Featured Stories

Original drawings for eight of David Macaulay's publications hang in the Spotlight Gallery until November 2. Macaulay dubs himself an "explainer." He offered these words about each of the books. Mill (1983) Having lived in southern New England since 1962, I finally became curious about all the mills and mill towns and villages I’d been driving past for much of that time. I then did what I always do when this kind of thing happens. I started taking pictures, finding books on the subject, and introducing myself to experts who might be able and willing to help. Fortunately, I haven’t met an expert yet who was unwilling to guide me through their unfamiliar but intriguing territory. The story in the book traces the evolution of mill architecture and engineering through an imaginary 19th-century Rhode Island community. Read More

Information sessions for the Animating Infrastructure Grant program will be held September 24-October 26. The program is designed to encourage communities to engage artists in the planning, design and/or fabrication of public art in infrastructure projects and to encourage thinking beyond the ordinary as concepts for new buildings, roads, bridges, and other public spaces are developed. Participants will learn about the application process, and will have time to brainstorm ideas for projects in their community. Sessions are led by Michele Bailey, senior program manager at the Vermont Arts Council. Anyone wanting to learn more about this grant program is encouraged to attend. Read More

True story: A Vermont music teacher is ready to return to school when she’s notified by the principal that ensembles have been cut. She calls on her advocates at hand. There are meetings and maybe some confrontation. Within weeks, music is back in the curriculum. It doesn’t always work like that. Cuts can come at a point that is too late. Supporting the arts in education is ongoing work. So, as you finish shopping for school supplies, learning the idiosyncrasies of the bus route, and adjusting to waking up just a little earlier to deal with lunches, we add one more request. Think arts in schools, and stand ready to get involved. Read More

Upcoming grant rounds for the Artists in Schools and Animating Infrastructure Grant programs will speak volumes about the Council's priorities in grantmaking. We leave the ignition of wonder and insight in classrooms and communities to qualified, skilled professionals — the celebrated artists of Vermont. In supporting their work, we strive to expand arts opportunities, cultivate creative placemaking, and energize Vermont's creative economy. These concepts are not new; it is with renewed focus the Council pushes them into the limelight. These excerpts from our last Annual Report foreshadowed the direction of the Council's grantmaking. Read More

Seven speakers and three performers will take the stage at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe Saturday, August 4. Each will explore, through the lens of the arts, the topic of women and power. “Reclamation” at Stowe’s Helen Day Art Center is the show from which these talks spring. Portraits of women, painted by women, and curated by women express joy, fear, solidarity, defiance, and wondering. Twenty-three paintings and two lithographs make an exhibit inspired by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. The art asks to be witnessed, celebrated, and discussed. Through these acts power is taken back, which is reclamation. Read More

The Highland Center for the Arts opened in Greensboro in May 2017. The Center operates with the vision of a balanced, year-round schedule of locally and nationally recognized artists and events suited to serving the community. The campus is designed to provide opportunities to create, exhibit, view, experience, perform, learn about, and talk about art. In one day there may be a sold-out performance in the ultramodern 250-seat theater, a rehearsal of local dance group, a film screening, tourists visiting the art gallery, and diners enjoying coffee and local food in the cafe. Executive Director Annie Houston took time from her busy schedule to talk about the new facility. Read More