WEST BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro-West Arts has become a fixture of the community's vibrant art scene through exhibits, open studio events, public forums, and creative workshops. This year, its members felt moved to share a positive message about the current political climate with the community.
To that end, 14 BWA members have created an 8-by-5-foot tapestry titled Art Connects US.
Based on the American flag, the mixed-media piece comprises 13 stripes and one rectangular field, each its own work of textile art by a BWA artist that gives voice to issues ranging from immigration to the environment to women's rights.
In a news release, the artists involved in the project said they intentionally created this piece in a positive light to encourage community building and inclusivity.
BWA member Petria Mitchell, co-owner of the Mitchell-Giddings Fine Arts gallery on Main Street, painted the flag's rectangular panel, which features a simple gestural circle that she said represents “the circumference of who we are and what we are. In many different cultures, the circle is symbolic of unity and simplicity and love.”
BWA's coordinator, potter Walter Slowinski, said the project grew organically from members' desires to celebrate the compassion of individual Americans in the face of often competing governmental policies.
“It is so coherent, and it so clearly reads as a flag,” Slowinski said. “It's such a clear image for us all, but it's also a strong alternative statement that is so positive.”
BWA members carried the flag in the June 3 Strolling of the Heifers parade in Brattleboro.
It will now hang - accompanied by statements from the artists about the messages behind their contributions - through June 26 in the Brooks House Atrium at the intersection of Main and High streets in Brattleboro.
On June 26, the project will move to the display window of Key Bank at 185 Main St., where it will be on view through July 9.
In addition to Mitchell and Slowinski, the following artists contributed panels to the flag: Jackie Abrams, Julia Bacon, Marta Bernbaum, Kay Curtis, Lesley Heathcote, Karen Kamenetztky, Naomi Lindenfeld, Stephen Lloyd, Edith Mas, Kris McDermet, Sharon Myers, and Jennifer Wiechers.