DUMMERSTON — Dummerston-based artist Linda Rubinstein makes one-of-a-kind books, figurative fabric sculpture, word-and-image journals, and maps of places she loves.
An exhibit at the Dummerston Historical Society is centered on selections from her image and word journals about life in her chosen hometown of 45 years.
She has just completed a map, Ode to Miller Road, that will be exhibited for the first time at the Historical Society on Middle Road in Dummerston Center.
Also being presented is a sampling of the other work for which she is known: colored and lovingly annotated maps of her summer retreat in the La Have Islands, Nova Scotia; one-of-a kind artist books featuring botanical drawings of blooms from her fairly extensive gardens; and after many years of exclusively working on paper, standing fabric figures which are wrapped, sewn, and colorfully adorned.
“The Dummerston Journals record and interpret familiar experiences we all share. Partly memoir, partly observation, and partly a reflection of our times, they are an invitation into my world,” Rubinstein wrote in a news release.
She grew up in New York City, where she studied with mentor Tony Smith at Hunter College, at the Art Students League, and the New School for Social Research. She learned the art of bookbinding at workshops in New England. She has had solo shows and her work has also been included in numerous group shows locally, regionally and nationally. Her work can be seen at Lindarubinstein.com.
An active member of the Vermont arts community since moving to the state in 1968, she has taught painting and drawing at Windham College and Community College of Vermont, has held positions as Executive Director of the Yellow Barn Music Festival and Education Curator of Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, and was a founding partner of ArtsBridge, LLC, an arts consulting firm.
She is a past co-chair of the Vermont Arts Council and has been a grants reviewer for the Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She received an award for Outstanding Service to the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council.
Rubinstein has raised two children and innumerable house plants, flowers, and vegetables at her home on Miller Road in East Dummerston, where she lives with her architect husband. She continues to find her muse in their far-flung travels as well as in simple and seasonal everyday events.