Featured Stories

Seven artists created pieces for The State of Scupture 2019 . . . an overview of Vermont sculptors. The exhibition―curated by Matthew Perry, executive director of the Vermont Arts Exchange and Joe Chirchirillo, curator of the North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show―will be in the Arts Council's sculpture garden through autumn 2021. The team remarked, "As curators we want to showcase a wide variety of materials and techniques. The works represent the traditional skills of stone carving and woodworking, as well as casting and fabrication using stainless steel, iron, and concrete. Most importantly, we are committed to creating an intimate environment for the public, one that is friendly and engages you to sit, rest, and reflect." Read More

The Vermont Arts Council, in association with the Governor’s office, recognizes outstanding individual and organizational contributions to the arts each year. Awards are given to educators, artists, performers, advocates, administrators, volunteers, and scholars. The Council will be celebrating the contributions of five Vermonters this year during an event held at 7 p.m. (reception at 5:30), Wednesday, October 23, at the Mahaney Arts Center at Middlebury College. Admission is free, but we do ask that you RSVP. Read More

Three artists (Liz Hawkes deNiord, Richard Heller, and Rachel Portesi) made pieces for a new show opening September 6 in the Spotlight Gallery. All worked to channel inspired expression: Liz with multi-layered paintings and clay forms, Richard with patterned rhythmical oil pieces. Rachel employed collodion print photography. Let these words and images from each of the group whet your artistic appetite. Read More

Beginning Tuesday morning, August 30, 2011: There is so much to remember. At dawn after the nighttime deluge, downtown Waterbury was under several feet of brown water. When that receded we had a thick layer of muck that turned to brown soot. The color was unforgettably ugly, and to me represented the enormous task ahead. The first thing I did as a citizen was what apparently most of the town did: go to Thatcher Brook Primary School and volunteer my service for whatever was needed. The first few days the crew of volunteers was mostly local folks, and the organization whipped into place. It was impressive. Read More

We’re at the tipping point. The ground has warmed since the solstice; the days are as hot as they get. Cicadas sing. And when you notice the sun sets earlier you hear the call. "Get out. Now. Grab what's left of summer while it's here." Get out on the road with the windows down. Get out on the lawn and picnic or dance, listen, or watch. Whatever your groove is, and whichever #VTArts251 towns you still need to score, look to a festival as a solution. These events abound in Vermont in August and September. Read More

SiteTime : Cordwood was deliberately a slow-moving installation in the Council's garden. SiteTime : Cordwood : Sharing is a new exhibit in the Spotlight Gallery comprising documentation, sketches, and artifacts highlighting that two-year process which was presented in four scenes. Erika Senft Miller expressed abstraction through her performances and costumes. Nancy Winship Milliken worked with the materiality of wood through sculpture and prints, and Michael Zebrowski chose to create and record the situations for the cordwood to change throughout the time span. When you visit, you're invited to slide into something the makers of this work call “tree time.” Reflections by the artists explain. Read More