curtis Johnson, who coordinates streetscape enhancements for the Vermont Agency of Transportation, said a successful completion of the study would bode well for continued funding in the construction phase.

"You want to get this sort of project out the door as soon as possible," he said. "The longer you wait for construction, the less the grant money is worth."

More information about Richmond's streetscape project is available on the town's Web site: www.richmondvt.com.

The Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization outlines many of the region's transportation challenges: www.ccmpo.org/newsroom/pdfs/BikePed_brochure.pdf.

Contact Joel Banner Baird at 660-1843 or joelbaird@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

NEWSMAKERS

The winner of the Vermont high school poetry recitation contest is Caleb Smith-Hastings of Middlebury Union High School, according to the Vermont Arts Council.

Smith-Hastings, a junior, won the competition, Poetry Out Loud, last week in a literary showdown at the Pavilion Auditorium in Montpelier. He recited "Beat! Beat! Drums!" by Walt Whitman, "How I Discovered Poetry" by Marilyn Nelson and "Dulce Et Decorum" by Wilfred Owen.

It was the recitation of the Owen poem that earned the championship for Smith-Hastings, according to the arts council. The student's "passionate and intelligent recitation brilliantly captured the emotion and politics of Owen's poem," the press release reads.

Junior Zeba Amir of Arlington Memorial High School is the runner-up poetry champ.

VERMONT ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES ART FITS VERMONT

It's been nearly two years since Palettes of Vermont took the state by storm with nearly 40,000 Vermonters creating art on wood or paper palettes. On Wednesday, February 20th the Vermont Arts Council will hold an informational meeting in North Hero at the Lake Champlain Islands Chamber office at 5:30 p.m. to discuss a new project "Art Fits Vermont - A Statewide Community Arts Project That's Greater than the Sum of its Parts".

The Arts Council will distribute nearly 60,000 wood and paper puzzle pieces to individuals, community organizations and schools across the state. Puzzle-related events will take place beginning in summer 2008 and continue through 2009. PuzzlePalooza, a statewide celebration of art and creativity is scheduled for July 2009 in Burlington, as part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration.

The formal launch of Art Fits Vermont will take place on April 16 at the State House as part of Arts Achievement Day. In upcoming weeks, Council staff will visit communities to introduce the project and relay experiences from Palettes of Vermont. These meetings are an opportunity for local organizers to network and share ideas for economic and community development through the project. The meetings are primarily for organizations and schools interested in taking part in Art Fits Vermont but anyone is welcome to attend.

Art Fits Vermont is the second statewide community arts project created and produced by the Vermont Arts Council. In 2006, the Council distributed 7,000 wood and 30,000 paper palettes to 180 organizations and 145 schools. Residents from 247 of Vermont's 251 towns participated. More than 280 palette-related events took place and the sale of palette art raised more than $300,000 for Vermont communities. Beyond the level of participation or even the body of work that was created, Palettes of Vermont demonstrated a significant community and economic impact.

Art Fits Vermont will provide even more communities with the opportunity to raise funds and community awareness through the arts. Through a marketing partnership with the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, Art Fits Vermont is expected to draw visitors from well beyond the state's borders. A number of puzzle pieces will also be given to artists in New York State, Quebec and possibly France. The completed art will join puzzle pieces created by Vermonters at PuzzlePalooza, an exhibit held in conjunction with the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration in July 2009. The puzzle pieces will form a massive visual display signifying the creativity, history and lake that unites Vermont and neighboring regions.

Art Fits Vermont is presented by the Vermont Arts Council in partnership with the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, and sponsored by Chittenden Bank and the Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association. For more information on Art Fits Vermont, visit www.vermontartscouncil.org.

PALETTES OF VERMONT MEETING ON FEB. 12

It's been nearly two years since Palettes of Vermont took the state by storm with nearly 40,000 Vermonters creating art on wood or paper palettes.

On Feb. 12, the Vermont Arts Council will hold an informational meeting in Rutland at the Chaffee Center for the Visual Arts on South Main Street. The meeting is set for noon.

This year's project, "Art Fits Vermont: A Statewide Community Arts Project That's Greater than the Sum of its Parts," involves the arts council distributing nearly 60,000 wood and paper puzzle pieces to individuals, community organizations and schools across the state. Puzzle-related events will take place beginning in the summer of 2008 and continuing through 2009.

PuzzlePalooza, a statewide celebration of art and creativity, is scheduled for July 2009 in Burlington, as part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration.

The community meetings, such as the one taking place next week in Rutland, is an opportunity for local organizers to network and share ideas for economic and community development through the project.

The meetings are primarily for organizations and schools interested in taking part in Art Fits Vermont but anyone is welcome to attend.

VERMONT ARTS COUNCIL "CONNECTS" WITH A NEW STATEWIDE PROJECT

By Pamela Polston

Last year the Vermont Arts Council ran a statewide arts campaign, called Palettes of Vermont, that engaged 118 organizations and 40,000 palette-painting participants in 247 of the state's 251 towns. (Aren't the other four gores or something?) Most of those towns hosted painting-party workshops and exhibits of their palettes, and collectively raised some $300,000. On the heels of that happy success, this year's project, dubbed Art Fits Vermont, is a puzzle.

Literally.

"Since we accomplished all our goals last year, we took the time to think about whether we wanted a theme, " says Diane Scolaro, communications and development director at the VAC. "The thing that was the most outstanding result was the connections between people " artists connecting with communities, communities with other communities, etc. " Bingo: Nothing says connection more than puzzle pieces, right?

Beginning in April, participants will be given an outsized puzzle piece to decorate as they see fit. It's approximately 14 by 14 inches, with "two innies and two outies,” as Scolaro puts it, "so it's universally connectable.” The Vermont Wood Manufacturers will provide about 8000 wood puzzle pieces, she explains. Another 50,000 paper versions will be made available to kids in school or summer camp programs. "So right there we're looking at almost 60,000 pieces,” Scolaro adds.

The scope of the puzzle project is more ambitious in other ways, too; for starters, it will last 18 months rather than just a year. "The Lake Champlain Quadricentennial is an opportunity to showcase to a much larger audience,” says Scolaro, who notes that on the weekend of July 4, 2009, "we'll put on 'Puzzlepalooza.' We'll line the lakeside with thousands of puzzle pieces. “

The VAC is partnering with the state's tourism department to make sure visitors find out about puzzle events, too. And that's not all. This year, the neighbors are invited. Because of the Lake Champlain celebration, Scolaro says, "We will give puzzle pieces to artists in Quebec and New York, as well as France.” France? Mais oui" the birthplace of explorer and lake namesake Samuel de Champlain, n'est-ce pas?

Though it may involve connecting puzzle pieces along the Burlington Bike Path, the grand finale of the project is still TBA. "Someone suggested getting puzzle pieces to cross the lake,” Scolaro confides. But first things must come first: Until March 26, VAC staffers will be hosting meetings in towns across the state to toss around ideas and network with community organizers. And then there's that all-important fundraising part. "In our endless quest for money, we're going to request $90,000 from the legislature,” says Scolaro. "We saw last time those communities that participated were able to leverage income from the Palettes project. If we can get the legislature to invest, we're pretty sure the return on the investment will be worthwhile. “

Either way, Art Fits Vermont will launch on April 16. To find out the meeting schedule or otherwise get involved in this project that's "bigger than the sum of its parts,” visit www.vermontartscouncil.org.

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ARTS COUNCIL GALLERY TO FEATURE BURLINGTON ARTIST

MONTPELIER – The Vermont Arts Council’s Spotlight Gallery will host “Uncommon Still Lifes,” a show of paintings by Burlington artist Jean Cannon, Feb. 4 through March 31.

A reception will be held on from 4 – 8 pm on March 28 in conjunction with Montpelier’s Art Walk.

Cannon is an artist, illustrator, and art educator living in Burlington, Vermont. She has been drawing and painting since childhood and has exhibited her work widely over the past ten years in Vermont and New York. Her paintings range in size from miniatures to large murals and theater backdrops.

“This group of paintings represents a portion of my recent work with common household objects, often in disarray. An egg, a tomato, a pitcher, an onion, a broken dish or two - the simplicity of the object or objects is played against fantastic drapery or textured surfaces,” says Cannon. “I enjoy letting the paint flow, reining it in, throwing water on it, and covering a dry area with tiny crisp lines, controlling and releasing the paint in a rhythm over the page…It is my hope that my choice of subject matter will strike some as a humorous commentary on the formal still-life tradition, and also as a statement about the transience of life.”

The Spotlight Gallery is located in the Vermont Arts Council offices at 136 State Street in Montpelier and is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:30pm.

IN WAKE OF POPULAR PALETTES ARTS COUNCIL HAS A FIT

It's been nearly two years since Palettes of Vermont took the state by storm with nearly 40,000 Vermonters creating art on wood and paper palettes. On April 16, the Vermont Arts Council will launch a new project - Art Fits Vermont: A Statewide Community Arts Project That's Greater than the Sum of its Parts.

The Council plans to distribute nearly 60,000 wood and paper puzzle pieces to individuals, community organizations and schools across the state. Puzzle-related events will take place beginning in summer 2008 and continue through 2009. PuzzlePalooza, a statewide celebration of art and creativity is scheduled for July 2009 in Burlington, as part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration.

In upcoming weeks, Council staff will visit communities to introduce the project and relay "experiences from Palettes of Vermont These meetings are an opportunity for local organizers to network and share ideas for economic and community development through the project. The meetings are primarily for organizations and schools interested in taking part in Art Fits Vermont hut anyone is welcome to attend.

The upcoming Northeast Kingdom event will he taking place at the St. Johnsbury Academy on Feb. 25 at 4 p.m.

Art Fits Vermont is the second statewide community arts project created and produced by the Vermont Arts Council. In 2006, the Council distributed 7,000 wood and 30,000 paper palettes to 180 organizations and 145 schools. Residents from 247 of Vermont's 251 towns participated. More than 280 palette-related events took place and the sale of palette art raised more than $300,000 for Vermont communities.

Art Fits Vermont will provide even more communities with the opportunity to raise funds and community awareness through the arts. Through a marketing partnership with the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing, Art Fits Vermont is expected to draw visitors from well beyond the state's borders.

A number of puzzle pieces will also be given to artists in New York State, Quebec

and possibly France. The completed art will join puzzle pieces created by Vermonters at PuzzlePalooza, an exhibit held in conjunction with the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration in July 2009. The puzzle pieces will form a massive visual display signifying the creativity, history and lake that unites Vermont and neighboring regions.

For more information on Art Fits Vermont, visit www.vernontartscouncil.org.

NORTH CHITTENDEN GRANGE HALL RECEIVES GRANT

Dave Sargent, Chairman of the Chittenden Board of Selectmen, receives an award of $15,000 from Governor Douglas at the 2008 Cultural Facilities Grant awards ceremony held on January 11 at the State House in Montpelier. Also shown are Alexander Aldrich of the Vermont Arts Council and Karen Webster, chair of Chittenden's Historic Buildings Preservation Committee. The award to Chittenden is to support the installation of electrical wiring, security and emergency lighting and for the purchase and installation of an accessibility lift in the North Chittenden Grange Hall.

More than $200,000 was awarded for the Cultural Facilities Grant program.

The State of Vermont funds the program through an annual appropriation in the Capital Budget. The Vermont Arts Council administers the grant, in conjunction with the Vermont Historical Society, the Vermont Museum & Gallery Alliance, and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation, all working together as the Vermont Cultural Facilities Coalition. Now in its 19th year, the purpose of this grant program is to assist Vermont nonprofit organizations and municipalities to enhance, create or expand the capacity of existing Vermont buildings to enable citizens of all ages and abilities to enjoy more cultural events while increasing their participation in the heritage of their communities. Freeman Foundation and the Cerf Community Fund grants, both through Preservation Trust of Vermont, are also supporting this project.

The North Chittenden Grange Hall was constructed in 1833 to be a Congregational Church. It became a Grange Hall by the early 1880s, and was purchased by the Town of Chittenden in 1906 for use as a Town Hall. Despite early renovations, many original features remain.

An effort to restore the building for community use began in 1995. As the project gathered momentum.

More people became involved. Members of the Chittenden Historical Society joined the effort, and a Historic

Buildings Preservation Committee was formed under the Board of Selectmen in 2000. Soon the committee realized that to become a vital community resource, the project needed to expand to use of the lower level and to include bathroom facilities and lift for accessibility. Many hours were spent in planning the space. In 2006, Phase I to install the septic field, drill the well and move the road to its original place was completed.

Phase II, now in progress, is addressing structural issues: leveling the sagging floor and adding an engineered iron beam system of support, replacing the rotted comer beam, constructing the addition to house the bathrooms and lift, replacing the windows to their original tall height, blocking in lower level wooden exterior and raising the exterior grade, and adding a stairway between floors.

Phase III will involve interior renovation and construction, such as adding electricity and the accessibility lift. A small catering kitchen is planned for the lower level. Although much work needs to be done before the Grange Hall will be ready for use, the committee is looking forward to the building's active use by the community for cultural, social and recreational purposes.

Donations are welcome. For more information, contact Bob Muzzy or Karen Webster.

STATEWIDE ARTS PROJECT

WCAX – Jack Thurston

Montpelier, Vermont - Colorful images, beautiful designs. But this is just the start of a puzzle that needs the input of thousands. The Vermont Arts Council is launching Art Fits Vermont-- a statewide arts project.

"You don't have to explain to people what art is and why it's important once you've given them that experience. They know it," explains Alex Aldrich of the Vt. Arts Council.

The group will distribute thousands of wooden puzzle pieces for artists, and paper pieces for schoolchildren to decorate so they can hang the work in their communities.

"Our goal at the moment is to be much better prepared for the onslaught of people who want to participate in this project than we were last time," says Aldrich.

Last time, was the 2006 Palettes of Vermont project. More than 7,000 artists and 30,000 schoolchildren took part. The goal then-- as it is now-- was to make art accessible to a wide audience while promoting cultural tourism.

"There were artists in 247 of Vermont's 251 towns involved in Palettes, which I think is astonishing," says Aldrich.

State tourism officials say the effect on commerce could be equally as astonishing. Commissioner Bruce Hyde expects the puzzle pieces to draw attention from out-of-state media, luring visitors to Vermont's smallest towns and largest cities. He also thinks it's a good kickoff for another large regional celebration: the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's arrival in Lake Champlain.

"As chair of the quadricentennial commission, I'm hopeful we'll get New York, Quebec, and even France to participate in this project. And we'll put together a whole new puzzle full of history, culture, and friendship," says Hyde.

Next week, the Vermont Arts Council will start meeting with artists and community groups to drum up interest in the project. The first puzzle pieces should go on display in the late spring or early summer.

ARTS COUNCIL PIECES TOGETHER A NEW PROJECT

By Sarah Hinckley Herald Staff

Two years ago, the state of art in Vermont was taken over by palettes — this year the Vermont Arts Council will be distributing wooden and paper puzzle pieces on which artists can leave their mark.

Art Fits Vermont: A Statewide Community Arts Project That's Greater than the Sum of its Parts is scheduled to be launched April 16. Beginning in February, the Arts Council will be visiting 16 communities to introduce the project and share experiences from the first project, Palettes of Vermont.

Nearly 40,000 Vermonters created an original design on wooden and paper palettes in the project that lasted for six months in 2006. All but four towns in the state had someone participate and 145 schools — approximately half of those in the state — were involved.

"The palettes project was just unbelievably wonderful," said Diane Scolaro, communications and development director for the Vermont Arts Council. "As soon as it was over, everybody started asking what was next."

The announcement for the puzzle pieces was released Monday and the council's phone had been ringing off the hook throughout the day, Scolaro said. Delivery of the 14-square-inch puzzle pieces, distributed free through the Arts Council, is set for the beginning of April.

"We just give them out to the communities," Scolaro said, noting it is up to the recipients to make the most of the experience. "I think this project is going to be huge."

It is set to go for 20 months and be presented at PuzzlePalooza, which is part of the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration in Burlington in July 2009. The puzzle pieces are designed as middle pieces, with "two innies and two outies," according to Scolaro.

"I don't expect that all 60,000 pieces will fit together, but they're being made so we could," she said. "I have this vision that they will just line the bike path — miles and miles of puzzle pieces."

Palettes of Vermont resulted in 280 palette-related events and the sale of palette art among participating communities raised $300,000. During that project the Arts Council took notes, interviewed participating individuals and organizations, did surveys and evaluated the outcomes.

The Vermont Arts Council is 43 years old and one of the leading advocates and endorsers of the arts in the state. The objective behind the palette and puzzle projects is to give communities a way to engage people, raise money and bring visitors into the region.

"I don't know that we'll do this again, so we want to make sure we get as many people as we can," said Scolaro. "This is a model we're hoping will be conducted on the community level."

CULTURAL GRANTS TOTALING $200K ARE DISTRIBUTED

By Mel Huff Times Argus staff

Montpelier, Vermont - Five central Vermont organizations won more than $72,000 of a total of $200,000 in cultural facilities grants this year to help them install ramps, renovate rest rooms, replace heating systems and improve their performance space.

The Vermont Arts Council announced the awards recently at the Statehouse. Many of the improvements were required to bring the buildings into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The grants were awarded for the following projects:

• Capitol City Grange #469: $20,000 for help in installing a ramp, a new entry way and a handicapped-accessible bathroom;
• Town of Worcester: $20,000 for help in installing an accessibility lift and making restrooms ADA compliant;
• Roxbury Free Library: $14,900 for help in building an addition to include a wheelchair-accessible ramp, foyer and bathroom;
• Greensboro Free Library: $12,450 for help in installing a new heating system;
• Barre Historical Society: $4,778 for help in installing staging and stage lighting.

"There are still so many organizations whose electrical systems date back to the teens and '20s," said Alex Aldrich, the Arts Council's director. "People just have no sense of where is the right pressure point to make things happen in their communities, and they look around and realize, 'Oh, my God, this stage is about to collapse – what do we do?' and they find us."

The grants have a matching requirement. Groups that receive an award do not actually receive the funds until they have raised and spent the money. Typically, they get a temporary loan from the bank, which they use the grant to pay off.

This is the first year that almost all organizations received the full amount they requested. In 2006, the Legislature increased the amount of money available for grant-making from $50,000 to $200,000. That enabled the Council to increase the maximum grant amounts from $5,000 to $20,000. "That was really good because it allows people to put in service lifts,"Aldrich said.

"It's difficult to justify giving $5,000 to a cultural facility that needs $15,000," he observed. "All that does is cause massive frustration and anger." It also increases the Council's administrative costs, requiring extended back-and-forth negotiations about how to execute projects with less than the required amount of money. "Months go by before you see any work being done, and it's very frustrating for everyone," he said.

The Vermont Arts Council, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the state of Vermont and private donations, has been involved in making cultural facilities grants for 19 years. The program began when an alliance of organizations – the Vermont Arts Council, the Preservation Trust of Vermont, the Vermont Historical Society, the Division for Historical Preservation and the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance – discovered that cultural facilities across the state were badly at risk from deferred maintenance and were unable to meet the requirements of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

Instead of looking for money from the general fund, the coalition lobbied the House Institutions Committee for money from capital appropriations. They received $50,000 for the grant program, which was originally managed by the Vermont Historical Society. Then, about the time the VHS moved to Barre, Aldrich said, "they passed the torch to the Arts Council." In 2006, the coalition succeeded in getting the program expanded to $200,000 a year.

Aldrich sees the work of saving the facilities that house cultural organizations as playing a critical role in protecting the vitality of communities. The greater the variety of programs a facility can support and the more accessible it is, "the more engaged the community will be in what goes on inside, the more engaged the members of the community will be in each other lives, and the more attractive that community will be for people who want to live there and start their businesses there and work there," he said.

The fact that five of this year's recipients are located in central Vermont is unusual, he observed. "To get a more accurate picture, you have to look at several years. We really do cover the state." He noted that the Council does a great deal of outreach to rural communities all over the state, helping them save "little jewels of cultural facilities.

KIDS ASKED TO HONOR ROBERT FROST

Montpelier, Vermont - January 14, 2008 (WCAX News - Jack Thurston) Vermont State Police say they're wrapping up their investigation into that vandalism at poet Robert Frost's home. Now the Vermont Arts Council says the best way to honor the late writer is to learn his poetry.

The Council and the National Endowment for the Arts promote an annual competition called Poetry Out Loud. More than 35 Vermont high schools have signed on this year. Kids memorize and recite poems. On the list of choices this year? Several poems by Robert Frost.

The Arts Council hopes more Vermont kids will study the famous writer's work to build awareness of his legacy. This suggestion comes after teenagers broke into Frost's Ripton home last month and threw a destructive drinking party.

Vermont Arts Council executive director Alex Aldrich explains, "Turn that [crime] around, in essence, and help them understand who Robert Frost was, learn some of his poems, and then recite them in front of people to say, 'This is why it's important.'"

Aldrich adds, "You can't think about American poetry without Robert Frost being one of the first names that pops into your head."

Aldrich would even like to see some of the vandals sign onto the Poetry Out Loud competition to learn the value of Frost's work.

The state finals of the recitation contest are in the statehouse this March. That winner gets a trip to the national poetry finals in Washington, D.C. For more information on Poetry Out Loud, you can click on this website.

LIBRARY GETS $14,900 FROM ARTS COUNCIL TO FUND RENOVATIONS

MONTPELIER — The Roxbury Free Library received $14,900 to support an addition to the library which includes plans for a handicap accessible ramp, foyer and bathroom.

The grant has been made available through Vermont Arts Council Cultural Facilities Grants.

The check presentation ceremony took place in the Cedar Creek Room of the Vermont Statehouse on Friday.

The library was awarded the funding to improve existing cultural activities and expand their capacity to provide cultural activities for the public.

The grant the library received was part of more than $:200,000 given to organizations at the ceremony.

Gov. James Douglas was present at the ceremony.

The Cultural Facilities Grant program is administered by the Vermont Arts Council in conjunction with the Vermont Historical Society, the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation

Now in its 19th year, the program is funded through an annual appropriation in the capital budget. This is the first time that all grant recipients received the full amount requested in their grant proposal.

LIBRARY RENOVATION PROJECT GETS BOOST FROM STATE GRANT

By June Pichel Cook

GREENSBORO—Renovations of the Greensboro Free Library and Cuthbertson House received an additional boost last week with a grant from the Vermont Arts Council. The $12,450 grant covers the cost of installing a new heating system for the library facilities.

Library Trustee chair Stephanie Herrick and librarian Mary Metcalf were presented the grant check Friday at the State House by Gov. James Douglas. Representatives from 16 organizations were awarded grants, totaling more than $200,000 for projects that improved existing cultural activities and expanded the capacity to provide activities for the public.

Metcalf noted the renovations at GFL are progressing; walls are now framed in for the librarian's office and teen room. The heating system to be installed will heat the entire library. The Cuthbertson House portion should be open for use and the library extended out with an occupancy date anticipated for April or May.

"We are very grateful that the Vermont Arts Council is helping to rebuild cultural facilities throughout the state of Vermont, including the Greensboro Free Library," Metcalf said.

The impetus behind the grants, she noted, was to rebuild cultural and municipal facilities, such as, town halls, granges, and libraries.

Herrick said the renovations project has brought many volunteers together and created a net. "The $400,000 project has been a great "multiplier" for the community by helping to employ people, buying supplies locally, and supporting local businesses.

Herrick noted many of the grants awarded were for lifts for disabled access, which is something the GFL will face. Researching grant resources for projects with that purpose has now started.

The governor indicated putting money into communities and buildings by helping people to renovate facilities was an effective way to make funds work within each community through local employment and businesses.

Herrick thanked everyone for all the hard work that has been involved in the planning and implementation of the renovation project.

GRANTS HELP RESTORE VERMONT LANDMARKS

Montpelier, Vermont - January 11, 2008 (WCAX News - Jack Thurston)

Friday was payday for some Vermont landmarks that need to modernize.

The Vermont Arts Council handed out $200,000 dollars in grants to cultural organizations from around the state. More than fifteen town halls, libraries, schools, and museums applied for money for repair projects.

The Brandon Town Hall will use the $20,000 dollars it got to install a new fire safety system. Mei Mei Brown of the group "Friends of the Brandon Town Hall," says, "This is a very big deal, yes. The $20,000 the Vermont Arts Council has given us is going to put us over the top to have all the funding we need for the fire suppression system. And now we just need to start working on the next $900,000 we need."

Her goal is to restore Brandon's Town Hall so it can host performances and other community events again.

Gov. Jim Douglas, R-Vermont, told the group he will recommend another $200,000 dollars for cultural facilities grants in his 2009 state budget proposal. Douglas calls cultural organizations key to encouraging tourism in communities both large and small.

JAMAICA, PUTNEY GET GRANTS FROM VT ARTS COUNCIL

By PAUL H. HEINTZ, Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- Two Windham County organizations were among 16 awarded a total of $200,000 in grants Friday by the Vermont Arts Council.

At a Statehouse ceremony in Montpelier, the Jamaica Town Hall Restoration Committee was awarded $13,151 and the United Church of Putney received $10,000.

The Jamaica grant will be used for lighting, window shades and rigging for a set of historic stage curtains, and the Putney grant will help pay for a lift to make the church's second floor accessible to those with disabilities.

"The grants are for facility improvement. The purpose of them is to allow for more and expanded programs for an existing facility," said Vermont Arts Council community programs manager Sonia Rae. "I think Putney and Jamaica both worked extremely hard to make sure there was clear information about what their project was. They demonstrated clear community support, which is always very helpful."

Ed Dorta-Duque, a member of the town hall committee, said, "We're extremely thankful. It's money that has been greatly appreciated to help bring us closer to the completion of the renovations."

Susan Tarolli, pastor of the United Putney Church, said the grant will help pay for the $59,000 lift project, which is part of the church's efforts to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition to the $10,000 grant, the church has raised another $27,000 with help from Putney residents and businesses.

"I think they recognize this building itself is in the heart of Putney, and it's key to the vitality of life in the town. So they see it, as we expressed in our grant proposal and they affirmed, as a key component to the vitality of the town," Tarolli said.

The Arts Council grants were awarded with help from the Vermont Historical Society, the Vermont Museum and Gallery Alliance, the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the Preservation Trust.

Paul Heintz can be reached at pheintz@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 275.

BRANDON TOWN HALL PROJECT MAKING STEADY PROGRESS

By MEGAN JAMES

BRANDON — It was about 10 degrees inside the Brandon Town Hall one morning last week, but that didn’t stop Dennis Marden from putting in half a day’s work on the set he’s been building there for the Brandon Town Players’ upcoming production of “My Fair Lady.”

The players will perform the play this winter at Otter Valley Union High School, not on the town hall stage — besides heat, the building also lacks a fire suppression or sprinkler system, making it a safety hazard to the public. But the open space in the main level is perfect for a large-scale set-building project, and Marden, like many Brandon residents, is sick of seeing the old building sitting there, empty.

To that end, his organization, Friends of the Brandon Town Hall, is ratcheting up its efforts to restore the building. By this summer, the Friends hope to raise $72,000 for a fire suppression system, which would allow the building to open to the public six months out of the year.

And they’re making progress. Earlier this month the Vermont Arts Council awarded the organization a $20,000 cultural facilities grant; earlier this season the National Bank of Middlebury pledged a challenge grant of $7,500; and the First Brandon Bank also made a challenge grant of $7,500 over the next three years. Businesses and individuals in the Brandon area have also been generous, donating about $5,000 over the last few weeks.

Since the incorporation of the Friends in 1998, the group has raised $386,000, hired architect Jay White from Robert Williams and Associates in Pittsfield and completed a number of mostly external renovations, including the installation of marble front steps donated by the Omya quarry; exterior painting; brick masonry re-pointing; installation of a handicapped lift; and updates to the electrical system.
Still, the Friends have a long way to go. After they secure the fire-suppression system, the building will need heating, air-conditioning, and internal and mechanical renovations, among other things.
“We have more than $900,000 in upgrades to be done to the building,” said Friends president Mei Mei Brown.

The long-term goal is to complete the project by 2011, the 150th anniversary of the town hall’s original completion and the 200th anniversary of the town of Brandon.

“It’s ambitious, especially because grants are getting harder to find,” Brown said.
Constructed in 1861, the town hall was the cultural and civic center of Brandon for more than a century. Besides hosting town meeting and voting polls, the building over the years was used for square dances, theatrical productions, flea markets and movie screenings.

Friends public outreach coordinator Jon Andrews said that in researching the building’s history he found a playbill from the 1950s for a New York City theater company that held a residency in Brandon for the summer. He also uncovered movie placards advertising the screening of “The Farmer’s Daughter” in 1947.
“They even had roller-skating,” Andrews said. “So everything’s been done here.”
But in 1981, the town hall closed to the public. Brandon was struggling economically, and the costs of maintaining the old building were just too high.

“Brandon went through a pretty rough period, which is why there’s now this idea of a ‘Brandon Renaissance,’” Andrews said, referring to the restoration efforts that have boomed in the last few years throughout town. “It used to have a reputation as a rough town.”

In the past year, Brandon also saw the start of a conversion of its old high school on Seminary Street, which sat boarded up for more than 20 years, into condominiums; the sale of its old firehouse; and plans to develop the 103 acres north of town into a holistic living center.

Marden attributed much of this development to the creation of the Brandon Artists’ Guild in 1999.
“It seems like everything is starting to explode,” Marden said. “With the Artists’ Guild, people are moving into town with new ideas … There’s a lot more here for us. We don’t have to go to Rutland or Middlebury.”
In his time spent working on sets in the old building, Marden has imagined plenty of uses for the space.  
“I’d love to do a big musical in there,” he said. “Children’s productions, theater workshops, movies would work in there, too. When I first moved to Vermont 25 years ago, they had a craft fair in there… and of course voting should go on there.”

Andrews shared his enthusiasm.

“It’s a great multi-purpose space, and it’s accessible because its right downtown,” he said. “Everyone should feel welcome here. It’s not an elitist space; it literally belongs to the town, to the people of Brandon. I can’t wait to have it back up and running.”

BRANDON PREPARES TO UPGRADE TOWN HALL

By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff

BRANDON — Town Hall's last official event is scheduled for May, but volunteers say it should not be closed for long.

Meimei Brown, president of the Friends of the Brandon Town Hall, said Sunday the organization is on track to raise the $72,000 it needs to install a fire suppression system.

The Vermont Department of Labor and Industry has required the town install the system if it wants to continue opening the building to the public.

"Because we have no heat in the building, it has to be a dry system and that costs a little more," Brown said.

The town has been using the building, Brown said, under an arrangement in which the Department of Labor and Industry had to approve in advance each event open to the public. For example, the building served as a rain location for the town's summer concert series.

"It was lovely to see everybody dancing in the aisles," Brown said.

However, when the town asked for approval for an event in October and another in May, Labor and Industry said those would be the last two until the building had a working fire suppression system, according to Brown.

"They decided it was time to push the envelope and it was," she said. "It was time to get this system in."

The group received $5,000 from the Walter Cerf Community Fund in the fall and Brown said they just got a letter saying the Vermont Arts Council will kick in $20,000 at a ceremony at the Statehouse in January.

"The town of Brandon, every year, budgets $10,000 toward the Town Hall," she said. "We didn't hardly use our money from '06 and we have not touched '07, so we have $19,000. First Brandon National Bank has pledged $7,500 over the next three years."

The group is also looking to raise money from private citizens in town, and Brown said the National Bank of Middlebury has pledged to match that up to $7,500. She said a fund-raising letter sent out in late November has already netted about $5,000.

Brown said she hopes to have the system in place in May.

The Town Hall was built in 1861 and served as such until around 1981, Brown said.

"At that point, it was in enough disrepair they closed it for safety reasons," she said.

Unlike in many other communities, Brown said the Town Hall never housed the town offices.

"It was a meeting hall," she said. "They had dances and concerts and various community events there. … Back in 1998, a few people in town said we need to have town meeting in the Town Hall again. That got some momentum going. We've done things like new marble steps. Some work on the roof has been done — there's more to be done with that."

The group has installed one handicapped access lift and plans to install another. Future improvements include electrical work, heating and air conditioning.

The town has a number of uses in mind for the building, including giving a home to the Brandon Community Players, different recreation department programs and the town band.

"We have people begging to use the Town Hall," Brown said. "Right now I just have to tell everybody we have to be patient."

SPACE FOR A BUILDING COLLECTION

Art Review

By Anne Galloway
© Times Argus

Institutional art has a reputation for monumentalism. Statues of heroes and huge obtuse abstractions plunked on lawns come to mind.

The state of Vermont has its share of such works, the statue of Ethan Allen in the portico of the Statehouse, for example, and the bronze sphere in front of the Department of Motor Vehicles. They are reminders of the god-like power of the state, and of our place as mere mortals who may aspire to greatness. (Though it's hard to equate land speculation with the noblest of professions.)

The state's latest acquisition, an exhibition of paintings and relief sculptures at 133 State St., in Montpelier, isn't necessarily what you'd expect the Department of Buildings and General Services to salt away in its permanent collection. It isn't monolithic, grand or overpowering. It isn't in one location. It isn't even the singular work of an individual artist. Nor is it the product of one genre.

That's what "Intersections," a suite of works by five Vermont artists isn't.

Here, however, is what it is: poetic, inventive, organic, moving, subtle. And given the display space – a series of narrow hallways on four floors of the old National Life Building – it is imminently accessible. In fact, the relief sculptures and paintings are so close at hand that the viewer has to make a conscious effort to recognize the invisible don't-touch-me-shield around them.

Andrea Wasserman and Elizabeth Billings, the artists selected to organize the exhibit, use recognizable forms – profiles of faces, tree branching patterns and fronds – as the visual language for their large multi-faceted panels.

Each set of panels is made up of the same materials – painted plywood, wooden slats, twigs, woven fiber and slate. On the second floor, for example, the relief sculptures are made up of square pieces of slate lined up along the wall in a long strip. Wasserman and Billings transferred the silhouettes of 300 Vermonters to the stone and sandblasted the profiles into the surface. The faces are layered atop one another; altogether they look like ripples on the surface of a pond.

Wasserman and Billings also incorporate poetry by the state's first five poet laureates into the reliefs. Carved into slate or stenciled onto wood are the ghost-like words of Robert Frost, Louise Gluck, Galway Kinnell, Ellen Bryant Voigt and Grace Paley grounding the esoteric imagery in the lilting language of poetry. The combination is mutually beneficial.

Wasserman and Billings brought three other artists into the show: Eric Aho, Emily Mason and Nick DeFriez. Aho's huge square oil painting, "Night Mowing," on the fifth floor is a modern-day Turner with its brooding black and blue sky and smeared yellow blurs of vehicles driving into the night. Mason's prints are complex color studies, while DeFriez's painting is a panoramic view of 133 State St. that captures the movement and lyricism of the street.

"Intersections," which cost $38,000, was made possible through the Art in State Buildings Program, a joint project of the Department of Buildings and General Services and the Vermont Arts Council. The program is celebrating its 20th year with this public exhibit.

VERMONTERS STEP UP FOR DANCE COMPETITION

By Sally Pollak
© 2007 Burlington Free Press

Warren Kimble said he learned to dance by osmosis. His late brother, Bob Kimble, was a choreographer of children's dances and a Broadway dancer, specializing in tap and jazz.

When Kimble was a child, the family lived for a time above his older brother's dance studio, which was in the basement of the family home in Belleville, N.J.

"I'm a stomper," said Kimble, who is better known for his work as an artist. Kimble, 73, of Brandon paints works in an Americana folk style of pastoral scenes and images.

He is participating in Saturday night's fundraiser for the Vermont Arts Council, "Stompin' with the Stars," an event that takes after the popular ABC show, "Dancing with the Stars."

Kimble is teamed with dancer/choreographer Karen Amirault in the event that pairs a Vermont celebrity with a pro dancer/dance coach. The two will perform a tap dance-jitterbug combination to the Fred Astaire tune, "Steppin' Out." Audience members will vote on the evening's top dancing duo.

For Kimble, a board member of the Vermont Arts Council, the night is about having fun for a worthwhile cause.

"When they see an old guy dancing, they'll like it," Kimble said. "Karen's very good. She's wonderful. We just hit it off, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun."

Taking a different approach to the dance event is first-time Argentinian-tangoer Melinda Moulton of Huntington, a Burlington businesswoman and developer.

Moulton, 57, is taking seriously the 2 1/2 minutes she'll be performing on the dance floor at the University of Vermont's Davis Center.

"I am wearing a beautiful fire engine-red tango dress, with fish net stockings with a beautiful black seam down the back and little dance shoes," she said. "I'm going to have my hair done. I'm going to be looking like a tango woman."

All this from a participant who had never danced the tango until a few weeks ago. And who has no formal dance training.

"I grew up between New York and Philadelphia so I'm a real bebopper," Moulton said. "I can do James Brown. I'm a real good get-out-on-the-dance-floor and get down."

She chose the tango when she was asked what dance she wanted to performing, blurting out the name of the dance without fully considering the difficulty of the form.

"I'm right now a student of the tango, and I'm devoted to this," Moulton said. "Argentinian tango is very different: It's very sultry, and very sexy and very provocative. It's very, very dramatic. ...

"All the effort Gerd and I put into it, it's for this beautiful fund-raiser. All the dancers dancing in this event are going to be spectacular. It's going to be a very showy evening."

VERMONTER WINS NATIONAL HONOR

Staff Report

Hartland artist George Tooker, 87, whose works are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum in New York, will receive a 2007 National Medal of Arts.

The announcement came Wednesday afternoon from the White House and the National Endowment for the Arts. The medals are to be awarded this morning in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

Tooker is known for his work in egg tempera and has been compared with such painters as Andrew Wyeth and Edward Hopper in terms of his themes and visual style.

The National Medal of Arts is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government.

It is awarded by the president to individuals or groups "deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States."

Perhaps the most widely known example of Tooker's painting is "The Subway" (1950), in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and "Government Bureau" (1956) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

His work is also in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others.

His first major exhibition was at the Edwin Hewitt Gallery in 1951 and since then he has been exhibited at institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art and the National Gallery of Art.

GET 'CAUGHT' READING IN SPRINGFIELD

Join the Springfield Town Library and The Vermont Arts Council in The Big Read, a national project that gives communities the opportunity to read and discuss one book.

The Big Read title for Vermont is "The Maltese Falcon." In Springfield, "Sam" the falcon will be traveling around town during The Big Read, looking for folks "caught" in the act of reading. Get "caught," and get your picture with Sam posted in the library. Upcoming local Big Read events include a presentation on solving crimes with Guy Paradee, private investigator, a book discussion with Nancy Means Wright, Vermont mystery author, and a movie and discussion night featuring the 1941 film version of "The Maltese Falcon."

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment of the Arts. Copies of "The Maltese Falcon" are available at all participating libraries. For a list of participating libraries or more information about The Big Read, please call the Springfield Town Library at (802) 885-3108 or visit www.vermontartscouncil.org.

STATE ART UNVEILING

© Times Argus

MONTPELIER – A suite of art created by 10 Vermont artists will be formally unveiled at 133 State St. on Thursday, Nov. 15. The art, titled "Intersection," was installed during the recent renovation of the historic National Life Building and through the Art is State Buildings Program. The Vermont Arts Council and the Department of Buildings and General Services invite the public to attend a reception, 4 to 6 p.m., to celebrate the renovation of this architectural gem and the newly installed words and art of ten world-renowned artists. Four of the building's five floors will feature work by a team of artists led by Elizabeth Billings of Tunbridge and Andrea Wasserman of Vershire. Emily Mason of Brattleboro, Eric Aho of Saxtons River and Nick DeFriez of Chelsea have created major pieces of art incorporating a line or verse by former Vermont Poets Laureate Robert Frost, Galway Kinnell, Grace Paley, Ellen Bryant Voigt and Louise Glück.

GOVERNOR HONORS CARTOONIST KOREN

By DANIEL BARLOW
© Times Argus

MONTPELIER — Amid a stream of congratulations, generous jabs and thunderous applause, Edward Koren became the first cartoonist to be given the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts Friday evening.

Koren, a Brookfield resident who has drawn cartoons for the New Yorker magazine for four decades, was praised by Gov. James Douglas, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and others for his ability to poke fun at modern life in Vermont in his single-panel creations.

As Koren prepared to walk the crowd of nearly 200 people gathered in the House chambers at Montpelier's Statehouse through a sampling of his rustic cartoons, he noted he has always been suspicious of awards that involve the words excellence and the arts.

"That is, until right now," he quipped.

Presenters and speakers mined Koren's talent of drawing hairy and furry monsters in his cartoons and his strong civic mindedness, including his ongoing stint as a member of Brookfield's volunteer fire department, during their remarks.

Margaret "Peggy" Kannenstine, the chairwoman of the Vermont Arts Council Board of Trustees, joked that she was happy to "honor the most renowned firefighter from Brookfield."

She went on to mention that Koren is part of the growing community of cartoonists who call Vermont home, a number that has increased in the two years since the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction opened its doors.

"It feels good to have welcomed Mr. (Garry) Trudeau to Vermont in the same week that we are honoring Ed Koren today," Kannenstine said, referring to the Doonesbury cartoonist who held a fund-raiser at CCS on Monday.

Letters from Vermont's two U.S. senators were read by staff members to congratulate Koren. Sen. Patrick Leahy's letter noted that Koren is "clearly the most talented artist in the Brookfield Fire Department." Sen. Bernard Sanders' letter called him a "cartoonist of the first order."

Welch, Vermont's freshman representative, attended the event and noted that he was proud to hang a Koren original in his Washington, D.C., office that was given to him soon after his election to the office last year.

Welch did not describe the cartoon, only that it is "provocative and politically incendiary" and that anyone who wants to see it is free to "come down and take a look."

He then praised Koren's cartoons for giving people a "greater understanding of who we are together."

Filmmaker John O'Brien, a close friend of Koren's, upped the humor ante in his remarks, which included showing off early nudes that Koren had drawn at the dawn of his career and reading from a paperback science fiction novel that shares its title with Koren's last name.

In his remarks just before Koren was awarded the prize, Douglas — who picks the winner from among recommendations from the Vermont Arts Council — noted that he was "no stranger to cartoons," especially those that satirize him and appear in local newspapers during the legislative sessions.

He joked that when he discovered there was a cartoonist among the award candidates, he prepared his "trusty pair of scissors" to remove him from the list — until he found out that cartoonist was one of Brookfield's most famous residents.

"Ed's work is a classic reminder of what it means to live in Vermont and be a neighbor," Douglas said.

Koren, who read punch lines from more than a dozen of his cartoons that were displayed on an overhead screen in the House chambers, spoke very little during the ceremony.

But he beamed with pride and a strong smile as he and his wife, Curtis Koren, sat near the speaker's podium.

"I don't think I would be here today if I was an editorial cartoonist," he told the crowd, which, as expected, exploded with laughter.

Koren joins other luminaries who have received the arts award since it was first offered in 1967, including writers David Mamet, Grace Paley and Howard Frank Mosher and filmmaker Jay Craven.

SAM SPADE SETS UP SHOP IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS

DIRT-ROAD CARTOONING

A PEOPLE PERSON

THE MALTESE FALCON