As the Crow Flies
BONNIE BAIRD - OIL PAINTINGS
On display August 12 through September 25, 2016
Bonnie Baird paints the landscape that surrounds and holds her.
She was raised on a 730 acre dairy farm in Vermont. She and her husband, Robert are the third generation to own and work their dairy/ maple farm. This outdoor experience has given her a deep connection with the land. Working in the natural environment everyday in every kind of weather allows her to truly feel the horizon; warm or cool, dark or light, intimate or expansive.
Baird’s paintings are filled with an emerging fullness of heart. In her paintings light infuses life into air, becoming the magic that conjures a personal memory. Her paintings simultaneously evoke a simple lament and heartfelt joy.
Using a limited palette and large simple shapes, Baird composes more than a visual observation. Her work is a perceptual experience: an intrinsic vivid memory.
Bonnie Baird studied at the University of Vermont and The Arts Students League in NYC. She has taken master classes with Eric Aho, Robert Liberace, Sherrie McGraw, and Thomas and Elizabeth Torak.
The Jackson Gallery is located in the lower level of Town Hall Theater, a community and cultural venue located in the center of Middlebury. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday noon to five, and an hour before any public events in the building. For further information, call 802-382-9222 or email jacksongallery@townhalltheater.org.
ASHLEY WOLFF
Following a Thread
Opening Reception Friday, October 7 5 - 7 pm
On display through November 13, 2016
Prolific artist, author and illustrator Ashley Wolff will display a series of paintings with a common thread. Rich in their color and pattern, the images in this show began to emerge in the autumn of 2014 after the death of a beloved dog and evolved over the next two years. Using gouache on watercolor paper, Ashley combines animal imagery from the Mexican Dia des los Muertes (Day of the Dead) tradition, Ukranian Pysanka (decorated eggs,) and her Vermont rural environment. The poem The Way It Is, by William Stafford, first heard at the Town Hall Theater 2014 performance of Night Fires was a huge influence in several of the pieces.
Ashley Wolff has been a visual artist since she declared herself one at the age of 5. She grew up in Middlebury, Vermont and holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design.
Ashley is the author and/or illustrator of over 60 children’s picture books including Baby Bear Sees Blue, Baby Beluga by Raffi, Stella and Roy Go Camping, When Lucy Goes Out Walking, I Call My Grandma Nana, Compost Stew by Mary McKenna Siddals and the beloved Miss Bindergarten Series by Joseph Slate Her books have won numerous state and national awards.
Ashley teaches writing and introduction to media in the Children’s Picture Book Writing & Illustration Summer MFA and certificate programs at Hollins University. She lives and works beside a lake in Leicester, VT.
The Jackson Gallery is located in the lower level of Town Hall Theater, a community and cultural venue located in the center of Middlebury. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday noon to five, and an hour before any public events in the building. For further information, call 802-382-9222 or email jacksongallery@townhalltheater.org.
Klara Calitri
PAINTINGS, MONOTYPES, CERAMICS
July 9 through August 6, 2016
A visit to Klara Calitri’s home offers an inspiring tribute to a truly creative spirit. Calitri is a prolific artist whose work in multiple media has included painting, monotype prints, ceramics, sculpture, and more. As a nonagenarian she has objects and paintings on display that represent many decades of production and experimentation with techniques. Informed by her Austrian heritage and inspired by nature, her artwork is filled with flowers, birds, and living things of all types and her home and gardens are the same. She surrounds herself with the things she loves and she expresses these passions through her art in bold and many-colored form.
The exhibit featured samples of the many creative paths that Calitri has explored. Paintings in her colorful floral style joined more abstract monotype prints. Ceramic tiles as framed art depicting a variety of themes accompanied her large hand-formed and decorated presentation bowls. Fountains unique in their engineering and intricate design were featured as well. This display represented the rich multi-dimensional life of a true Renaissance woman and creative force.
FULL CIRCLE:
Emerging Landscapes Within Handmade Paper
Deborah Sharpe-Lunstead
May 20 – July 2, 2016
This collection of pulp paintings made with hand made paper invites the viewer to travel through the seasons and the landscape, from fields, forests and farmland to waterways and the seaside. The process of creating a pulp painting begins with water and plants, which become paper and fibers in the paintings. The show explores the cycles of the seasons; the wonders of plants, which just keep giving; and water, which is necessary for plants and paper and all living things.
RETURN OF THE SPRING
January 15 – March 5, 2016
The Return of Spring is the theme of this show, featuring the work of Middlebury artist Yinglei Zhang, her mentor Mr. Li Xubai from China, currently Canada, and her teacher Mr. Guo Ziyu of Hongkong. Both Mr. Li and Mr. Guo have work collected by private owners and museums around the world.
The exhibit coincides with the February 8th Chinese New Year, celebrating the year of the monkey.
From Farm to Feast
Eighth Annual Holiday Show of Original Works by Local Artists
November 20 – December 31, 2015
Art and objects celebrating Vermont agriculture and its bounty. The Gallery is filled with original, handmade and hand printed art, fine crafts and photography by 22 talented local artists. This holiday season show has become a tradition at Town Hall Theater and features unique and affordable works available for immediate purchase. Image: Joe Bolger “Morning Cows”
JOAN CURTIS:
Drawings, Paintings and Wall Sculptures
On display October 2 – November 7, 2015
Joan Curtis uses paint, colored pencil, papier-mache and mixed media in two and three- dimensional works filled with vibrant color and organic form. Incorporating human- and animal-like figures, she combines abstract and figurative imagery to express her fanciful visions. In much of her work certain figures seem to be protectors or helping spirits -- beings that help us connect to or cross to the next world.
The Brandon artist has exhibited throughout New England and in invitational shows elsewhere. Her artwork is in the collections of Middlebury College Museum of Art, the Robert Hull Fleming Museum (Burlington, VT), the Fuller Museum of Art (Brockton, MA), SUNY Adirondack (Queensbury, NY), as well as numerous private collections.
Line and Shadow:
Cyanotypes and Drawings by Tom Fels
On display through September 27, 2015
Works include large cyanotype prints from the Arbor and Catalpa Series from 2011 to 2014, a selection of smaller minimalist drawings from the Linea Series of 2014, and a large drawing from the recent Classics Series. Tom Fels is an artist, curator and writer specializing in the history of photography.
TANCY HOLDEN
Oil Paintings
On display July 10 - August 4.
Presented in conjunction with Point Counterpoint's Constance Holden Memorial Concert on July 27.
MOSTLY VERMONT:
Photographic Images
by Jack Goodman
May 15 - June 27, 2015
Middlebury photographer Jack Goodman will present a selection from his extensive portfolio of images. The prolific Middlebury photographer has been taking pictures for 65 years around the United States and Canada but has found that digital photography has inspired him to capture more images in the last three years than in the previous decades. Images include landscapes, still life and architectural themes, including both color and black and white prints. All proceeds from sales will benefit the Town Hall Theater and its endowment fund.
NICK MAYER – Nature Illustration
April 12 - May 8, 2015
Nick Mayer is an award winning nature illustrator whose style embraces the natural beauty of fish and other marine life with a unique scientific perspective. He is a former marine biologist and a lifelong fly fishing addict. A skin of his teeth survival falling overboard off a commercial fishing vessel into the Bering Sea followed by a near float plane crash in Northern Labrador inspired Nick to pursue his true calling as an artist. Painting is his passion and he has developed a celebrated touch. He is the illustrator of two books: Catalina Island Dive Buddies written by fishing historian Mike Rivkin and Fish ABCs by Nick Mayer. His work and licensed products can be seen in galleries and stores in over 30 countries around the globe.
Concepts of Shamans by Mongolian Artists
from the collection of Sas Carey.
Sas Carey's collection of Mongolian art is extensive thanks to her twenty years of travel to the region and her study of life and culture as expressed through her film Ceremony.
On exhibit through April 4, 2015.
JOE BOLGER - Portraits in Oil
January 9 - March 7, 2015
Working mostly with oil in a representational style, Joe excels at capturing light and color in his paintings. Although Joe focuses mainly on plein air landscapes, he also loves to paint sports scenes, portraits, and figures. Joe maintains an intense focus on color and changing light conditions in his paintings, each of which seems to capture a unique moment in time. This exhibition will feature landscapes representing all of the seasons in Vermont.
Joe has always appreciated artists that paint light including many American artists, the Old Masters, and the Impressionists. The writings of John Carlson, Edgar Payne, Charles Hawthorne, and Richard Schmid have also strongly influenced Joe's landscape painting style. When it comes to the figure and the portrait, Joe admires the work of John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, and Anders Zorn.
Over the years, Joe has been fortunate to study under various professional artists including Louis Griffel, Rob Longley, John Killroy, Tom Browning, Clayton Beck, Camille Przewodek, Ken Backus, John Budicin, Albert Handell, Casey Baugh, Jack Keledjian, David Lussier and Scott Burdick.
7th Annual Juried Exhibit of
Original Works by Local Artists
November 14 - December 31, 2014
This juried exhibition featured eighteen regional artists whose work represents a wide variety of media and styles.
This holiday season show has become a tradition at Town Hall Theater and features unique and affordable works available for immediate purchase.
Image: Mike Mayone's "Chickadee-Dee-Dee"
KATE GRIDLEY
Passing Through:
Portraits of Emerging Adults
August 18 - October 26, 2014
"Passing Through" features 17 over life sized oil portraits paired with audio portraits of seventeen young people who have all come through Middlebury for one reason or another. From Caleb, a ninth generation Vermonter who was born here, to Kamal, who came for ten summers with the Fresh Air Fund, to Esthena, valedictorian of her MUHS class, to Aubrey, who came to Middlebury College from Botswana, you will recognize some of these young people -- if not all of them! -- and you will enjoy hearing their stories. Ten of the paintings are housed in the Jackson Gallery; the seven remaining paintings are in the Lower Lobby of the Mahaney Center for the Arts at Middlebury College.
VISIT Kate's website: www.kategridley.com
BEING THERE
Photography by James Blair
July 11 - August 16, 2014
Images from a life as photojournalist for the National Geographic Society.
James Blair worked as a staff photographer for the National Geographic Magazine for thirty years. Forty-five articles carried his byline and more than 2000 of his photos have appeared within its covers.
“My time photographing with the National Geographic opened my eyes to the beauty of the natural world and the wonder of its many inhabitants. It also brought into stark relief the pain and cruelty we humans too often experience. There have been times at which I questioned mankind’s path and Mother Nature’s response. From war to global warming, I have seen through my lens the seeds of our social and political conflicts today.”
“Each of these eighteen photographs is but a single instant from long ago that was recorded on film and is now a part of the history of our time. I believe that the past is truly prologue to the future and for that reason I have selected these particular photographs as a warning of the problems that we, and our children, will sooner rather than later face.”
THREE WOODBLOCK ARTISTS
Jane Eddy
Barbara Ekedahl
Ray Hudson
MAY 23 - JUNE 29, 2014
THE PANE IN EMPTY ROOMS
FROST AND BREADLOAF IN THE GREEN MOUNTAINS
BRETT SIMISON, PHOTOGRAPHER
MARCH 21 - MAY 9, 2014
A portfolio of large format black and white photographs in and around Robert Frost's summer cabin and the Breadloaf Wilderness of Vermont.
"With The Pane in Empty Rooms, I’ve tried to create a portfolio that conveys the natural beauty of the farm and the surrounding lands that Frost explored and served to inspire him, while simultaneously communicating a little of the darkness I found in those empty rooms in Ripton."
Brett Simison is an award-winning editorial, commercial, and fine art photographer based in Vermont. His work has appeared in publications such as Outside Magazine, The New York Times, National Geographic Online, and Backpacker Magazine from assignments throughout the United States and abroad. The native of Citronelle, Alabama now lives with his wife Amy and son Connor in the city of Vergennes, Vermont. His website is www.brettsimison.com.
JIM BORDEN - An Exhibition in Celebration of a Lifetime of Art
Jim Borden (1928-2013) had been either drawing or painting for as anyone can remember. His work graces the walls of his family's restaurant in Indiana, the Veteran's Administration in Washington, D.C. and countless homes across the country.
The paintings in this exhibit were selected to show the range of his talent, skill and interests. Most paintings are for sale and will benefit Town Hall Theater and the James C. Borden Art Award established to award a cash prize to a graduating art student at Jim's high school alma mater.
6th Annual Holiday Show
The Jackson Gallery will be filled with art and fine crafts once again through the holiday season. This juried exhibition will feature twenty-eight regional artists whose work represents a wide variety of media and styles.
This holiday season show has become a tradition at Town Hall Theater and features unique and affordable works available for immediate purchase. The exhibit starts off with an opening reception on Friday, November 15 from 5-7 pm, and continues through December 31, 2013.
OCM 10
August 15 - September 1, 2013
Photographs of the Opera Company of Middlebury's first decade.
Featuring stunning photographs taken by Ernie Longey and Max Kraus. The exhibition coincides with the Opera Company's 10th Anniversary celebration.
PHOTO: Ernie Longey’s photo of the 2004 Opera Company of Middlebury production of Carmen.
Champlain Valley Scenes and Places
Artwork by Jennifer Steele Cole
July 12 - August 11, 2013
The Charlotte artist, illustrator and model maker uses her skill at architectural rendering along with an artist’s sensitivity to texture and color as she creates paintings and drawings that capture the agrarian landscape of Vermont.
Fran Bull: Sound & Color
May 24 - July 6, 2013
Double Portraits:
Great opera singers in their signature roles
Intrigued with the visual transformation singing artists undergo in the performance of their roles, Fran Bull’s Double Portraits are an attempt to portray both the singer and the role being enacted.
Arias From the Artist’s Notebook:
Lyrics for the Fools we are.
Bull imagines mini-operas in which an odd array of characters recite the quizzical words that have surfaced over a number of years in her artist’s sketchbooks. The pieces began as a series of small collages and were photographed and enlarged by the great photographer, Don Ross.
Photo: Olga Borodina as AMNERIS, acrylic on handmade paper
Don Ross "Photographing Quarries"
April 5 – May 3, 2013
Don Ross has been photographing in Vermont quarries for two decades. His work is exhibited widely and is held in numerous private and public collections, including The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Featuring some of his most recent work, the Jackson Gallery exhibition includes a selection of large scale prints of quarry perspectives accessible only in winter. Also included is a cross section of images created over the last 20 years, including black and white images from the 90’s.
Photo: Quarry Detail, Websterville, VT
The Carolyn and Willard Jackson Gallery
Policies & Submissions Policies
Coming Soon!
Please e-mail jacksongallery@townhalltheater.org
or call: (802) 388-1436 for more information.
Submissions Artists in any medium who wish to submit work for consideration should send an email to gallery@townhalltheater.org
Please include a short biography, a description of your work, one or two digital examples, and a link to your website, if available.
