Report on ACWC “Business Training for Artists”

Newfane, April 25, 7:00-8:30 PM

A group of 15 or so gathered to hear the experience of Windham County artists who participated in the Vermont Arts Council (VAC) “Breaking into Business” workshop in February and to discuss how to provide better business training for artists in our area.  See list of attendees with emails.

Greg Worden, VAC board member and Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) president introduced the panel and guided the conversation.  Four of the seven Windham County participants in the VAC workshop were present and talked about their experience. Windham County artisans Brad Dinwiddie, Antoinette Lane, Ellie Roden, Heather Bartels-Hallenbeck, Marilyn Buhlmann, Alyssa Morar and Dianne Yelton were selected for the VAC workshop.

The workshop was two days: the first focused on business organization and practices and the second on marketing strategies and tools.  There was a follow up session a month later to review progress and provide training on Grant Writing, specifically $500 VAC implementation grants available to workshop participants based on written Business or Marketing plans.  Several Windham County participants won grants.  Leadership was provided by two trainers from the UMass Arts Extension Service www.artsextensionservice.org and was considered by all to be excellent: organized, fast paced, responsive, relevant. A book “The Artist in Business” was provided to all participants.

The 22 participants were selected through an application process and represented a range of experience and perspective.

The content of the workshop was mostly review and reminder of basics for most participants, and the real value was in seeing oneself as an artist in the context of peers and business potential.  There were many small group working sessions and this peer perspective and support was most valued.  The workshop helped all take themselves and their art more seriously and develop focused action steps specific to their goals, abilities, and business needs.

Reflections:

The words Marketing and Accountability reoccurred in the reports.

The UMass Arts Extension Service is a resource Windham County should learn how to use.

Peer support; providing inspiration, contacts, experience, and accountability; seems key and can be provided locally.

There are a lot of resources available and a list for area artists might be helpful.

Nettie Lane

Sheryll Fletcher

Ellie Roden

Alyssa Morar

March is Student Art Month in Windham County and the Arts Council of Windham County is again organizing shows and events that will spotlight the great art coming from our young people, and the teachers and school infrastructures that help young artists to blossom.

Visual arts exhibits continue all month  at Through The Music Gallery, 2 Elliot Street; Vermont Artisan Designs Gallery 2, 106 Main Street; Brooks Memorial Library; and at other locations around the county

Following is a listing of student performances this next week to which the public is welcome:

March 2-4: NEYT presents  Robin Hood -  directed by Peter Gould
New England Youth Theatre
Flat Street, Brattleboro

March 3: 7:30 Poetry Slam at the Boys & Girls Club
17 Flat Street, Brattleboro
rickybratt@gmail.com

March 7: The Oak Grove Drama Club presents The Twelve Months
an Italian, Czech, Russian folktale, Directed by Andy Davis
9:30 am     1:30 pm     6:30 pm
Oak Grove School Auditorium
There is no charge for these performances.  Fifteen students in grades 4-6 have been rehearsing this play as an after school project.  The public is welcome.  Call the school at 254-3740 if you wish to attend a daytime performance.  The evening performance is especially for parents and the community.  Please join us!

March 10: 2:00-4:00 Student Poetry Reading,
Village Square Books, 32 the Square, Bellows Falls
info@villagesquarebooks.com

March 10 and 11: “Hip Hop Classic” Gymnastic Competition
Woodman’s Athletics in Brattleboro

March 16: 7:00 Student Poetry Reading
Village Square Books, 32 the Square, Bellows Falls
info@villagesquarebooks.com

March 22: Windham Orchestra Concerto Competition Winner Performance
Latchis Theatre,  9:30 am
www.windhamorchestra.org
Brattleboro Music Center, 802-257-4523

March 23, 24: Phantom of the Opera
Bellows Falls Union High School will present Phantom of the Opera
Friday March 23rd 7:00 pm
Saturday March 24th 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Tickets are $5.

March 24: 7:30 pm SHOWCASE OF CIRCUS
Come see Advanced Students and Professionals from the New England Center for Circus Arts in this annual spring cabaret!  Inspired by spring and new beginnings, this high flying show  features aerialists and acrobats, jugglers and more! $12 adults, $8 kids, under 2 are free.
New England Center for Circus Arts
74 Cotton Mill Hill, #300
Brattleboro, VT
www.necenterforcircusarts.org
(802) 254-9780.

March 25: Windham Orchestra Concerto Competition Winner Performance
Latchis Theatre,  3:00 pm 
www.windhamorchestra.org
Brattleboro Music Center, 802-257-4523 for ticket information

March 30: Music School Student Honors Recital
TBA
www.bmcvt.org

For 32 years the Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC) has designated March as Student Art Month. Why is this important? Why should it continue? Why should you care?

Alia Fielding '14, Digitally Layered Photograph, BUHS

First off, take the opportunity to experience some of the great art coming from our young people. Nothing beats your own first-hand reaction to what our kids are doing. Shows of High School work from around the county open Friday at Through The Music Gallery at the corner of Main and Elliot, and at Vermont Artisans Design Gallery 2 (upstairs). Elementary School work will be at the Brooks Library and elsewhere around town and around the county. These shows will be up for most of the month.

But student art takes many forms beyond what hangs on the wall or graces our shelves.
This year we are adding poetry in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Brattleboro (Poetry Slam March 3 at 7:30) and Village Square Booksellers, Bellows Falls, (open mike poetry readings March 10 at 2:00, March 16 at 7:00). We are also preparing a listing of the myriad student theater, music, and dance performances to which the public is welcome that will be published weekly in Ovation and at www.acwc.us.

It has been shown that practicing art makes good education and good citizens. But this won’t continue without public knowledge and support. So, turning the spotlight on the great art coming from our young people, and our teachers and school systems that help young artists to blossom, is a public service to help our communities invest our education dollars wisely.

Most art is about communicating something that does not fit into our intellectual frameworks. That communication is only complete when what the artist produces touches the lives of others. Student Art Month gives our young artists the opportunity to have their work connect with a wider community. This is affirming and supportive of their growing skills, and gives them an opportunity to experience the full circle of being an artist in the world.

Most important is that our young people have views of life and beauty that are indeed fresh, vibrant, and important. Experiencing what they have to show us in this ever-changing world is a gift to ourselves for richer and fuller lives. The artist in all of us will be refreshed and inspired by their work. So ACWC does this to strengthen the artist life of all of us in the county.

Why should you care? Perhaps its is best for you to see what’s going on, and then let the rest of us know.

Doug Cox, West Brattleboro
ACWC President: dcox@sover.net

March is Student Art Month!

March is Student Art Month in Windham County and the Arts Council of Windham County is again organizing shows and events that will spotlight the great art coming from our young people, and the teachers and school infrastructures that help young artists to blossom.  The celebration has grown in this its ­­­­­32nd year .

Festivities will begin with openings of the High School visual art shows on Gallery Walk, Friday March 2. Two-dimensional art will be displayed at Through the Music Gallery, 2 Elliot Street, Brattleboro, and three-dimensional works at Vermont Artisan Designs Gallery 2, 106 Main Street, Brattleboro.  The awards ceremony will take place at 7:30 at Vermont Artisans.  Both shows will be available for viewing through March 28.

Elementary School art will be on view at the Brooks Memorial Library and at many other locations around Windham County

New this year are student poetry readings in partnership with Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro and Village Square Booksellers of Bellows Falls.  Saturday, March 3 at 7:30 the Boys & Girls Club hosts a Poetry Slam at 17 Flat Street, Brattleboro.  This event will be recorded for TV broadcast. Village Square Booksellers, 32 the Square, Bellows Falls, will host poetry readings at 2:00 on Saturday, March 10, and 7:00 on Friday, March 16 as part of Bellows Falls Third Friday Arts Walk.  Young poets interested in reading should contact rickybratt@gmail.com or info@villagesquarebooks.com respectively.

Innumerable music, drama, and dance performances will take place at venues around the county.  A listing will appear weekly in the Thursday Brattleboro Reformer and will be posted on the Arts Council of Windham County web site: www.ACWC.us.  The Windham Orchestra is partnering with Student Art Month to present a program featuring a high school piano soloist, and musical reflections on student art that will be projected on the big screen.  This will take place Thursday, March 22 at 9:30 am and Sunday March 24 at 3:00 at the Latchis Theater.

Student Art Month is organized and presented by The Arts Council of Windham County (ACWC), an all-volunteer organization that has worked to strengthen the environment for artists and arts organizations in the area for 35 years.

For more information contact:

Marie Procter, Student Art Month coordinator mlp69@comcast.net, (802) 254-2115

Doug Cox, ACWC President:  dcox@sover.net (802) 257-1024