| VOLUME 28 | * * All Arts News On the Web * * | April 11, 2024 |
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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ST. ALBANS--It is Classic Movie Night (and Afternoon!) at the St. Albans Free Library with Kevin Costner's Field of Dreams this evening at 6 p.m. and reprised Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. This free presentation includes the show, the popcorn, cocoa, and tea. Click here for more info. FILM
SWANTON--The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association features certified fine, decorative, and performing artists officially labeled as "American Indian." ART ON THE WALLS
Takara Hansell is an award winning Powwow dancer, bead worker and designer of Native American Clothing. Click here for her story and a look at her work.
JEFFERSONVILLE--Bryan Memorial Gallery noted that Spring came with an April Fool's joke. They featured The Farm in Winter by Marieluise Hutchinson and Mary Bryan's tempura, Village in the Snow, in the gallery and on Facebook.
The gallery has exhibits of the landscape painters of New England. The main showcase in Jeffersonville is open Wednesday-Sunday 11 - 4 and the Stowe Gallery is open Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday, 11 - 5, and Friday and Saturday, 11 - 6. Appointments are available. Call ahead (802.644.5100) to schedule a visit or click here for more info.
MORRISVILLE--River Arts hosts the in-person, Paint & Sip: Take It or Leaf It with Natalie Carr on Friday at 6 p.m. This evening will paint a morning landscape with trees, flowers, and majestic mountains in acrylic. ART YOU CREATE
The cost is $55. Click here to enroll and for more info.
ONLINE--The Vermont Abenaki Artists Association's Bridging Perspectives speaker series continues with Adam Kersch's presentation of Inoculating Whiteness: Settler Colonialism, Whiteness, & Infectious Diseases in Sheet'ka on Zoom today at 6:30 p.m. When Russian and Euro-American colonizers arrived in Sitka, Alaska, the homeland of the Tlingit people, they imported devastating infectious diseases and "white" vaccines. HUMANITIES
The program is free but donations are appreciated. Click here to register in advance and for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Bootlegger Bikes presents Luis Vivanco to explore When the Bicycle Came to Vermont on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Bikes arrived in the 1880s and enthusiasm exploded as they became safer, women took to the wheel, roads improved, and retailers advertised. Admission is free. Find them on Facebook for more info.
JEFFERSONVILLE--Kathleen Berry Bergeron leads Intuitive Expressive--Landscapes in Watercolor at Bryan Memorial Gallery on Saturday at 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Artists at any stage of development are welcome but participants should be comfortable with the medium. WORKSHOPS & CLASSES
Registration is required. The cost is $125 for members or $150 for non-members. Click here for tickets and more info.
MILTON--The Milton Artists' Guild hosts two workshops this week.
The Paint Pouring with the Balloon Technique workshop with Laurie Thompson will be at the MAG Art Center this evening at 6 p.m. Participants will pour acrylic paint onto a canvas and use a balloon to swipe the paint to create a floral effect. The cost is $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers. Click here to register and for more info.
Social Sunday continues 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--The River Arts Mindful Art Series offers Creative U-Turns this evening at 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. This workshop is an opportunity to develop skills and experiment with acrylic painting to explore techniques like dry brushing, sgraffito, and washing. The cost is $30. Click here to enroll and for more info.
FAIRFIELD--The Brick Store offers classes in Letterpress Printing in the general store studio with a morning and an afternoon session on Saturday at 10 a.m. - noon and 1 - 3 p.m. Christa will lead classes monthly on the 1918 Chandler & Price press. They will focus on the basics and print some stationery together to take home. The cost is $35. Click here for more info.
SWANTON--The Swanton Arts Council offers Surreal Swans, a painting lesson with artist Marc Choiniere at the Swanton Library on Saturday at 1 - 3 p.m. Mr. Choiniere will teach the 100 year tradition of modern art. Every completed work will be unique. The class is free. Click here for more info.
COVID-19 is still here. Statewide hospitalizations dropped to 12 for the week ending March 23. Two of those hospitalizations were in Franklin County. Three more Vermonters died from the virus for a pandemic total of 1,141 in Vermont. COVID NEWS
CDC estimates that 97% of Americans have some level of immunity, from either vaccination or infection or both, but the fact many Vermonters have died or have been sick enough to require hospitalization this year alone remains worrisome. That Franklin County has less than 8% of the state population and accounts for more than one-third of those hospitalizations is more so.
Vaccines are available for COVID, the Flu, and RSV, the three main viruses that cause people to end up in a hospital. According to the state COVID-19 and Flu Vaccination Dashboard still just 17% of Franklin County residents have received the new COVID vaccine, still trailed only by Essex County. That compares to about 25% of Vermonters statewide who have had the latest COVID-19 vaccine and 37% of Vermonters who have gotten a flu shot. Vermonters have not moved those numbers much in the past six weeks.
COVID vaccines are 100% free to everyone 6 months and older living in the United States, regardless of immigration or insurance status. The free shots are available via health insurance, Medicare, and through federally qualified health centers, pharmacies participating in the federal Bridge Program, or district health department offices. Free N95 masks are also available at many of the same locations. Pharmacies in Vermont may now give COVID-19 shots to kids ages 3 and older. Click here for more info.
Although the free program has been suspended, there are thousands of free testing sites. The state and many municipalities may still have home antigen tests, available in libraries and town halls or food pantries. Click here for more info.
Some health plans will also offer partial coverage of COVID-19 treatments such as Paxlovid but that will be plan dependent. As always, check with your insurer for specific information on your plan.
The Health Department still recommends following best practices. Call 855.722.7878 or visit healthvermont.gov for more info about the first or second dose and for booster shots of the vaccine.
My own plan remains unchanged, especially since our precautions have waned and the current JN.1 variant dodges all but the most up-to-date immunity. I got the COVID and Flu shots, and the boosters, and I still take precautions because neither vaccine nor "natural immunity" is 100% foolproof. I wash my hands. I double mask with a genuine N95 mask (not a bandana and not a "chin strap") plus a surgical mask everywhere 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.
Thursday, April 11 ON STAGE LIVE
SOUTH HERO--The Blue Paddle Bistro hosts Marc Edwards with an eclectic mix of folk, bluegrass, and jazz for Acoustic Thursday this evening at 5 - 7 p.m. Click here for more info.
NORTH HERO--The North Hero House hosts Karaoke Night in the Event Barn this evening at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Friday, April 12
COLCHESTER--Sibling Reverie returns for the live and free Friday Night Live Music at the Spanked Puppy on Friday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--14th Star presents Hard Scrabble for a night of live acoustic covers in The Room on Friday at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Off The Rails at One Federal often has live performances in the lounge on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
SHELDON--The Abbey Friday Night Music Series often has live performances on Friday about 6:30 p.m. Reservations are suggested. Find them on Facebook for more info.
Friday-Sunday, April 12-14
ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap has two shows Friday night, Natural Selection at 5 p.m., and then Quadra returns for late night music starting at 8 p.m., then Dirty Looks live on Saturday night starting at 9 p.m. Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info. Click here to reserve a table.
JERICHO--The Jericho Cafe and Tavern fills the weekend with Live Music in April. King Me plays Friday. Shell House performs live on Saturday night. Music starts at 6 p.m. Find them on Facebook for more info.
ST. ALBANS--Twiggs often has shows on Friday and Saturday nights. This week they host Coop, Bob Recupero, on Friday and Cooie and Adlai live on Saturday night. 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.
Wednesday, April 17
BURLINGTON--Young Tradition Vermont hosts Fam Jam! at Fletcher Free Library on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. The group provides a space to try out playing tunes and singing songs together. There will be a session leader to facilitate and to guide to newcomers to jams. Adults and youth of all ages and skill levels are welcome to bring instruments and join in the fun. This event is free and open to anyone. Click here for more info
Virtual music and events continue this week. ALMOST LIVE ON STAGE
Northwest Access TV covered the Richford Hometown Follies which featured singing, dancing, piano, violin, "and even acting" on YouTube.
Jimmy T & The Cobras play live at Summer Sounds in Highgate and on YouTube.
SWANTON--The Swanton Library hosts two book club events this week. FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF
The SPL Book Club gathers to discuss A Good Neighborhood, a novel by Therese Anne Fowler, on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The contemporary story is set in a close-knit North Carolina neighborhood where the trees are older than the homes and the residents seem to have been there forever.
The monthly book club, But I Progress, meets on Tuesday at 6 p.m. This month will examine Brave the Wild River by Melissa Sevigny, the tale of two botanists and their historic boat trip down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon in the summer of 1938. The readings focus on writers who "identify as women, with particular attention to Women of Color and nonbinary women, who are under represented in literature. Today women's works are priced lower, more seldom purchased, and not receiving proper credit." There will be snacks, reviews, discussion, ideas, and good conversation.
Both book clubs meet the third Tuesday of each month. Call the library (802.868.7656), email, or 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 ... |
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Music!Links to the Summer Music series in Franklin County |
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Dick Harper, Chair
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Highgate Springs, VT 05460
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