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.

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      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!

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LOOKING FORWARD, PART II

      Local arts and entertainment keeps getting better every year. Last week we covered upcoming All Arts Council and Opera House events plus and the Franklin County Festivals. This week finishes the round up with Other Major Presenters' plans.
      Happy New Year!

2013 WITH OUR ARTISTS       The Artist in Residence Gallery spotlights different artists in month-long exhibitions starting with a free meet-the-artists reception (with refreshments) on the first Sunday of these winter months. 45 Franklin County and surrounding area artists are members of the co-operative gallery.       Vermont artist Corliss Blakely goes to MacWorld iWorld in San Francisco later this month to paint on the iPad.       The Rotary Home Expo will have exhibits and featured artists all around the Collins Perley in March.       The Village Frame Shoppe & Gallery will have Fred Swan visits, local and regional Fine Art exhibits, and more. 2013 WITH OTHER PRESENTERS       The AAC helps promote many other Franklin County presenters and individual artists. Our regularly updated online calendar is found at calendar.AllArtsCouncil.org. Email calendar@AllArtsCouncil.org to add events.       Art in Bloom Festival will bring a day of music, a gazillion exhibits, and plenty of food to Swanson's Farm and Nursery in Fairfax on July 27.       Bay Day will celebrate on July 7 this year with continuous entertainment and family activities all day plus a Summer Sounds concert and fireworks to cap this Independence Day blowout.       Chow Bella's popular Comedy for a Cause events will showcase local standup and raise funds for local organizations all year. Project Graduation will be the beneficiary next week with Make a Wish Vermont the following week and the St. Albans Historical Museum in February. Click here for more info.       The new East Fairfield Arts Center will come into being. "It's a multi purpose organization and building," Tyrone Shaw said, "including a primo performance space for music." The organizers already have a lot of community support but they will need more from all of us throughout the year.       Fairfax Community Theater Company will stage a spring play at the Brick Meeting House with auditions coming soon. They have a summer and fall production in the works as well.       This is the FCTC's 22nd season. The company needs directors, actors, stage hands, and more. This is your chance to join one of the great community troupes and to stage work that you want to do. Email or click here for more info.       Island Arts has brought arts activities to Grand Isle County for 30 years. This year they will have wide ranging concerts, theater performances, and craft fairs for children and adults including the Island Arts Academy, Rick & the All Star Ramblers, and a Yang Bao Piano Concert in June. The group needs Island Arts Academy Instructors with a "particular passion ... to share with others." Any activity/hobby from visual arts, music, dance, photography, to theater is fair game. Click here for more info.       County-wide, our public Libraries have a slew of plans including readings, lunchtime concerts, art shows, and kids' performers. The Bent Northrop Library's BNML Lecture Series begins this evening at 7 p.m. with Al Stirt and Wendy Scott's annual travelogue slideshow, Rocks, Maps and the Ungava Anomaly for 2013. Highgate Public Library's Spring Bulb Sale starts next month and the third annual Exordium Art Camp will be held in June.       The eclectic Music at Grace series at Grace Church in Sheldon will offer exceptional performers to Franklin County for several concerts this summer and fall including the 12th annual Farewell Reunion concert, a perennial favorite, which kicks off the series on May 24. The Organ Historical Society will blanket Grace Church and St. John's in Highgate on June 27 with organists from all over the country to "give our historic Erben pipe organ a good workout." Click here for more info.       The Northern Vermont Artist Association has the famous June Juried Show at the Visions Of Vermont Gallery, and several other venues including an online gallery. Click here for more details.       Northwest Access TV and the St. Albans Recreation Department will offer more courses free of charge. The Film Class begins in February.       Restaurants in and beyond Franklin County have our art on the walls and music in the halls. Chow!Bella will continue to feature artists and exceptional music. The Bayside, On Tap at the Lincoln Inn, One Federal, and Overstreet all have a regular roster of Franklin County musicians.       The St. Albans Historical Museum will have a lineup of performances, exhibits, and educational programs in the third-floor Bliss auditorium. Click here in the Spring for more info.       School art shows should include FNESU's annual Art Gala and the annual FCSU Art Show. The shows bring together hundreds of two and three dimensional pieces in schools and halls around the County.       The Vermont Youth Orchestra programs include three orchestras, three ensembles, and two choruses. They teach and showcase over 500 students of all levels of musical ability from Vermont, NY, and New Hampshire. The VYO Winter Concert takes place this month. Click here for more info.       Young Tradition-Vermont and Fiddleheads have a monthly lineup planned that starts with a Celtic Winter Gathering starting next Friday and the Summit School Winter Festival the same weekend; the Young Tradition Showcase in February; Tommy Sands in March; Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly in April; the Young Tradition Weekend and the Farewell Reunion in May, Trad Camp and more. Several Fiddleheads Sessions will include Tony Demarco master classes. The Young Tradition Weekend features players, singers and dancers from Franklin County and many other places and all the events, no matter where in Vermont, bring in performers we don't often get to see here. Click here for more info.

CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     The Florida Keys Art Guild is a collective of individual artists who bring the best arts from around the county to the Keys and who promote and protect the interests of its members and non-members. The site includes a Blog, Show Schedule, Visitors Guide, Members Section, a featured artist, a nice search and membership information.

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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