DANCE - FINE ARTS - MUSIC - THEATER - WRITING

ARTBITS by Richard B. Harper


VOLUME 27 * * All Arts News On the Web * * April 13, 2023

STUFF YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

      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.


     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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CALL FOR ARTISTS

HEART AND HOME ARTISTS (April 22)--As part of Fair Housing Month in April, Bent Northrop Memorial Library and Fairfield Center School invite artists of all ages to share what "Home" and/or "Inclusive Community" means. There will be a Community Art Show and Reception at BNML on April 27. 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 Copley Artist Rosalie Sidoti with landscapes on display.
      The Bryan Gallery is open Wednesday-Sunday from 11 - 4 or by appointment. Click here for more info.


ART FOR SALE

ST. ALBANS--The Sunday Makers Market fills the Taproom at 14th Star with pop-up booths from local crafters and makers on Sunday at 1 - 3 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


FILM

ST. ALBANS--It is Classic Movie Night for the Ox-Bow Incident at the St. Albans Free Library tonight at 6 p.m. This is an after-hours event--please arrive before 6 p.m. Henry Fonda, Harry Morgan and Anthony Quinn star in a western based on a popular novel focused on the lure of vigilante justice. Popcorn and beverages are included.
      Click here or find them on Facebook for more info.


ENOSBURG--The Opera House at Enosburg Falls hosts a free screening of the Quiet Epidemic, a documentary about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, on Friday at 6:30 p.m. The CDC estimates that 476,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year in the United States alone. The film is a call to action.
      The free event in memory of Sally Hull is sponsored by Health Seekers of Vermont and Kimberly Legault. Click here for more info.


HUMANITIES

ONLINE--Mkwabaga. I'm sensing a water theme although this particular liquid is more appropriate as we get ready for the Maple Festival. The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association and Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park introduce the Abenaki Word of the Week. They will share Abenaki words alongside English translations every week. Find them on Facebook for this week's word.


WORKSHOPS, GATHERINGS and EVENTS

MILTON--The Milton Artists' Guild has three social gatherings with a chance to get some work done this week.
      The Queer Art Club is a free, drop-in social gathering at the MAG on Friday at 6 p.m. Bring creative projects to work on or to share on the second Friday of each month. Find them on Facebook for more info.
      World Art Day marks a "celebration of creativity" at the MAG on Saturday at 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. The April 15 (not tax day, this year) celebrations help reinforce the links between artistry and society, foster the different types of artistic expressions, and highlight the contribution of artists to sustainable development. MAG will have live music, face painting, crafts, origami, demonstrations, and more. Find them on Facebook for more info.
      Social Sundays continue at the Milton Artists' Guild Art Center with free weekly art classes for families at MAG on Sunday at 1 p.m. Each week offers a different project. Stay for 30 minutes or the whole two hours. Click here for more info.


MORRISVILLE--Ahh the sweet smell of wood burning. River Arts begins a new, six-workshop series, Creative Woodworking: Carving, Woodburning and Building, with Porter Pacella on today at 6:30 - 8 p.m. Classes will be held each Thursday through May 18. Ms. Pacella will explore creativity with wood as a medium through a series of small projects. Tuition is $170. Click here to enroll and for more info.


JEFFERSONVILLE--Bryan Memorial Gallery offers two multi-day workshops this week.
      Robert Waldo Brunelle Jr. leads Introduction to Acrylic Painting at the gallery on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The class will cover the basics of painting with acrylics including the differences with oils, mixing colors, using additives, brush types, creating effects, as well as composing a painting and transferring images to canvas. The cost is $175 for members and $200 for non-members. Click here to register and for more info.
      Leo Mancini-Hresko takes artists From Outside to Inside: Finishing your work in the Studio at the gallery on Monday through Wednesday at 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Most landscape artists who make a living at it do the majority of their work indoors. The demonstration portion of the workshop will show how to use a photograph or not. Those interested can paint a study outdoors. There will be compositional studies and a glazing and scumbling `finishing' demonstrations. for The cost is $400 for members and $440 for non-members. Click here to register and for more info.


PANDEMIC NEWS

     Area hospitals including Dartmouth Health, Northwestern Medical Center, and the UVM Health Network now require masks only in "the Emergency Department, Family Birth Center, Progressive Care Unit and Diagnostic Imaging Departments. As always, anyone who wishes to wear a mask is encouraged to do so and NMC will continue to provide masks." Click here for more info.
      People do keep getting sick, though, mostly because they aren't taking precautions. Original COVID-19 vaccinations remain below the level of herd immunity, and even fewer have gotten boosters. Only about 60% of adults and eligible children have even received a flu vaccine. Most doctors and area pharmacies offer COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. And COVID has killed 941 Vermonters so far.
      No vaccine is 100% foolproof. Wash your hands. Keep wearing an N95 mask where you can't control the airflow around you. 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.
      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 boosters, and I still 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, April 13-15
ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap starts off another weekend of music with Third Shift tonight at 6 p.m. two shows Friday night, the Duncan MacLeod Trio at 5 p.m., and then Sticks and Stones return for late night music starting at 9 p.m., plus two more shows live on Saturday night with the Fabulous Wrecks at 5 p.m., and take Sanctuary starting at 9 p.m. Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info. Click here to reserve a table.


HIGHGATE--MVU Musical Disney's Newsies in the Trahan Theater on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 7 p.m. plus a special Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.
      The musical was inspired by the real-life New York City Newsboys Strike of 1899. The show has music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and a book by Harvey Fierstein. Jack Kelly is an amalgamation of some of the real leaders of the strike including Kid Blink. Other real strikers in the show are Racetrack Higgins, Mush Meyers, and Spot Conlon. The fictional Katherine Plumber is named for Pulitzer's daughter Katherine.
      Admission is $10 and free for ages 5 and under. Tickets are available at the door or via email for reservations.


Friday, April 14
COLCHESTER--Blue Heron brings acoustic rock to the live and free Friday Music Night at the Spanked Puppy on Friday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


ST. ALBANS--Celebrate 4/14 at 14th Star with Barbie N Bones for a night of live music in The Room on Friday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


SHELDON--The Abbey Friday Night Music Series continues in the Pub on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


ST. ALBANS--Cooie & Adlai go in the lounge and Off The Rails at One Federal on Friday at 7 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


SEABROOK, NH--Jesse Agan brings the Music of Queen to the Brook Casino on Friday at 7:30 p.m. With Andre Maquera, Gary Spaulding, Mr. Agan and more, the music will "Rock You!" Admission starts at $25. Click here for tickets and more info.


WILLIAMSTOWN--The Pub hosts a "rocking" night of music with Eleven live on Friday at 8 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


Friday-Saturday, April 14-15 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, April 15
ENOSBURG--The Opera House at Enosburg Falls opens the season with Soul & Soda as funk, fusion, and R&B take the stage in one new, six-piece six-piece band on Saturday at 7 p.m. Doors at 6:45. Admission is $12. Food truck and cash bar by Phoenix House. Find them on Facebook for more info.


Wednesday, April 19
ST. ALBANS--"Rockin'" Ron Gagnon comes live to 14th Star for a special Wednesday performance in the Taproom on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.


FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

STATEWIDE--Vermont will appoint cartoonist Tillie Walden as the state's fifth Cartoonist Laureate today. She will serve a three year term. Ms. Walden won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work for her graphic novel memoir "Spinning." She studied at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction.
      Vermont is the only state that regularly appoints a cartoonist laureate. The state casts a Robert Crumb-size footprint on contemporary cartooning thanks to CCS and the working cartoonists who call the state home.


ST. ALBANS--The Eloquent Page hosts a special meet and greet for St. Albans native, writer, and literary publicist Lynda Bouchard today at 4 - 5 p.m. Ms. Bouchard will sign her children's Halloween book, The Witches Three Count on Me, and answer questions about the writing life. The founder of Booking Authors Ink said she's happy to talk to and advise new writers. Find them on Facebook for more info.


SWANTON--The Swanton Arts Council Writers' Group meets in person at the Swanton Free Public Library this evening at 6 p.m. They meet the third Thursday of each month to share progress and join in the discussion about longer projects and anything else about writing, reading, publishing, and more. Email Becky Rupp or the Swanton Library for more info.


SWANTON--The SPL Book Club meets at the Swanton Free Public Library on Tuesday at 6 p.m. to discuss Horse by Geraldine Brooks.
      Based on the true story of Lexington, the famed 19th-century racehorse that became the fastest thoroughbred ever to run, Ms. Brooks' American epic gallops through time with a story about racing and freedom and art. The club is open to everyone. Click here 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.


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 ...
All Arts Council of Franklin County
Cambridge Arts Council
Franklin County Regional
Chamber of Commerce
Island Arts
St Albans Community Arts
Swanton Arts Council
Young Tradition Vermont

Music!

Links to the Summer Music series in Franklin County
Summer Sounds
Summer Music at Grace
Downtown Summer Concert Series
Music at the Meeting House
Citizens Concert Band
 
Enosburg Town Band


SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!


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