Issue #568
Art: ‘the thing that gives hope/the thing that builds community/the thing that heals/the thing that speaks out for justice/the thing that teaches us how to imagine things being different, and to turn that into action and transformation’
What would Windham County be without its arts community?
It is impossible to imagine the culture of the county without seeing the central role art plays in it. Even amidst a global pandemic that threatens both lives and livelihoods, the arts are surviving in Windham County and show no sign of going away.
Milestones
College news • Rory Cuerdon of Putney was recently awarded a B.S. in aerospace engineering with distinction from Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic Institute. • The following local students have been named to the Dean's List at the University of New Hampshire for the spring 2020 semester: Katrina Ewens of Londonderry...
Early voting has begun statewide
The early voting period for the Vermont Statewide Primary elections, which take place on Tuesday, Aug. 11, has begun. Secretary of State Jim Condos said in a news release that voting early or by mail “has taken on an increased importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we all do...
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Canal Street Art Gallery presents new group show
Canal Street Art Gallery presents “Vermont Summer Group Show: All Mediums, All Subjects, All Art,” now on view to the public through Sept. 12. Visit the gallery's online viewing room at canalstreetartgallery.com to experience a new interactive format. The gallery also offers private appointments during their regular scheduled business hours,Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Groups of no more than four people are scheduled in one-hour time slots to allow for all common spaces, frequently touched surfaces, and...
Who’s running in the primary?
State senator • Democratic incumbents Becca Balint of Brattleboro and Jeanette White of Putney are unopposed. State representative • Windham 1: Incumbent Sara Coffey, D-Guilford, is unopposed. • Windham 2-1: Incumbent Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, is unopposed. • Windham 2-2: Incumbent Mollie Burke, P/D-Brattleboro, is unopposed. • Windham 2-3: Incumbent Tristan Toleno, D-Brattleboro, is unopposed. • Windham 3 (two seats): Incumbents Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham, and Kelley Tully, D-Rockingham, and challenger Leslie Goldman, D-Rockingham. • Windham 4 (two seats): Incumbent Mike Mrowicki,
Next Stage presents a drive-in concert with VJC Sextet
Next Stage Arts Project presents two drive-in theater concerts by the Vermont Jazz Center Sextet on Friday, July 3, with two showings, at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., respectively, in the Basketville parking lot on Route 5. Cars will be socially distanced, leaving a vacant space between cars for lawn-chair seating (bring your own chairs). Rain date for the concerts is Sunday, July 5. The Vermont Jazz Center Sextet is the VJC's community outreach ensemble. The group has developed programs that...
Around the Towns
Return of train service to Vermont on hold BRATTLEBORO - Amtrak's plans to resume service north of New Haven, Conn., for the Vermonter and the Ethan Allen Express, its two daily passenger trains to Vermont, are now on hold. Earlier in June, Amtrak was accepting ticket reservations for rail travel to and from the state starting on July 1. The rail service stopped doing so two weeks ago. Now, no reservations are available until Aug. 3 - the tentative new...
Epsilon Spires launches outdoor movie series
Every Friday night during July and August, Epsilon Spires will transform its parking lot behind the building into Backlot Cinema, a safe, socially-distanced outdoor cinema. “Imagine a picnic under the stars where you are entertained by film screenings and live performances - the program features international art films and cult classics, with themed evenings ranging from glam rock to Afrofuturism to Bollywood,” Jessamyn Fiore, Epsilon Spires art curator and board member, said in a press release. On Friday, July 3,
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center gets creative about art education during coronavirus pandemic
At a time when museums across the country are cutting education staff and reducing programs, the one-person education department at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) has spent the past few months supporting area students, teachers, and the wider community, including frontline health-care workers and people experiencing homelessness. BMAC Education Curator Linda Whelihan pivoted from classroom and museum visits to provide outreach efforts, hand-deliver supplies, and offer art online. Whelihan moved on from her position at BMAC at the...
About this issue
This Special Focus issue is the result of a significant amount of creative effort, much of it from volunteers. Conventional credits cannot adequately reflect what ended up being a true creative collaboration among this project team, but we'll give it a go. The section was written by MacLean Gander, with ample contributions from Guinevere Downey. Shanta Lee Gander was the lead reporter and assembled the roundup of arts perspectives with Downey's help. The whole package was edited and designed by...
Southern Vermont towns face early-season drought conditions
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, approximately 571,000 Vermonters, or 91 percent of the state's population, are living in an area of the state that is experiencing abnormally dry conditions. This includes Windham Country, which is in a state of “moderate drought,” along with the three other counties that comprise southern Vermont. Northwest and central Vermont towns are in the lowest level of drought conditions, “abnormally dry.” State officials are asking Vermonters to report water shortages in their area and...
Masks needed for local schools by August
With the Windham Southeast School District schools in Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon planning to reopen for in-person learning for the 2020-21 school year, face masks will be needed for students, teachers, school personnel, and bus drivers. If you can sew masks to fill this need, donate cotton fabric or 1/8-to-1/4-inch elastic, cut out masks (if given material and a pattern), or donate bandanas, your help is requested to make hundreds of masks needed in all sizes, to fit...
Dance educator hangs on and reaches out via Zoom
Being online has had great benefits but great challenges as well, but it has really helped the three organizations stay connected and reach out to wider audiences. We shut our doors and took our classes online immediately. I already knew dance teachers who were doing that in rural areas. They are offering their classes on site and also protecting their classes through an online platform, especially for people who couldn't make the drive. It was already something that was being...
Measuring the economic impact
As with every economic sector in Vermont, COVID-19 has heavily damaged the arts scene. According to the nonprofit Vermont Arts Council (VAC), the designated state agency for supporting and advocating for the arts in the state, which has been administering grants for artists and artistic venues, the losses in this sector total at least $35 million, with about $15 million in direct losses for more than 200 arts and humanities organizations. As promoted on Think Vermont, a Vermont government website...
How does a pandemic impact a key cultural event?
We started the Brattleboro Literary Festival out of love for our local community and the wider literary community of writers, readers, literary nonprofits, and booksellers. It's that same love that has led us to make a difficult decision. Due to the uncertain, evolving situation related to the COVID-19, and to protect everyone's health, the 19th annual Brattleboro Literary Festival slated for Oct. 17 through 20 will become a virtual, online event. From nearly 19 years of presenting this festival, we...
Baker Street Readers bring Sherlock holmes to the Latchis
The Baker Street Readers are bringing their Sherlock Holmes podcast series to a new home: the Latchis Theatre. The Readers formed in 2018 and began reading one of Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories every month at the Hooker-Dunham Theater in Brattleboro. Each story featured James Gelter as Sherlock Holmes, Tony Grobe as Dr. Watson, and a rotating cast of guest performers. Once COVID-19 forced theaters to close, the Readers began their own Patreon podcast, allowing their followers to...
Petitioners halt their effort to overturn municipal budget
A petition to take the fiscal year 2021 municipal budget to a town-wide vote has stalled, in part, because of COVID-19. In response to community calls to redirect money from the police department, Kurt Daims, founder and executive director of the advocacy organization Brattleboro Common Sense, began a petition drive last week. The Selectboard approved a $18.4 million fiscal year 2021 town budget, in a 3-2 vote, on June 16, and Daims's petition was intended to bring the municipal budget...
Creating, making, and sharing during a pandemic
Samirah Evans Samirah Evans has been giving one-on-one voice instruction for 13 years with students ranging from 8 to 60 years of age and older. * * * I'm in the business of music as a performing artist and a teacher. I teach at both Williams College and my at-home studio. At Williams, COVID-19 abruptly put a halt on my ability to prepare my students for their recital. It was sad to part without seeing one another after years of...