With 18 art studios and one gallery just a short drive from Interstate 91, visitors to the Vermont Crafts Council's Fall Open Studio Weekend Oct. 13-14 will find an entire weekend's worth of fine art and craft in the region.
Studios will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Many sites will offer demonstrations as well as the opportunity for visitors to purchase art and craft and to talk with the professional creators.
The Brattleboro area offers the highest concentration of sites on the statewide studio tour, according to the VCC.
Members of two local arts groups will be well-represented on the tour. Of 19 participating artists and crafters, nine are members of Brattleboro-West Arts (brattleboro-west-arts.com), a group of approximately three dozen artists who create their art and live within the watershed of the Whetstone Brook.
Additionally, four participants this fall are members of Rock River Artists (rockriverartists.com), a collective of professional artists living near the Rock River basin in the West River Valley. The group holds its own studio tour each summer.
The weekend coincides with American Craft Week (americancraftweek.com), a nationwide effort to celebrate art and craft events happening from Oct. 5 to 14.
For the past several years, BWA has organized its members and other local artists to make Brattleboro a prime destination on the VCC tours, which are held each fall and spring.
In 2017, BWA received an award naming Brattleboro's fall tour as American Craft Week's Best Collaborating Artist Event. The town also made American Craft Week's list of Top Ten Towns for Craft Lovers in 2018.
The VCC, a nonprofit organization serving the state's visual arts community, launched Open Studio Weekend in 1993 to increase the visibility of artists and craftspeople in Vermont and to foster an appreciation for the creative process and the role that artists and craftspeople play in the vitality of the state's communities.
19 county artists participate
The following sites are listed on the official tour, marked on the official map by the number in parentheses. The site and brochure offer full directions for most participants; those with a fractional number are late additions to the tour and are not included.
Directions for all participants, and more information about some artists, can be found at the tour's Bennington and Windham County Map and Links page at vermontcrafts.com/OSW/benningtonwindham.html. Descriptions are provided by tour organizers.
• Vermont Artisan Designs & Gallery 2 (#37). Distinct, unique, eclectic Vermont crafts. 106 Main St., Brattleboro; 802-257-7044. Also is an information center for the tour.
• Vitriesse Glass Studio, Lucy Bergamini (#38). 122 Birge St., No. 21, Brattleboro; 802-379-0024.
• Colorquilts - Carlene Raper (#39). Hand-dyed quilts, pillows, wooden puzzles. 62 Spruce St., Brattleboro; 802-246-1313.
• Zak Grace Glass (#40). Hand-formed and blown glassware and art. 446 Williams St., Brattleboro; 802-251-0402.
• Lesley Heathcote Studio (#41). Pastels of animals, birds, and landscapes. 32 Larkin St., Brattleboro; 802-257-0951.
• Orchard Street Pottery - Walter Slowinski (#42). Wood-fired salt-glazed pottery; encaustic paintings. 658 Orchard St., Brattleboro; 802-257-1030.
• Naomi Lindenfeld Clayworks (#43). Nature-inspired, colored clay pottery. 330 Meadowbrook Rd., Brattleboro; 802-258-6475.
• Center for Digital Art - Michel Moyse (#44). Projected art, video art on monitors, paintings. 81 Pleasant Valley Rd, Brattleboro; 802-257-7605.
• Greg Moschetti (#45). Landscape oil paintings from imagination. 623 Kelly Rd., Dummerston; 802-689-0676.
• Chris Lann Designs (#46). Contemporary handcrafted fine sterling jewelry. 1420 Sunset Lake Rd., Brattleboro; 802- 254-0383.
• JMB Glass - Josh and Marta Bernbaum (#47). Functional and decorative handmade glass. 119 Hescock Rd., Brattleboro; 610-812-3434.
• Laughing Lizard Studio - Jen Wiechers (#48). Playful paintings, encaustics, mosaics, and jewelry. Weichers will be showing her work at JMB Glass (#47), 119 Hescock Rd., Brattleboro; 802-258-8054.
• Matthew Tell Pottery (#49). Potters Hill Rd., Marlboro; 802-54-8037.
• Rock River Studio (#50). Pinhole photography by Christine Triebert. 362 Dover Rd., South Newfane; 802-348-7440.
• R.U.S.T. (#51). Repurposed assemblage from wood and metal by Darlene Eisenhuth. 911 Dover Rd., South Newfane; 802-348-7141.
• Caryn King Studio (#52). Paintings of animals, mixed media, giclées. 16 Miller Lane, South Newfane; 802-380-7006.
• Roger Sandes (#53) Figurative paintings with symbols of life, fertility, and repose: 157 Grimes Hill Rd., Williamsville; 802-348-7865.
• Diane Echlin Ceramics (#54). Ceramics, stoneware pottery, jewelry. 428 S. Wardsboro Rd., Newfane; 802-365-7874.
• Namaya Productions (#96). Art Rat Studio, peace and Vermont art by T Namaya. 773 Guilford St., Brattleboro; 802-380-3483.