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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ON STAGE LIVE

SOUTH HERO--The Blue Paddle Bistro presents Carol Ann Jones in a solo show tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Bistro's Thursday Night Music series spotlights a line-up of Vermont musicians. Reservations are encouraged.
      Call 802.372.4814 for reservations or click here for more info.

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ST. ALBANS--Chow Bella's Comedy for a Cause series features the Run For Jim tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. The charity event series is a night of stand up comedy with several of Vermont's best comedians.
      The 14th annual Run/Walk for Jim to benefit the Run for Jim Foundation is Sunday. The Kid's Fun Run kicks off at 8:30 with the adult 5K starting at 9:30. Call Shari Bashaw (802.309.8302) or email for more info.
      Colin Ryan of A Stand Up Life produces the show. Admission is $15. There are just 70 tickets available at the restaurant.
      Chow has Music to Dine By with relaxed music and the arts. Upcoming events include a benefit for the Northeastern Family Institute. Call 802.524.1405, email, or click here for more info or booking requests.

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ST. ALBANS--BFA-St. Albans presents the Faure Requiem on Sunday at 3 and 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center.
      Faure said in 1921, "Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest." The short requiem has seven movements; it is performed in Latin.
      The Requiem will be performed by a chorus of over 100 BFA Chorus and community members plus an orchestra and two vocal soloists, all under the direction of BFA Choral Director Armand Messier. Gary Moreau, baritone, and Aimee Bushey, Soprano, will solo. She will sing the famous central soprano aria Pie Jesu, the prayer to the "good Jesus" for everlasting rest.
      Admission is $7 for adults, $4 for students and seniors, or $15 for the entire family. Children six and under are admitted free. Tickets are available at Swanton Rexall plus Bayberry Cottage, the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce, and from BFA direct (802.527.6556). Tickets will also be available at the door. Click here for more info.

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NEW HAVEN--Lincoln Peak Vineyard has another Cajun party coming as Yankee Chank takes over their "hilltop of good Vermont land just outside Middlebury" on Sunday at 2 p.m.
      Yankee Chank is Bob Naess, fiddle and vocals, Cannon Labrie, accordion and vocals, Jim Burns, guitar, and Mark Sustic, bass and percussion. They practice Cajun immersion in music with the traditional Cajun two-steps and waltzes as it continues to be played in the rural dance halls and honky tonks of Louisiana. There is always some spicy Zydeco.

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ALTONA NY--The Nobby Reed Project plays a Saxony Benefit on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
      Click here for more info.

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CALL FOR THESPIANS

     The Opera House at Enosburg Falls will hold auditions for the Summer Musical, Annie Get Your Gun, in two locations this week. On Sunday, actors should head to the Opera House itself between 1-5 p.m. Next Thursday, May 23, go to the Enosburg Elementary School between 5:30-8:30 p.m. The production requires three female actors (including one sharpshooter), seven male actors, plus Annie's four brothers and sisters.
      Click here for more info

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      Dairy Pageant rehearsals begin Monday at 7 p.m. at the Opera House.

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MAY-JUNE ART DEADLINES

RESIDENCIES (May 23)--3Arts and the Alliance of Artists Communities have a new program through which 3Arts awardees and 3Arts Ragdale Fellows may enjoy concentrated time for their creative practice. The one-month residencies in California, Florida, and Virginia serve artists of all disciplines and include $2,000 stipend. Click here for more info.

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BLANCHE AMES NATIONAL JURIED ART EXHIBITION (June 1)--The Ames Mansion Museum in N. Easton, MA, wants work in all media. Cash awards. Entry fee. Call 781.784.6116 email, or click here for more info.

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LOCAL FELLOWSHIPS (June 15)--The Vermont Studio Center has sixteen merit-based fellowships open to all artists and writers. The five Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowships are for visual artists of outstanding talent with demonstrable financial need. The two Sustainable Arts Foundation fellowships for artists and writers who are raising young children include a 4-week residency with a $2,000 stipend and a 2-week fellowship with a $1,000 stipend. The Grace Paley Fiction Fellowship is open to all fiction writers in honor of long-time VSC friend and visiting writer Grace Paley. Other fellowships include an award for an east coast minority artist, a poet whose work engages the environment and more. VSC has new juries and different awards three times each year. Most of the fellowships are for 4-week residencies. Click here for more info.

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LOVE FREE OR DIE (June 15)--Rick Broussard's New Hampshire Pulp Fiction series is open for submissions for volume IV, devoted to romance. They seek a variety of love stories to showcase the rich relationships and boundaries of New Hampshire. Stories may be any sub-genre including historical, paranormal, suspense, inspirational with a New Hampshire setting and up to 8,000 words long. Sexy is fine, but no erotica. Email submissions in DOC or RTF format to NHpulpromance@gmail.com.
      Click here for more info.

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BIKE + RACK = ART ANNUAL DESIGN COMPETITION (June 21)--The Geneva Cultural Arts Commission wants unique original design concepts for an Artist/Designer bike rack project. Artists need no fabrication skills to enter the competition and public Art experience is not necessary. Initial submissions are for concepts only. No entry fee. Click here for more info.

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CLICK HERE: ART SITE OF THE WEEK

     The Arts & Science Council in North Carolina is the public art agent for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County and the community’s chief advocate for arts, science, history and heritage. Over the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy seasonal food directly from local farms. With the same eat-local spirit in mind, ASC is seeking local artists, of all disciplines, to participate in a inaugural Community Supported Art (also CSA) Program.
      The call itself doesn't work for Franklin County residents but it is an interesting site and a concept we might want to make work here.

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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