Founder’s Focus

SUMMERTIME and the livin’ is…?

Those of you in the Northeast know that so far this has been the summer that wasn’t, with a lot of cold and wet weather…but suddenly now its summer, warm, sunny, et al.

It’s interesting how the seasons affect daily life at VSC. Residents are hard at it in their studios every day, regardless of the season; however, this far north the difference in that “day” is substantial: at this summer solstice time it gets light at 4:30 a.m. and stays light until 9:30 p.m., compared to the winter solstice in mid-December when it doesn’t get light until 7:30 a.m. and gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon.

The sense of an extended day and the good weather in July and August tends to inspire VSC Residents to venture out beyond their studios and the VSC campus more than they do in the 0 degrees and 4 feet of snow we have in January and February, when people tend to limit their travel to the path through the snow they tread between housing, dining hall and studio…creating an extremely focused intensity.

The residents of Johnson are also out and about more in the “good” weather…and so for this July edition of the Founders Focus Blog I’ve included some of the things going on around VSC in order to show/share a more expanded view of summertime livin’ at the Studio Center.

I hope you’re enjoying your summer wherever you may be.

Jon

25 years ago VSC co-founder Louise von Weise (upper left photo) decided to turn the oil soaked parking lot of the previous Red Mill owners (C.H. Stearns Oil and Gas Company) into a lawn and flower gardens for the Studio Center.

As we celebrate VSC’s 25th Anniversary the beauty and richness resulting from her labor of love are a wonderful expression of the beauty and richness that has flowered at VSC over these years.

The Annual East Johnson 4th of July Parade is a delightful old counter culture celebration of independence with a small group of old and new friends “parading,” with no audience, about 250 yards from the Scribner covered bridge to the big white house on the corner (formerly the Warden’s, now Isabeth Hardy’s) for a pot luck brunch. It’s wonderfully silly as the picture of Louise and Pogo and Jon demonstrates. Next year we’ll get more pictures of the parade to share.

VSC Founders Louise Von Weise and Jon Gregg with Pogo.

For the past 15 years, VSC staff members have been teaching art, two days a week, to the 275 children in the Johnson Elementary School. This was done on a volunteer basis for many years until the program received funding from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Henderson Foundation and, now most recently for the 2010 season, from the Canaday Foundation. As a component of this community commitment during the school year, each year VSC also hosts a free week long mid-July summer art camp open to children from the community. Taught by VSC’s Arista Alanis, Director of the Elementary School Program, it is held in the Life Drawing Studio and culminates in an exhibition of the inspiring work made over the week.

July also brings the annual Lamoille Country Field Days, a 3-day agricultural fair offering the traditional farm animal exhibits, tractor pulls, horsemanship contests, folk and square dancing, clogging, carney booths, rides, agricutrual exhibits and the traditional Ladies Underhand Skillet Toss! The latter is a real crowd pleaser as local women and VSC artists and writers try to test their strength against farm women who train for the event by pitching bales of hay into the barn.

Last week a group of July VSC Residents (some of whom are pictured below) enjoyed a Saturday out of the studio and at the Fair. Resident Michelle Danforth (with small skillet plaque) upheld the honor of the artists by winning the Skillet Toss for women ages 21 – 39 with a near record toss of 57 feet! Residents Erica Plouffe and Liz Dittrick (with ribbons) also participated in the contest!

June 2009 Residents:

Photo by Howard Romero

Photo by Howard Romero

June 2009 Resident Portraits:

Photos by Howard Romero

During our 25th year we’re sharing the stories of 25 VSC fellows on our website. Each month we reveal new fellows here. This month we are profiling Aimee Miller, a painter and  Jeanne Bryner, a poet.

“My identity as a painter has to do with exploring another side of myself [and] connecting it back to who I am. I have a voice through tearing up material, reconfiguring it to something new,” reflects painter Aimee Miller, whose June 2009 VSC residency was sponsored by the Pavlis/VSC Residency Fellowship Program for graduates of Spelman, Fisk and Morehouse colleges.

“At VSC, no one can get a hold of you. The mountains here, they remind me of home; this community of so many artistic disciplines, of serious artists who set the bar higher; the good and generous spirit of this place, fresh flowers on the table, beauty everywhere–it’s what you need to create.”

- Jeanne Bryner, Ohio Arts Council/VSC Fellowship Award, June 2009

Lamb
By Jeanne Bryner

It did not happen suddenly.
We were living in the hills, hunters pounced,
mother was killed. A man carried me, bleating,
writhing, back to his village. I could not eat grass,
his wife nursed me. His children made me their pet,
kissed my black face, let me roam at will inside thick mud walls.
When they called, I ran to them, every pat and hug
a new link for my chain. There were others like me
who possessed amazing curved horns, refused to kneel like dogs.
Wooly tantrums are not tolerated, the pit is uncovered,
the stubborn driven past its edge. The spears are true, the effort
of lugging meat home, saved. Over and over, I was bred
to the smallest, docile rams. The children grew, swinging clubs,
pelting rocks, a sudden thud, I was blinded.
Now, if the great door stands open, I don’t try to leave,
protection is milk, and love, a brand,
not nearly as gentle as it sounds.

Read more about Aimee and Jeanne here.

July Visiting Artists:

Robert Henry	Barbara Gallucci
Willie Cole	Emily Cheng

July Visiting Writers:

“The Past”
by Michael Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

It shows up one summer in a greatcoat,
storms through the house confiscating,
says it must be paid and quickly,
says it must take everything.

Your children stare into their cornflakes,
your wife whispers only once to stop it,
because she loves you and she sees it
darken the room suddenly like a stain.

What did you do to deserve it,
ruining breakfast on a balmy day?
Kiss your loved ones. Night is coming.
There was no life without it anyway.

 

“Dung Beetle”
By Doreen Gildroy

 
 
 
 
 
 

Be kind to me, a mess. I represent
persistence—in the
dirty thing;
things larger than me
I do not fear.

Whatever you think, or like—
I live. Oh,
marvel!

Pushing up the hill—
rolling around.
I feel myself at work.

You are larger than I think,
and that is very comforting to me.

 

August Visiting Artists and Writers:

Adam Bravera Gillian Jagger Allison Smith Barbara Takenaga Irving Petlin Jean McGarry

June Resident Terri Cohn, artist, writer and curator from San Francisco, used all of those skills to create a blog of her experience at the Studio Center.

With thanks to Terri here’s the link.

Become a Fan of our Facebook page and connect with a community of Vermont Studio Center alumni and supporters. Help us expand our online network by letting other alumni know you found us there!

UPDATES

EVENTS

RIDESHARE

PHOTOS