JANET FREDERICKS
LAND MARKS…The Land We Mark, Marks Us.
On display July 13 - September 9.
Opening reception Friday, July 13 5 - 7 pm.
Janet Fredericks looks out the airplane window observing meandering rivers, wetlands, forests, and deserts as she sketches the human interaction with the ever-changing landscape. Continuing her interest in mark-making, these works on paper and canvas reveal the artist’s invented vocabulary of marks as they meet the marks of the land and the human marks we leave upon it. Part map, part conversation, these drawings invite us to look with new eyes as the land we mark, marks us.
A Vermont artist for over 30 years, Fredericks’ drawings and paintings follow her lifelong interest in her native environment, the seen and unseen worlds; spirit and matter. She is a Vermont Council on the Arts and New England Foundation for the Arts Fellowship recipient and has been awarded artist residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, UCROSS Foundation, The International School of Art and others. Her work is exhibited nationally and internationally and is in many corporate and private collections. She is represented by Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery in Shelburne, Vermont and West Branch Gallery in Stowe, Vermont.
The exhibit will be on display from July 13 through September 9. 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 consult the web site: www.townhalltheater.org.
Don Perdue, sculpture
Justin Perdue, painting and mixed media
Opening Reception Friday, October 5 5-7 pm
On exhibit through November 11
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 consult the web site: www.townhalltheater.org.
Birds, Bees and Butterflies in the Land of Milk and Honey
An exhibition of art and poetry.
On display June 1 - July 8, 2018
Klara Calitri is a prolific artist whose work in multiple media has included painting, monotype prints, ceramics, sculpture, and more. As a nonagenarian she has spent decades creating art that is informed by her Austrian heritage and inspired by nature, filled with flowers, birds, and living things of all types. It is this passion that inspired Klara to propose an exhibit of art and poetry on the theme of birds, bees and butterflies. Klara invited artist friends to participate, and included a group of poets who have submitted works on the same theme. Some of the art for sale has been donated by the artists to benefit the Otter Creek Audubon Society.
Along with several works by Klara Calitri, the exhibit includes paintings, photographs, mixed media and cards by Rachel Elion Baird, Susan Humphrey, Lisa Calitri, Patty LeBon Herb, Sarah Wesson, Deanna Shapiro, Karla Van Vliet, Molly Hawley, Yinglei Zhang and Phoebe Stone. Poems have been contributed by Rachel Elion Baird, Lisa Calitri, Ann Cooper, Susan Jefts, Patricia LeBon Herb, Kathleen McKinley Harris, Thea Calitri-Martin, Deanna Shapiro, Karla Van Vliet and Nancy Means Wright.
Pastel, Pastel, Pastel...
Three Artists and their Pastel Journey
Judy Albright, Cristine Kossow, Norma Jean Rollet
April 6 through May 11, 2018.
The Jackson Gallery displayed works by three Middlebury artists who specialize in representational paintings in soft pastel. Each artist is inspired to illustrate the objects and scenes from their daily lives and surroundings with an individual approach to the medium.
Images: Cristine Kossow Jed’s Girl, Judy Albright All the Tea in China, Norma Jean Rollet Between the Weeds
Elinor Steele Tapestry
February 10 - March 31, 2018.
Vermont designer/weaver Elinor Steele Friml displayed examples representing forty years of dedication to the art of contemporary hand-woven tapestry. The exhibit included works from several of her series, including abstract and impressionistic images, landscapes, and geometric compositions.
Steele combines a strong sense of color and composition with meticulous craftsmanship to create her tapestries. Working from a small scale printed color drawing and a full sized “cartoon” or line pattern she interprets her designs while weaving by hand on a high-warp loom using traditional tapestry techniques. Combining several strands from a large palette of wool yarns to achieve the desired colors and gradients, she takes full advantage of the rich tone and texture that are inherent in the medium. More information at www.elinorsteele.com .
Tenth Annual Holiday Exhibit of Art & Fine Crafts by Local Artists
November 18 - December 31, 2017
The Jackson Gallery will be filled with original, handmade and hand printed art, fine crafts and jewelry. This exhibition will feature twenty-two regional artists whose work represents a wide variety of media and styles. This year’s exhibit will include several artists who are new to the show as well as more three-dimensional works, both decorative and functional.
Lyn DuMoulin: Places of the Heart
October 6 - November 12, 2017
Lyn DuMoulin spends her summers canoeing, bicycling, bird watching and hiking the deep country, the Adirondack mountains. Watercolors by the Middlebury artist reflect her passion for nature and outdoor activities with scenes from Vermont and the Adirondacks. She loves to paint people, canoes, mountains, and the back waters of the great North Country. She states that “the natural world and those places where it seems ‘God’s only been t’once’ grow in importance for me. Reflections in water seem to mirror a deep, watchful presence in my life and often appear in my work. My work reflects my world; colorful and full of life.”
DuMoulin paints full time since retiring from a college teaching career and additional diverse professions. Though she does not have “formal art training” she has developed a high level of skill in watercolor techniques through study with several well-known established artists. Her work has won an award for excellence from the Vermont Watercolor Society in which she is a signature member. She has exhibited in several juried shows and Vermont galleries. An original painting hangs in the lobby of the Nature Conservancy at Keene Valley in the Adirondacks.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Gayl Braisted, Mike Mayone, Catherine M. Palmer, and Reed Prescott
August 18 - October 1, 2017
Sharp pencils and the tiniest brushes - these are the tools of four Addison County artists who specialize in realistic art in fine detail. Characterized by a way of seeing and a level of patience that allows them to go beyond form and into the small elements and textures of the scene, these artists render their images in sharp focus with precision and passion.
Mike Mayone, a self-taught artist, puts great care into creating his acrylic and oil paintings. His landscapes and animal portraits are known for their high realism, and his artwork is representative of his desire to preserve and share those moments of beauty we too often overlook. He states that ‟although I paint in a variety of styles, occasionally I really enjoy getting carried away with the detail in a piece and challenge myself with the level of it.” Mike maintains a studio in East Middlebury and has exhibited widely.
Catherine M. Palmer is an artist from New Haven, where she lives surrounded by her favorite subject matter – draft horses and the many other animals of agricultural life. Raised on a dairy farm, she sketched and painted from an early age, but her education followed another path – music and theater coaching. Since retirement from teaching she has experimented with acrylics and pastels, but most importantly, colored pencil. Working with high quality pencil pigments allows for many layers of under painting and building of intensity with control and precision. She calls her style softened realism and is especially interested in the personal, close-up, candid moments of the relationships of working animals and people.
Gayl Braisted took a couple of studio art courses in college, one of which was a watercolor class with the ‟rather colorful” Arthur K.D. Healy at Middlebury College. She then moved to New York City and worked in advertising and graphic design while raising a family, but one request from a real estate broker led to a business of drawing architectural renderings. She later returned to watercolors in hopes that it would ‟free my style from the accurate detail work required for architectural renderings. I looked at the work of a few watercolorists I admired and found, alas, that I could be nearly as exacting and detailed as I am in pen and ink.” She has worked primarily in watercolor ever since, and lives in Cornwall.
Lincoln artist Reed A. Prescott III is often found studying his native Vermont out ‟among the maple trees and rolling hills” before he gives his images life on the canvas. The accomplished artist and illustrator is widely known for his detailed landscapes in oil, as well as his animal imagery. His paintings have been published in national magazines, posters for regional flower shows and concerts, and calendars. He has illustrated ten books, including Owls by Floyd Scholz and Floyd Scholz Birds of Prey, perhaps the definitive study of raptors, as well as naturalist writer Ron Rood’s capstone examination of the Vermont wilderness and the New England coast – Ron Rood’s Vermont and Beachcomber All.
SUSANNE PECK
Daily Art
June 30 - August 13, 2017
Susanne Peck spent most of her professional life in the NYC area and relocated to Vermont in 2008. A classical singer, educator and conductor, she has always made art and has been drawing commissioned portraits for 26 years. In recent years she has branched out to include abstract and expressionist works as well as representational, and the exhibit will reflect this variety.
Largely self-taught, her most valued instruction came privately from Elizabeth Steig in the Boston area and from portrait painter Laurel Stern Boeck at Katonah Art Center in New York, from Tad Spurgeon, Richard Weinstein and Mary Lower at the Middlebury Studio School. Ms Peck has taught clay and drawing/painting to children and adults at Katonah Art Center, Frog Hollow and Middlebury Studio School in Vermont. Her commissions have included New York City Federal Judge Colleen McMahon and family, opera singers Francois Clemmons and Beverly Myers along with actor Richard Gere's young son. A portrait of President Obama by Susanne Peck was gifted to the White House in 2009.
ELAINE ITTLEMAN
Paintings
May 19 - June 25, 2017
Elaine Ittleman paints large abstract landscapes. Bold and colorful, they have an improvisational feel and apparent joie de vivre. Ittleman is passionate about art and has been painting for over 20 years in various media including oil, watercolor and pastel. Her work has evolved through impressionistic landscapes to a more abstract approach. She exhibited fourteen recent oil paintings in the Jackson Gallery. When she is not working or painting, Elaine and her husband Frank welcome the public to their Lemon Fair Sculpture Park in Shoreham during the summer and fall months.
FRED LOWER
Paintings
April 7 - May 12, 2017
Fred Lower paints the landscape of Addison County. His deft strokes and distinctive color choices capture the essence of the light and shadow, and the texture of his scenery. He likes to paint directly from the subject, and states that “the motifs that I find most engaging are often the easiest to find because they are right out my back door. I live a short distance from where the Middlebury River joins Otter Creek. It is, quite simply, a plethora of compositions, a feast of forms for an artist.”
Sanford Farrier
Posters for Plays Not Yet Written
March 11 - April 1, 2017
The Jackson Gallery presents a series of large scale posters designed by graphic designer Sanford Farrier. In the Plays Not Yet Written collection each poster is an invitation to the viewer to engage in a conversation about theatrical and thematic possibilities. It starts with a first impression, hopefully leads to thoughtful exploration, and finally poses the question “So, given this treatment and imagery, what do you think this play is about?”
The exhibit coincides with Town Hall Theater’s fourth annual Pop-Up Plays and will be integral to the process for this year’s event. Pop-Up Plays, an evening of plays written, directed and performed in 24 hours, will be performed on April 1. This year Sanford Farrier’s posters will serve as inspiration for the playwrights who will write the plays the night before they’re performed.
Molly Watson Hawley
Paintings
January 13 - March 5, 2017
Molly Watson Hawley works in a number of media to explore how the surface images of the visible world represent a deeper reality. Hawley studied for a number of years with the plein air masters Cedric and Joanette Egeli at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown. Her portraiture has been informed by her work with portrait masters Jose Cintron and Burt Silverman. In addition to her continuing portrait commissions, she is actively at work on an extended series of Cape Cod and Vermont landscapes. Her home and studio are in Ripton, Vermont, where she lives with her husband, the writer Richard Hawley.
Ninth Annual Holiday Show of
Original Works by Local Artists
November 19 – December 31, 2016
The Gallery was filled with original, handmade and hand printed art, fine crafts and photography by talented regional artists. This holiday season show has become a tradition at Town Hall Theater and features unique and affordable works available for immediate purchase.
Image: Stained glass by Michael Hart
ASHLEY WOLFF
Following a Thread
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.
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. 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.
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
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 jacksongallery@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.
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Chain Link Gallery
A big chain-link fence is coming to Middlebury in May 2018, and Town Hall Theater and Neighbors Together would like to make it beautiful.
Great art is often based on a grid. Ancient tapestries and contemporary computer art all begin with a simple lattice. The chain-link fence that will soon surround Fountain Park is one big grid. Rather than trying to mask it with canvases and flowers and signage, let’s celebrate this enormous grid and the possibilities it will create for local artists.
The possibilities for geometric op-art are literally infinite.
The grid can support language. Simple, inexpensive materials can be used to create eye-popping effects.
We're asking artists to submit their ideas for chain-link art to executivedirector@townhalltheater.org
Once we mount the first series of works in June, we suspect that many others will get excited and will submit ideas. Grade schools, clubs, computer types, artists of every stripe and level of experience will want to get their chance to participate.
2-4 works will be displayed at one time. They will remain on the fence for 2-3 months, and then will be replaced by new works – an entirely new “exhibit”.
The artist will oversee the creation of the work on the fence. Neighbors Together will supply the labor force – perhaps 6-10 people per artwork. I suspect each of these works can be created in a few hours.
Neighbors Together will pay for the cost of materials.
Assuming the various panels will be in the range of 10’ wide by 8’ high, we will be able display a number of works simultaneously. 
For the all-important summer of 2020, however, we envision one huge mural running the entire length of the fence – perhaps 100’ long. A townscape perhaps, or a dreamscape, or who knows what? And, if possible, we’ll light it from behind in the evening. Downtown Middlebury will glow.
