BRATTLEBORO — Two farm art exhibits associated with Strolling of the Heifers weekend will be on view during the Stroll's Friday evening festival (coinciding with Gallery Walk) on Friday, June 6, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and continuing through June.
At The Works Bakery Café, 118 Main St., Brattleboro-West Arts is collaborating with Strolling of the Heifers on a show highlighting five farms included on the Stroll's Farm, Food and Fiber Tour this year.
Brattleboro-West Arts members visited those farms to get inspiration for the artwork in the show, the organization said in an event announcement. The farms are Deer Ridge Farm, Bunker Farm, Cortland Hill Orchard, the Robb Family Farm, and the Franklin Farm.
The show continues in July and August at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main St.
Participating artists are Kris McDermet, fabric art (rug hooking and braiding); Gene Parulis, photography; Walter Slowinski, ceramics and wood construction; Janet Picard, painting; Naomi Lindenfeld, ceramics; Steve Lloyd, painting; Jason Breen, woodwork; Ron Karpius, painting/sculpture; and Sharon Myers, sculpture/printmaking.
The second farm art show, at the Gallery at the Garden, features paintings by 25 area artists. This exhibit, curated by artist Caryn King, is on view during the Gallery Walk and Street Festival on Friday, June 6, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.; on Saturday morning, June 7; and during normal hours, weekdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The paintings reflect a variety of subjects including still life, figurative, landscape, animals, and abstract. All paintings are for sale, with proceeds benefiting both the artists and Strolling of the Heifers.
King reflects on the particular challenges of working with the 16-inch square canvases: “It's actually harder than it might seem to be. Both artists and viewers have been trained to see things in horizontal or vertical rectangles. You see that in paintings and photographs as well as in the designs of buildings, books, furniture. Creating something that fits in a square doesn't come naturally.”
The artists included in the show are Marilyn Allen, Nancy Calicchio, Trudy Crites, Alicia Drakiotes, Janet Eldridge-Taylor, Esther Fielding, Bobbie Groves, David Howell, Mary Iselin, Caryn King, Georgie King, Heidi M. Lorenz, Paul Madalinski, Jim McGrath, Nancie McLean, Steven Meyer, Meris Morrison, Scott Nelson, Janet Picard, Anne Sawyer, Lori Schreiner, Kristina Wentzell, and Jen Wiechers.