Category: Uncategorized

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

Vermont’s writers enrich our culture as their words move us—emotionally, first, then literally. For example, Nico Amador (pictured left) offered “I recently had a high school teacher in Montpelier write to say she'd used a couple of my poems in a unit on LGBT writers, and she shared some of the observations they'd made about one poem, specifically. I was so touched to know that my poems had reached these students and they had treated them with such care.” Then we all edge one societal inch forward with Julia Shipley, who will be “recording twelve tiny essays I wrote for The Old Farmer’s Almanac as their first female calendar essayist since the Almanac's founding in 1792.” Read More

. . . and pleasure to serve as the eighth poet laureate of Vermont. I have especially enjoyed working without a prescribed job description, undertaking projects of my own design.” So said Chard deNiord reflecting on his four-year term that ends in November. Read More

A call for nominations for the appointment of a new poet laureate is open. Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Arts Council invite you to submit your nomination by April 25, 2019. The poet laureate serves as Vermont’s ambassador for the art of poetry and is called upon to participate in official ceremonies and readings within Vermont and nationally. This is an honorary position, appointed by the governor based on the recommendation of a distinguished panel of judges. Read More

During her sophomore year in college, then eighteen-year-old Rebecca Nase Chomyn showed up to her first welding class in a skirt and flip flops. That was the day they were doing a demo of plasma cutting. “Basically you’re shooting fire toward the ground as you cut metal,” said Chomyn, who graduated from Pratt Institute, in Brooklyn, NY, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in sculpture. “And I had flip flops on! I never did that again.” Although her wardrobe choices weren’t great, her metal work was awesome. Read More

The Arts Council’s annual meeting will be held Friday, May 4 from 3:30-4:15 p.m. in the Pavilion Building Auditorium at 109 State Street, Montpelier. The entrance to the building is on Governor Davis Avenue. New board members will be elected by vote of the membership. Members have been sent a ballot in the mail; ballots can also be submitted in person from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Only Vermont Arts Council members may vote on trustees. Read More