Vermont Arts Council

Artists to Watch 2020

Vermont Artists to Watch 2020 is now off the Gallery walls. Exhibition curator and Vermont Art Guide Editor Ric Kasini Kadour invited Vermont art professionals to answer the question: “Which Vermont artists are creating contemporary art that commands our attention?”

Ten artists were selected from these responses. They are featured in Vermont Art Guide #11, and were exhibited at the Spotlight Gallery from February 2020 until the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Ric explains that “The deeper purpose of Vermont Artists to Watch goes beyond a magazine feature, an exhibition, and artist boosterism. The project is an opportunity to discover artists, revisit familiar ones, and develop a deeper appreciation of visual arts in the state.”

The curators who selected artists are: Sophie Bréchu-West, director, 571 Projects in Stowe; Anne Corso, executive director, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester; Heather Ferrell, curator and director of exhibitions, BCA Center, Burlington; Jamie Franklin, curator of collections, Bennington Museum; Kelly Holt, curator, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, Stowe; Jon Meyer, independent artist, Norwich; Mickey Myers, executive director, Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville; Elizabeth Nelson, independent artist and former Vermont Artist to Watch, West Glover; Sebastian Sweatman, independent artist, Stowe; Katherine Taylor-McBroom, curator of exhibits and collections at Sullivan Museum and History Center, Northfield.

The 2020 Vermont Artists to Watch are: Misoo, Shelburne; J Blackwell, Bennington; Mark Collier, Montpelier; Trevor Corp, Wolcott; Brian Fekete, Kingston, New York; Patty Hudak, Underhill; Susan Larkin, Isle La Motte; Kathryn Lipke, Mansonville, Quebec; Steve Sharon, Burlington; and Kathy Stark Craftsbury Common.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the Gallery and Council offices closed to the public, but the Artists to Watch exhibit was made available virtually through Vermont Art Online. Click here to take a video tour of the 2020 Artists to Watch exhibit.