WEST BRATTLEBORO — A group of artists and craftspeople from the West Brattleboro and Marlboro area will open their studios en masse this weekend.
Douglas Cox of Sunset Lake Road, who makes violins, violas and cellos used worldwide by professional and traditional musicians of all genres, has coordinated a tour of 18 studios within a six-mile radius for the second annual Brattleboro-West Arts Open Studio Tour.
“The weekend features some work that responds directly to the Vermont countryside, like landscape paintings, figured stoneware, and blown-glass flowers,” writes the group's publicist, Paula Melton. “Other artists offer a contemporary twist on a traditional local art form, such as quilting, fine cabinetry and wood-fired clay vessels.
“Still others incorporate trees or stones from their own property, or take inspiration from the ripples of the Whetstone Brook, the brilliant autumn leaves or the geometry of a freshly mown hayfield.”
The tour also provides an opportunity for artists to expand their markets, said Cox, who estimates that the group collectively brought gross sales of $750,000 into the local economy last year, approximately 80 percent from out-of-state.
Cox describes the group's economic focus simply, as two questions.
“How do we help each other be more successful?” he asks. “How do we bring a better return?”
But the tour provides return beyond dollars and cents, in the form of exposure to potential customers and clients and the joy of sharing beautiful objects with local people who might not fully be aware of the creative lives of their neighbors.
“It's a convenient opportunity to visit,” Cox said. “I'm not expecting everyone to show up and buy a violin.”
“Our goal is to share the place and the process from which our creativity flows,” Cox says.
Visitors on the tour can stop at the C.X. Silver Gallery at 814 Western Ave. (Route 9), and while there, pick up brochures and maps to the individual galleries.
On Saturday, from 1 to 3 p.m., in Cox's studio, Michelle Liechti and Peggy Spencer will play classical works from Bach and other composers. On Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Laurie Indenbaum and Jill Newton will play fiddle tunes. All music will be performed on Cox's instruments.
In addition to Cox's studio, the tour includes the work spaces of:
• Josh and Marta Bernbaum, glass (West Brattleboro).
• Stephen Lloyd, architecture/painting (West Brattleboro).
• Matt Tell, wood-fired ceramics (Marlboro).
• Xi Cai, painting (West Brattleboro).
• Michael Weitzner, dry-stone masonry (West Brattleboro).
• Janet Picard, painting (West Brattleboro).
• Michelle and David Holzapfel, Applewoods Studio and Gallery, woodworking (Marlboro).
• Naomi Lindenfield, layered colored clay (West Brattleboro).
• Jim Giddings and Petria Mitchell, painting (West Brattleboro).
• Cathy Osman and Tim Segar, painting and sculpture (Marlboro).
• Kris McDermet, hooked and braided rugs (Dummerston).
• Karen Kamenetzky, fibers (Dummerston).
• Ron Karplus, sculpture and painting (West Brattleboro).
• Jason E. Breen, woodworking (Brattleboro).
• Xi Le, video and drawing (West Brattleboro).
Visitors can also see work from other members of the consortium on display at American Traders Retail Store and Showroom at 257 Marlboro Rd. (Route 9).
Economic and social support
The artists joined forces in 2009 after a meeting of the West Brattleboro Association that featured a talk by Jeff Lewis, executive director of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp.
Lewis's suggestions left an impression, Cox says.
“He said the surest way for economic growth is to take a sector that is underperforming but has potential and to develop that,” Cox notes.
Cox says he reflected on the potential of building visibility and momentum for the dozens of artists in the West Brattleboro region, who, like him, were toiling in isolation.
“I knew another couple of people like me,” he says, and soon Brattleboro-West Arts came to be.
The group has organized the gallery tours and other events. The loose consortium of artists also meets monthly for potluck dinners.
“It's an opportunity to exchange information, to support each other, to be inspired by each other's work, to be stimulated to improve our work, and to commiserate,” Cox says. “That's proven to be very welcome, very effective.”