Town Hall Theater will showcase the remarkable breadth of Vermont’s creative community at A Spotlight on the Arts, a lively, building-wide celebration and fundraiser on Saturday, October 17, from 5:00–9:00 p.m. Guests can explore a fine art sale curated by former Edgewater Gallery director Theresa Harris, enjoy live jazz and intimate performances by Erin Cassels-Brown and Deep Think Jazz Trio, as well as participate in collaborative art-making or join David Rose for a welcoming mini dance class. The celebration then moves to THT’s historic Mainstage for a performance by acclaimed dancer and choreographer Christal Brown, a showcase of local clothing designers’ work, and a live auction, followed by music and dancing with The Doughboys.
The silent auction will feature one-of-a-kind experiences, including a private dinner with acclaimed author Julia Alvarez and Bill Eichinger, a private screening and conversation with Jay Parini, a studio tour and lunch with painter Kate Gridley, and a private living-room performance of Doug Anderson’s Inner Weather: A Robert Frost Calendar. Passed appetizers, desserts and one complimentary glass of sparkling wine or a non-alcoholic beverage are included. Proceeds will support free and reduced-price arts experiences, scholarships, expanded education and programming, and new theatrical lighting for the Mainstage. Tickets are $25 regular and $50 generous at townhalltheater.org. THT is grateful to event sponsors Gaines Insurance, Marble Trail Financial, M&T Bank, and anonymous donors.
Be a part of the fundraising action! Town Hall Theater if raffling off this handcrafted Mike Devers wooden bowl as part of our October 17th fundraiser. Raffle tickets will be available at live Town Hall Theater Events, as well as online. Raffle tickets are $5 for 1, or $20 for 5. Not sure if the bowl is your style? The bowl will also be displayed at THT events. Don’t miss your chance to own this beautiful piece of art, and help donate to Town Hall Theater in the process!
Spotlight on the Arts
Saturday, October 17
5:00PM - 9:00PM
$25 regular ticket
$50 generous ticket
Thank You to This Year’s Artists!
-
2-D Works on Paper
Barbara Ackerman is a multidisciplinary artist, printmaker, and arts educator living in Bennington, Vermont. Barbara’s recent work includes printmaking explorations in monotype, collagraph, and photo emulsion etching techniques. She starts with imagery from the natural world and uses shapes that are familiar—patterns and colors that create a remembrance of an experience—connecting visible and invisible domains.
-
Jewelry
A gardener, fisherman and birdwatcher, Bruce Baker's love of the natural world is apparent in his attention to detail of every piece of his work, whether inspired by desert, sky, flower or forest. Handmade sterling sliver jewelry, beautifully crafted and surprisingly affordable, his designs, both classic and provocative, are treasured pieces to be worn and enjoyed every day!
-
Textiles
-
Textiles
A third-generation fiber artist, Althea Bilodeau Lamb expresses her love of fashion and color through textile creation and design. Each of her one-of-a-kind garments and accessories is sculpted from her own hand-dyed materials including fine merino wool, silk, and other local and exotic natural fibers, employing an ancient non-woven fabric-making process called felting. From classic outerwear to striking scarves, shawls, and bags, each of Althea’s pieces is carefully created in her Vermont home studio.
-
Turned Wood
Mike Dever picked up wood turning to create spindles for his home staircase. he really enjoyed the whole process and turned his attention to creating bowls. mike's design sensibility and attention to detail shine through in each of his one-of-a-kind creations.
-
Small Sculpture
Her newest body of sculptural work explores miniature 1:160th scale landscapes created on concrete forms. Bess hand mixes concrete using local aggregates creating a tangible connection to where the work was created. She often utilizes recycled molds such as old balls or cardboard tubes to shape the concrete, which lend a distinct personality to each piece.
-
Woven Testiles
Vermont artist Elinor Steele creates contemporary hand-woven tapestries from her original designs including abstract and impressionistic images, landscapes, architectural and geometric compositions. -
Wearable Textiles
“My inspiration is steeped in the wonders of nature. I am both an artist and activist for nature. My current body of work consists of a series of pastels and oil paintings that spotlight creatures that are negatively affected by the warming planet. Although the subject is grave, the art accentuates the colors, shapes and forms, and unique beauty of each living organism.”
-
Sculpture
Commonplace objects and quotidian subject matter are realized through extraordinary efforts. Concrete blocks, cheap beer cans and worn out tools are the foundation of a working class visual language. Traditional sculpture-making techniques are spliced with art historical motifs into their everyday nature, and in turn, these objects challenge notions of beauty and perform an inversion of contemporary class structures.
-
Mixed Media Painting & Sculpture
-
Carved Wood
“I grew up in upstate New York along the Vermont border. After college in Boston I moved north up the coast to Newburyport and the Parker River Wildlife Refuge, which reignited my interest in nature and the role of the environment in our lives. I quickly began carving, using the inherited skills of my woodworking father. The tall and elegant Great Blue Heron, Seagulls and many migrating song birds stirred my passions and I soon found a little storefront along Water Street, opening in 1975.”
-
Jewelry
“I enjoy experimenting with diverse materials in a loose, funky style. By layering elements such as watch parts, pearls, seed beads and feathers I create exuberant bird, animal and geometric designs that are small wearable sculptures.”
-
Mixed Media Wood Sculpture
Equally versatile in woodworking and oil painting, David Maille creates paintings that integrate the grain and integrity of the wooden panels that serve as their base. The wood can be built up, adjoined, or carved away and metal leaf applied with the addition of very slight, oil paint layers. The sculptural relief and curvatures of these works allow the viewer to observe a singular scene that changes in nuance and tone when viewed at different angles and as light changes throughout the day and night. Some of the pieces give a sense that one is looking from within a darker space to an external, natural view- a play of foliage with the luster of distant skylight.
-
Jewelry
Jolynn is an artist, jeweler, and educator. She earned her BFA from Kent State University and her MFA in Metal from SUNY New Paltz. JOLYNN worked as a bench jeweler in New York City before pursuing graduate school. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including selections for Schmuck 2023 in Munich, Germany; Melting Point Valencia in Valencia, Spain; and, recently, her first solo show, surroundings, at Brooklyn Metal Works in New York City.
-
Earrings for Art Lovers
My earrings grew out of a lifelong love for modern art and artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Joan Mitchell. Fashioned from polymer clay or 3D printed, all the earrings are gifts: to important causes to raise money, to women in need and to caregivers. 100% of the money raised by their sale tonight supports Spotlight on the Arts.
-
Painting
“As a farmer (Blue Ledge Farm goat dairy, established in 2000) in Addison County, Vermont, I live surrounded by my muses—be it the landscape, animals, farms or food, I am constantly moved and inspired by what is around me. I am fascinated by the lay of the land, by the way that light and human existence can create beautiful patterns upon the land, by the bond that we have with our livestock, who are both our friends and our livelihoods.”
-
Ceramics
Elizabeth Stahl was a passionate potter during high school in Rochester, New York. After a 30-year break for college and then work as a bookseller, graphic designer, and English literacy teacher, she’s back at it. Elizabeth spent 10 years immersed in clay in the Boston area before moving to Vermont in 2020. When not in the pottery studio, she keeps an active drawing/painting journal, tends plants, sews, and plays the viola da gamba. She’s endlessly inspired by observing patterns and belonging to a creative community.
-
Ceramics