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.

---

      Stop in for live music and more at the Fairfax Music Sessions at the Foothills Bakery in Fairfax most Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m., at various restaurants around Franklin County throughout the week, at the Bayside in St Albans Town most Sunday afternoons, and the Cambridge CoffeeHouses at 7 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of every month.
     These gatherings bring new opportunities, gossip, "show-and-tell" and occasional workshops. The booked performances and acoustic Open Mike Nights feature music, readings, and more from the best new artists in Vermont.

      Find links to these events and more in our Spotlight!

... FROM THE ARTBITS DESK ...
E-Mail Delivery
Sign up to receive the free weekly ArtBits
newsletter by e-mail
or by RSS feed.

---

OZ WITHOUT OZ

      Missisquoi Valley Union High School presents The Wizard of Oz opening this evening and running through Saturday with evening shows at 7 p.m. and a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.
      The L. Frank Baum classic takes the audience from Kansas, along the yellow brick road to Oz and the Emerald City with a cast loaded with local favorites including Myriam Bouti as the Wicked Witch; Sean Culligan, Scarecrow; Kathryn Gates, Dorothy; Skyler Greene, Glinda the Good Witch; Josh Hull, Tin Man; Vincent Iannaco, Guard at the Gate; Leif Mitchinson, the Great and Powerful Oz; Jeffrey Renault, Cowardly Lion; Michaela Stilianessis as Aunt Em; and many other supporting players and stage crew.
      Sources tell us that there had been a "hot competition for the role of Toto." We're hoping no one voted for the iguana. Really.
      Brooke Ostrander who passed away in September had retired in 2007; longtime director Harold Mitchell has also retired so MVU welcomes production/director Matt Stebbins of Enosburg. MVU Choral director Danielle Turner and Band Director Aaron Garceau guide the music.
      Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for students, seniors, and children.

---

      Noteworthy by his absence from Oz is actor Justin Gates who was onboard with the Lyric Theater as he played the young lookout in their production of Titanic the Musical last week.

---

ART ON THE WALLS

ST. ALBANS--The second annual Sappy Art Show at the Village Frame Shoppe coincides with the 46th Annual Vermont Maple Festival and holds a reception tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. Refreshments will be served. The community Art Exhibit includes works with a Vermont Maple Theme by artists from all over Vermont. The exhibit will continue through May 10.
      Located at 72 North Main Street, the gallery is open Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and will have extended hours during the festival: Friday and Saturday 10-8, Sunday 10-3. click here for more info.

---

BURLINGTON--Select Design in collaboration with Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery features Fairfield artist Gail Salzman in the exhibit Variations in Abstraction. Ms. Salzman has been called "one of New England's great colorists." She is known for her translucent layers and the looping lines that reflect her love of water.
      This opportunity "to see some of [her] larger paintings from the past few years" has had a change in scheduling; the show has been held over until end of April.
      Select Design is located at 208 Flynn Avenue and is open Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. Call 802.864.9075, Email, or click here for more info.

---

ON STAGE LIVE

ESSEX JUNCTION--On Tap at the Lincoln Inn presents Summer Sounds favorite Jenni Johnson and friends this evening at 7 p.m. and Sturcrazie on Friday at 9 p.m.
      Call 802.878.3309 or email for more info.

---

BARRE--Young Tradition helps present the 9th annual Vermont Master Fiddlers concert featuring the April Verch Band, Scott Campbell and Roland Clark at the Barre Opera House on Sunday April at 2 p.m.
      World-class fiddler April Verch is a champion Ottawa Valley step dancer, composer, and vocalist. Multi-instrumentalist Scott Campbell emotion and humor to the stage with his own compositions and original style.
      Admission is $30 for reserved seating in rows A-H, $21 for open seating, and $17 for seniors and students. Tickets are available at the Barre Opera House (802.476.8188) or click here for more info.

---

SAVE THE DATES--The Vermont Maple Festival will take over St. Albans next weekend, April 27-29, with the ever-popular and usually sold out Talent Show and Fiddlers' Variety Show (get your tickets early) plus free music on the Main Street Stage from Dark Horse, Electric Youth Dance Company, the Michele Fay Band, the Joe Levesque Big Band, Marko the Magician, Smokey Newfield Project, Prydelin, and Bill Shontz.

---

APRIL-MAY ART DEADLINES

BARN PAINT OUT (now)--Art in the Town Hall is a local project to create new works to enhance the visibility of our art community. The Barn Paint Out will culminate with an art exhibit at the Jericho Town Hall in the fall. Artists may work any time from now until August for this project. Artists are encouraged to organize their own painting groups. The subject of each painting must include a Vermont barn.
      Submit no more than one piece in a CD submission Call Janet Bonneau (802.849.2049) or email for more info, or click here for the dates and submission info.

---

RAOUL WALLENBERG THEMED ART (April 24)--The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation asks artists to submit works inspired by the deeds of Raoul Wallenberg and by his legacy for a compilation commemorating the 100th anniversary of his birth. This call is open for the fields of creative writing, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography and mixed media. No entry fee. Click here for submission details.

---

ART TAKES TIMES SQUARE (April 30)--The competition is searching for works by artists, designers, and photographers from across the globe, to choose one whose artworks will appear on billboards in the most visited attraction in the world. $16,000 in grants. No entry fee. Click here for more info.

---

VYO CAMP (April 27)--Register early for the Vermont Youth Orchestra Music Day Camp for a discounted tuition rate of $260 (the full tuition is $290). The VYOA summer music enrichment camp is for band and orchestra students in grades 4 through 10. It will take place June 25-29 at the Elley-Long Music Center. The firm, full price registration deadline is June 1.
      Click here for more info.

---

FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

ST. ALBANS--Today is a big day at the St. Albans Free Public Library, beginning with Life Sentences by Laura Lippman in Mornings, Muffins & Mysteries this morning at 10:30 a.m. The Writers' Medley for those who are interested in writing takes place at 2 p.m. and the Parenting Book Discussion concludes the day at 6:30 p.m. with a discussion of Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman. Call Wanda at the Library (802.524.1507) for more info.

---

CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     Printmaker and designer blacksmith Lynn Newcomb of Worcester, Vermont, offers large black and white etchings and forged steel sculpture in counterpoint to each other. She has fulfilled several architectural commissions and her prints are found in major US museum collections. Her site includes an artist statement, the forged steel and prints and drawings galleries, exhibitions/collections, and contact info.

---

FRANKLIN COUNTY BOOKSHELF

      ArtBits features a quick weekly peek at the bookshelf or night stand of the folks you know in and around Franklin County. That popular feature has a page of its own at the Franklin County Bookshelf here on the AAC site.

SUPPORT LIVE ARTS IN YOUR TOWN!

All Arts Council of Franklin County

Dick Harper, Chair
P.O. Box 1
Highgate Springs, VT 05460
email us