ArtBits - December 31, 2009

December 31, 2009 by Dick.

KEEPING ALIVE

Public and private contributions to the arts dropped again this year. Artists have shared even more art and more resources this year. Artists have been generous with their time, their talent, their product. Artists are concerned about their community.

Your year-end gift to the AAC is both tax-deductible and will go entirely to programming. Read more…

LIVE ON STAGE

First Step Dance hosts the Fourth Annual New Years Eve Ball tonight. A Celtic New Year features Fiddleheads and more. Phish plays their first New Year’s Eve concert since 2003. Eleven Pipers Piping is a benefit concert for the Tom Fund. Read more…

FIRST NIGHT

Tonight is First Night in several Vermont locations. Most have Franklin County performers or friends commuting between several locations. Pick your pleasure. Read more…

LOOKING BACK AT THE YEAR

25 different presenters in this list alone with dozens of venues and a mix of fine art, classical music, popular entertainment, and great theater. Wow! What a year! Read more…

Posted in Dance, News, Art & Exhibitions, Music, Calendar, ArtBits | Print | 1 Comment »

Keeping Your Arts Alive

December 28, 2009 by Dick.

Public and private contributions to the arts dropped again this year. Popular programs like the Summer Sounds series depend on municipal appropriations. And school art programs are primarily funded by the increasingly strained property tax.

Art is an economic engine but it is far more than a retail sale or a paycheck.

If you read my arts column regularly, we have looked at a boatload of cultural economy numbers. The data shows that Vermont cannot afford to lose the Arts. The Arts boost school test scores. The Arts improve our sense of community. And it doesn’t hurt that a painting or photograph, an original song, a well-staged play, or a warm book on a cold winter day all bring light to our lives.

More than that has happened this year. Artists have done more. Artists have shared more art and more resources this year, from donations to United Way to music at the Cap Cancer Blues Fest and much more. Artists have been generous with their time, their talent, their product. Artists are concerned about their community.

The All Arts Council is the only all-volunteer Local Arts Service Organization in the state. Your  year-end gift to the AAC is both tax-deductible and will go entirely to programming. Your planned 2010 sponsorship will help us continue the programs and our support for other arts groups. Please email or call me (802.868.3351) for more information or to donate.

Happy New Year!

–Dick Harper

Posted in Editorial, Creative Economy, News | Print | 1 Comment »

ArtBits - December 24, 2009

December 24, 2009 by Dick.

Other than a Morgan horse and a sleigh, nothing makes a better Christmas present than local art. Read more…

SILVER & GOLD

The Opera House at Enosburg Falls presents Silver & Gold: A Musical Variety Show. Read more…

ART ON THE WALLS

Helen Day Art Center hosts a Members’ Art Show & Sale and Festival of Trees & Light. Read more…

ON STAGE LIVE

Nectar’s celebrates the holidays with Jason Corbiere’s Blues Christmas. Mr. Corbiere will also host Jason’s Blues and Barbecue Fundraiser For the Swanton Fire Auxiliary at the VFW. Read more…

NEW YEAR’S EVE

Make your plans early this year. First Step Dance will host the Fourth Annual New Years Eve Ball. A Celtic New Year features Fiddleheads and more. Summer Sounds favorites show up in First Night! Burlington, Montpelier, and St. Johnsbury. Read more…

Posted in Dance, News, Theater, Art & Exhibitions, Music, ArtBits | Print | 1 Comment »

ArtBits - December 17, 2009

December 17, 2009 by Dick.

Other than a big diesel snowblower, nothing makes a better Christmas present than local art. Read more…

CAROLING

The Opera House at Enosburg Falls and Mountain Road Productions presents Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Read more…

ON STAGE LIVE

The Northeast New Music Collective will perform a benefit concert of the music of Vermont composer Erik Nielsen at the Elley-Long Music Center. Social Band hosts a CD release party. Read more…

DECEMBER-JANUARY ART DEADLINES

The New York climate/gallery open call for photography for Focal Resolution-1. Vermont students can get recognition, exhibition, publication and college scholarship in an awards competition. Process Impact, a national juried Murray State University exhibition is a collaborative show for young activist artists in all media. Read more…

Posted in Calls, Theater, Art & Exhibitions, Music, ArtBits | Print | 1 Comment »

ArtBits - December 10, 2009

December 10, 2009 by Dick.

Other than a 585 pound swordfish, nothing makes a better Christmas present than local art. Read more…

THE GIFT OF ART

Great gospel tunes from Tim Stetson. New small and medium-sized paintings by Gail Salzman. Leon Thompson’s Not Too Awful Bad: A Storyteller’s Guide to Vermont at Better Planet. A discount at Village Frame Shoppe. Read more…

ON STAGE LIVE

The Alburgh Library presents Jim Branca with the Second Annual Christmas Community Sing-a-long. North End Studio has Anna Patton and Housetop. The Enosburg Town Band and Community Chorus hold their annual Holiday Concert The Vermont Youth Orchestra presents the VYO Chorus and Youth Concert Chorale Winter Concert. The Green Arts Bus goes to a Canadian Brass Christmas. Chow Bella has John Cassel as well as Vern Colburn. Read more…

CALL FOR ARTISTS

The Opera House in Enosburg Falls presents Relief Printmaking with instructor Lyna Lou Nordstrom. Read more…

Posted in Calls, Music, Calendar, ArtBits | Print | 1 Comment »

ArtBits - December 3, 2009

December 3, 2009 by Dick.

Let us not forget that, other than a new washer and dryer, nothing makes a better Christmas present than local art. Read more…

NOT THE KERMIT BUS

The Flynn Center presents A Canadian Brass Christmas and the new Green Arts Bus will transport you and you and you there for winter music, Christmas favorites, Hanukkah tunes, and more. Read more…

ART ON THE WALLS

The Artist In Residence Gallery features Harold Aksdal, Lenny Christopher, Nancy Hayden, and Loraine Pike with a free meet-the-artists reception tonight. The Northwestern Medical Center Gallery hosts watercolor artist Ann Bissonnette. Read more…

ON STAGE LIVE

The Essex Community Players present the original Christmas Show Neezer: A Dickens of a Comical Re-Telling of A Christmas Carol. Irish Annie’s Pub presents Bluegrass Revisited. First Baptist Church presents the Bella Voce Women’s Chorus of Vermont. The Vermont Youth Orchestra Orchestrapalooza comes to the Flynn MainStage. Young Tradition Vermont presents Soul Beat Africa. Read more…

Posted in Theater, Art & Exhibitions, Music, ArtBits | Print | 1 Comment »