| VOLUME 26 | * * All Arts News On the Web * * | September 29, 2022 |
ArtBits always features a calendar of the goings on of Franklin County artists. Check out these events around Franklin County. Each issue includes the entire text of our weekly newspaper column. STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS
Franklin County's arts and music gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. There are also booked and acoustic Open Mic Nights that feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.
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SHELDON--Summer Music at Grace presents pianist David Feurzeig, joined by Sheldon vocalists Jennifer McConnell and Erin Grainger, as part of his Play Every Town tour at Grace Church on Friday at 7:30 p.m. PLAY EVERY TOWN
Mr. Feurzeig performs genre-defying recitals that bring together music from ancient and classical to jazz, avant-garde, and popular traditions. Peppered with commentary and fun, his programs change how audiences hear all kinds of music. The composer and pianist's 252 (251 before Essex Junction seceded from Essex town) Concerts for a Cooler Climate bring piano music to every municipality in Vermont. With this project, he will become the first musician to perform in every Vermont municipality. His goal is to combat climate change through the power of community and music. He travels in a solar-charged electric vehicle.
Admission is free. Click here for more info about this concert and about the tour.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations increased for September. Hospitalizations increased to 39 and have been edging up over the month. There were 19 COVID-related fatalities in August and 4 so far in September, for a pandemic total of 719. PANDEMIC NEWS
A new paid leave grant program to support Vermont businesses and their workers starts October 1. Under the program, employees who miss work due to COVID between July 1, 2022, through June, 2023, may ask their boss to apply for a reimbursement. 40 hours of wage replacement at up to $21 an hour may be available with the aim of keeping Vermonters employed. Applications are set to open Saturday. The funding is available on a first-come-first-served basis. Click here for more info.
Unvaccinated travelers entering Canada have been subject to mandatory arrival tests and a 14-day quarantine. Those requirements expire September 30 and will not be renewed. On the same day, the country reportedly plans to make the ArriveCan app optional. But the requirement to wear masks on domestic flights and train trips will remain. It's still unclear if the United States will follow Canada's lead and drop its own vaccination requirement for foreign visitors. Vermont's Commerce and Community Development hopes that the U.S. follows suit to encourage tourism between Vermont and Canada.
Vermont reported 483 new COVID-19 cases statewide last week. Franklin County reported 61 cases in the 14 days ending Saturday.
Vermont relies on self reporting. You can report self-test results by following instructions on your test kit to automatically provide your results to your local health department or with the Vermont COVID-19 Self-Test Result Reporting Form. If you test positive, stay home and isolate for five days. You can leave your home on day six if your symptoms have improved and you have had no fever for at least 24 hours without the use of medicine that reduces fevers.
Take an at-home test if you begin having symptoms like fever, sore throat, runny nose, or loss of taste or smell, or at least five days after you come into close contact with someone with COVID-19, or if you plan a get together with people who are at risk of severe disease or may not be up to date on their vaccines. Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order a third round of free at-home tests from COVIDtests.gov. Need other tests? COVIDtests.gov also has for links for at-home tests at retailers and pharmacies, insurance reimbursement for at-home tests, and the 20,000 no-cost antigen and PCR COVID-19 test sites nationwide. Most major chains including Walgreens and Price Chopper locally should have free N95 masks.
Whether you have contracted and recovered from this coronavirus or haven't yet received a booster or even if you have done it all, immunity has waned for many of us. That lowered resistance leads to infections and increased transmission of the virus. Here's my own advice. Get the COVID shot(s), get the booster(s), and take precautions, particularly if you are inside with other people--that still means wearing a mask indoors.
No vaccine is 100% foolproof. Wash your hands. Keep wearing an N95 mask where you can't control the airflow around you until we reach the same herd immunity we have for smallpox and once had but lost for measles because so many parents refused to vaccinate their kids. Bonus: it will also help protect you from pollen, summer colds, and the winter flu.
Call 855.722.7878 or visit healthvermont.gov for more info about the first or second dose and for booster shots of the vaccine. You can also walk-in at Costco, CVS, Hannaford, Price Chopper/Market 32, Rite Aid, Shaw's, Walgreens, or Walmart, or get an appointment with CVS, Kinney Drugs, Walgreens, or UVMMC Outpatient Pharmacies. Providers and pharmacies must give vaccines at no cost to the patient.
ST. ALBANS--The merchants of downtown St. Albans host the annual Fall Art Walk & Sidewalk Sale on Friday and Saturday starting at 9 a.m. Find them on Facebook for more info. ART ON THE WALLS
JEFFERSONVILLE--Bryan Memorial Gallery continues the online segment Legacy: The Artist's Collection on Facebook and in the gallery. This week's Legacy artist is Erik Koeppel with four paintings on display. The Bryan Gallery is open daily from 11 - 5 or by appointment. Click here for more info.
AROUND THE STATE--Vermont's two day Fall Open Studio Weekend celebrates 30 years and begins Saturday at 10 a.m. COVID precautions will be observed so it's a safe chance to tour artists' studios throughout the state. Most Vermont artists and craftspeople work in studios in or near their residences. These founts of production and inspiration can be found in a downtown or at the ends of a dirt road. This statewide celebration is a chance to see the magic at work.
Some of the artists open their working studios to the public only during this weekend. It is an opportunity for them to talk about their work and to demonstrate the skill and processes used to make it. The participating artists plan to get work done as well as teach while visitors poke around.
The free Vermont Studio Tour booklet contains maps and directions. Pick up a hard copy at any studio and at tourist information centers on Vermont's interstate highways.
The Artist In Residence Gallery has fine crafts and art by 40 local artists in St. Albans. Click here .
Nancy Chapman offers paintings, abstract watercolor, and oils in Underhill. Click here .
Rebecca Nase Chomyn at Twisted Perception Metal Works builds steel sculpture, household ware, utilitarian and decorative pieces in Fairfield. Click here .
Handweaver Carol Crawford is "enthralled by the moment [her] shuttle crosses the warp and creates the woven piece" in Bakersfield. Click here .
The Milton Artists Guild has more than 100 local artists on tap. Click here .
Gail Salzman explores interactions in the natural world in abstract oil and gouache paintings, notecards, monoprints, and drawings in Fairfield. Click here .
Meta Strick paints, draws, cuts, carves, sews and assembles one-of-a-kind Art Dolls as well as paintings, ornaments, and oddities in her studio in Fairfield. Click here .
Other statewide participants include furniture makers, glass blowers, ironworkers, jewelers, quilters painters, photographers, potters, print makers, sculptors, weavers, and wood carvers. Many galleries will host gallery talks and feature special exhibits in conjunction with this event. Click here for maps, directions, and more info.
ST. ALBANS--14th Star Brewing Company and and Once Upon A Rock host a Pebble Art Workshop in the Room this evening at 6 p.m. Jean Ferguson picks up a rock or a stone or a pebble and "sees a thousand possibilities" as she "shops" for rocks and stones on beaches and shorelines all over Vermont. This workshop will use pebbles, rocks, stones, driftwood and lake glass to create artwork. From framed pieces to candle holders, each piece is unique. "We'll provide guidance and inspiration over the two hours, but what you make will be completely your own creation." ART YOU CREATE
The cost is $35. Click here for tickets and more info. Limited seating is available so spaces will go quickly.
ESSEX--The Double E hosts a free double screening of No Other Lake in the T-Rex Lounge on Friday at 5:15 and 7:15 p.m. FILM
Jordan Rowell meets and talks with characters of interest about the future of Lake Champlain during a two week kayaking trip along its 120-mile length. Set 50 years after the passage of the Clean Water Act, the film is an adventure-conservation documentary about our unique natural world.
Admission is free. Click here for more info about the showing and click here for more info about the film and to watch the trailer.
SWANTON--Becky Rupp will discuss Soup to Nuts: An Eccentric History of Food in a Vermont Humanities Council Program at the Swanton Free Public Library on Saturday at 11 a.m. The history of what and how we eat encompasses everything from the prehistoric mammoth luau to the medieval banquet to the modern three squares a day. This talk will range from the rocky evolution of table manners, the not-so-welcome invention of the fork, the awful advent of portable soup, to the surprising benefits of family dinners, plus some catchy info on seasonal foods and chocolate. HUMANITIES
The talk is free, open to the public. Call the library (802.868.7656), click here , or email for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Osher Lifelong Learning Institute continues the Fall weekly program series with the Haunting Beauty of Sephardic Music: Songs for Voice & Harp with Melissa Ewell and Holly Raiche in the Greg Brown Lodge at Hard'ack on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The music reflects human conditions found in all cultures: loss, sorrow, anger, joy, and love. These songs will be presented in the Judezmo (Ladino) language, a blend of Spanish and Hebrew. Translations will be provided.
OLLI no longer takes payments at the door. They "strongly recommend that all attendees/members pre-register prior to the start of the program." Click here for more info.
MILTON--Social Sundays continue at the Milton Artists' Guild Art Center with free weekly art classes for families at MAG on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
Each month offers a different project. Stay for 30 minutes or the whole two hours. Admission is free but registration is required. Click here for free tickets and more info.
SWANTON--The Swanton Arts Council will hold a Board Meeting and Updates in person at the Swanton Free Public Library on Monday at 6 p.m. IN THE SAC
Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month. Find the SAC on Facebook for the agenda and more info.
Here's my own plan with over one million U.S. deaths and as our precautions wane. I got the COVID and Flu shots, and the booster, and I take precautions because no vaccine is 100% foolproof. I wash my hands. I double mask with a genuine N95 mask (not a bandana and not a "chin strap") and a surgical mask where ever I can't control the airflow. It isn't much of a burden and it mostly protects me from all the people without masks I see in stores and concerts. ON STAGE LIVE
Thursday-Saturday, September 29-October 1
ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap starts off another weekend of music with Uncle Jimmy tonight at 6 p.m. two shows Friday night, the Duncan Macleod Trio at 5 p.m., and then Cozy O'Donnell returning for late night music starting at 9 p.m., plus two more shows live on Saturday night with Elizabeth Begins at 5 p.m., and Mirage back to tear the house down again starting at 9 p.m. Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info. Click here to reserve a table.
Friday, September 30
SHELDON--The Abbey Friday Night Music Series continues with Phil Graziano in the Pub on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Friday-Saturday, September 30-October 1
ST. ALBANS--Twiggs often has shows on Friday and Saturday nights. Music starts about 6:30 p.m. Call 802.524.1405 or find them on Facebook for more info. Click here to book a reservation or to visit the art on the walls.
Saturday, October 1
ST. ALBANS--14th Star Brewing Company present the St. Albans Oktoberfest with live music from Vermont's German Band, Inseldudler, at 14th Star on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Inseldudler will play from 3 - 6 p.m. The family-friendly event will have craft beer from 14th Star and traditional German food from Grazers. Admission is free and no tickets or reservations are required.
MORRISVILLE--Moog's Joint presents Beg, Steal or Borrow in "one last summer romp before the winter kicks our butts" on Saturday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Sunday, October 2
CAMBRIDGE--Waffle Wagon hosts Sunday Fundays with music by Gary Wade and friends at Iris Lane Studios on Sunday from 12 noon - 3 p.m. Fundays include craft vendors, food vendors, a kids' tent, and more every Sunday through October 16, weather permitting. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--14th Star and Grazers continue the Sunday Sessions: Corner Junction Bluegrass live in The Room on Sunday at 1 - 3 p.m. for deep harmonies, strong leads, and a bluesy sound. Find them on Facebook for more info.
SOUTH HERO--The Blue Paddle Bistro hosts Bettenroo, Anne and Lori, returning with acoustic tunes on Sunday at 3 - 5 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
MORRISVILLE--Moog's Joint presents Dead Sessions Lite in their Live Music Lineup for Fall on Sunday at 5 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at library events in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site at AllArtsCouncil.org/books. We also take an occasional peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. Those reviews can be found on the ArtBits Bookshelf. ON THE BOOKSHELF
Good News!There are so many events around the region that we miss some of them.Be sure to check these calendars for what's happening near you ... |
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Music!Links to the Summer Music series in Franklin County |
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Dick Harper, Chair
P.O. Box 1
Highgate Springs, VT 05460
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