PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts announces the NXT Curators series, supported in part by Vermont Humanities, offering an opportunity for audiences to hear from curators in various arts/humanities fields. The intent is to shine a light on lesser-known styles and genres, providing a behind-the-scenes look at what curators need to consider when working with their medium.
“For most, the arts are something we interact with as a finished product. We love the musicians we love, but we don't understand the inner workings,” Keith Marks, executive director of Next Stage Arts, said in a news release. This series will make it possible for audience members to “hear from the people who help facilitate the vast body of work, how it gets made, what goes into making it, and how to make sense of it,” he says. “I hope this series helps people appreciate all forms of art at a deeper level.”
On Thursday, March 23, Angelina Lippert, chief curator and director of content at Poster House in New York City, will initiate the series.
What is a poster and how is it different from a print, a handbill, or a flyer? What makes a poster valuable? Lippert will discuss how this ephemeral medium marries the worlds of art and commerce and cover the birth of posters in the mid-1800s, major stylistic movements, important moments in printing history, and a glimpse into the array of poster exhibitions she has curated. This talk is co-presented with the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.
The following Thursday, March 30, Singer-Songwriter and Musicologist Miriam Elhajli interviews Association for Cultural Equity's (ACE) President Anna Lomax Wood, the daughter of the organization's founder, Musicologist Alan Lomax.
The talk will focus on ACE and the Global Jukebox, an online database and interactive website that allows users to listen to and learn about more than 6,000 songs from 1,000 cultures - including many from Lomax's personal collection. Elhajli will perform a few songs to lead off the presentation.
The series concludes on Thursday, April 6, with Melanie George, a jazz dance artist, dramaturg, and scholar. She is an associate curator & scholar-in-residence at Jacob's Pillow in Lenox, Massachusetts. Named one of Dance Magazine's “30 over 30” in 2021, George aims to deconstruct traditional hierarchies in dance.
Next Stage, at 15 Kimball Hill in downtown Putney, offers all talks for free, but donations are appreciated. Advance registration is available at nextstagearts.org. For more information, call 802-387-0102.