Dear Friends of Vermont Arts,
Our annual report for FY2020 introduces you to some of the extraordinary arts organizations and creative individuals who kept us all connected, safely engaged, and inspired during a very difficult year.
Here, you will read these stories from before and during the Covid-19 pandemic:
A trout sculpture by second-generation stone carver Sean Williams reminds us how works of public art enliven Vermont’s landscape and imbue community spaces with beauty and meaning.
Trish Denton’s digital storytelling platform, the online learning opportunities at Do North Coworking, and Vermont Vaudeville’s curbside performances and livestreamed shows are examples of the many inventive ways that artists transformed their practice when the pandemic kept us apart.
Photographer Vaune Trachtman’s project, drawing on images from the 1918 flu and the Great Depression, reveals the stunning relevance of art and the powerful echoes of the past in today’s world.
For Winooski high school students who are still learning English, dance offers the gift of communication without language barriers.
For Middlesex author Jericho Parms, language opens passageways for the exploration of individual identity and discovery of our shared human experience.
We are grateful to each of these remarkable artists, and to the many partners and donors who sustained the work of the Vermont Arts Council over the past year. Our deepest thanks go to the board and staff, for their passionate commitment to building a vibrant and equitable arts landscape across Vermont.
The arts are the heartbeat of so many Vermont communities. Wherever you live, we hope the arts bring you light, comfort, and inspiration in the year ahead!
With appreciation,
Cover image: Ballerinas dressed as bees perform at Shelburne Farms as part of Farm to Ballet, an FY2020 Arts Impact grantee. Photo by Brandon Parrish.
Across Vermont
A total of 471 individuals and 212 organizations received funding in FY2020, in every county in Vermont and in 166 towns, covering 35 different artistic disciplines.
We've prepared an interactive map on our website showing the location of all of our 683 grantees in FY2020 (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020).
Image: A map of Vermont is dotted up and down with colors representing the locations of FY2020 grantees.
COVID Challenges Arts & Culture
When Governor Phil Scott issued Vermont’s State of Emergency on March 13, many of Vermont’s arts and culture organizations hit the pause button – among the first to close to protect public health, they knew that they’d be among the last to re-open. Within weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Vermont Arts Council mobilized to deliver immediate economic relief to the field. We marshaled our own resources and launched new collaborations.
Early in the pandemic, before we knew whether or when state or federal funds might be available, we sprang into action with the Rapid Response Artist Relief program, which provided emergency grants to 425 artists who lost income due to canceled gigs. Funding for this program was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts, the Vermont Community Foundation, and the generosity of individual donors.
With Vermont Humanities, we awarded grants totaling more than $780,000 to 123 arts and culture organizations. Funding for the COVID-19 Cultural Relief Grants was provided primarily from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
Because fostering an equitable and diverse arts landscape strengthens us all, we prioritized funding to historically marginalized groups by supporting the Clemmons Family Farm and the Vermont Abenaki Artists Association in making grants to their networks of artists. Funding for these grants was made possible in part by the New England Foundation for the Arts.
And in the final days of the fiscal year, thanks to the efforts of the Vermont Creative Network and many other advocates, the Vermont Legislature allocated $5 million in COVID relief for cultural nonprofits. This investment—the largest allocation of state funds for the cultural sector in Vermont’s history—has been a vital lifeline.
“I am so grateful for your support during the onset of the pandemic when there was so much worry about staying healthy and paying bills,” said one relief recipient, an artist from the Clemmons Family Farm's Vermont African-American/African Diaspora Artists Network. “With your help I was able to change my perspective and ignite creativity. I hope that someone else will feel uplifted when they listen to the music I have been creating.”
Image: Misoo Bang, wearing a white face mask, speaks to visitors to her exhibit at Southern Vermont Arts Center. Printed on the wall behind her is her artist statement in large, bold type. Photo courtesy of Vermont Arts Council.
Transformations in Digital
As a producer and artistic director with companies including ListenUp!, JAG Productions, and her own In Tandem Arts, Trisha Denton of Burlington shows teens, community organizations, and advocacy projects how narrative transforms the world.
Trisha received an Artist Development Grant to create Parallel Narratives, a storytelling platform that opened its virtual doors in February 2020. Through Parallel Narratives, Denton blends user-submitted oral histories with surrealism, folklore, and myth to create new stories. Originally a six-part workshop that met weekly in person, Parallel Narratives became a digital platform where users could sign up for virtual courses and private sessions, experience new stories, and dive deeper into the realm of narrative and folklore. Denton is no stranger to web design—she designed her first portfolio website nearly 10 years ago, also with support from a Vermont Arts Council Artist Development Grant. Still, every project has unique challenges.
"There were a lot of choices involved with which platforms best suited this project to make it accessible to participants," said Denton. "The learning curve with the current website was the selection and integration of Calendly, an auto scheduler for individual sessions with clients, as well as the best way to feature and describe the services and workshops that Parallel Narratives has to offer. The services were difficult to commodify because the collaborative approach is so organic and fluid. Therefore I wasn't sure what type of scheduler to use—something similar to a yoga studio or massage practice, or to a tarot reader or astrologer?"
After the website's launch, Columbia University's Digital Storytelling Lab (DSL) invited Denton to present about her new platform. The DSL is a media lab working to address social issues through the lens of the arts, humanities and technology. In March, storytellers from a dozen countries gathered on Zoom to discuss Parallel Narratives and the ideas that drive it, covering topics from immersive storytelling with incarcerated populations to the gamification of narrative.
Image: Trisha Denton stands clasping a book to her chest, The Russian Folktale, in a yellow room. A lamp glows beside her on a green table. Photo courtesy of Trisha Denton.
Writing Between Extremes
Jericho Parms, of Middlesex, is an old pro at living “between extremes”—between urban and rural, Black and white, art and life. Parms was featured in June in our “I am a Vermont Artist” series, which deepens Vermont’s creative identity by highlighting local artists from diverse backgrounds.
Parms is the author of Lost Wax, an essay collection exploring memory, family, and identity through reflections on art. She is also Director of Alumnx Affairs & Diversity Initiatives at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
“I’ve become increasingly aware of the responsibility inherent to creating art,” she says, “particularly art that relies on language and its influence.”
Image: Jericho Parms smiles toward something off camera, one hand tousling her curls. Photo by Josh Larkin.
Art & Fish Culture
A wild brook trout carved from stone, six times the natural size, now graces the entrance of the Roxbury Fish Culture Station, Vermont's oldest fish hatchery. Made of green granite, Sean Hunter Williams' The Origin of the River is polished to reflect wild trout’s natural hues and patterns. The sculpture honors both the creative, feminine energy in nature and the proud heritage this native species represents to Vermonters.
The Origin of the River was commissioned in 2017 by the State of Vermont as part of the Vermont Art in State Buildings Program, which supports the creation of site-specific artworks in designated state construction projects. Since 1988, the program has commissioned artwork from over 60 artists to appear in 35 state-owned buildings and public spaces across Vermont.
The Roxbury Fish Culture Station has been a state construction site for nearly a decade. Originally built in 1891, the historic hatchery was nearly destroyed by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Now ready to resume rearing fish, the hatchery is among the last rebuilding projects from Irene to be completed. When the pandemic is over, visitors to the hatchery's viewing area will be able to feed brook trout much like the one Williams carved in stone.
Williams, a second-generation sculptor based in Barre, has been carving stone since he was 18 years old. His father, Jerry Williams, owns Barre Sculpture Studios and helped to create the statue of Ceres that sits atop the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier. The Origin of the River is just the latest of the younger Williams’ public art projects. In 2017, Williams’ marble sculpture, The Jungle Book, was unveiled outside Phoenix Books in Rutland to commemorate Rudyard Kipling’s time in Vermont. In 2019, Williams’ granite sculpture of a cityscape rising up from a quarry, titled Culmination, was added to Barre’s Art Stroll to honor the city’s storied stone-cutting community. Through his public sculptures, Williams celebrates local history and culture using local materials.
Image: Sean Hunter Williams' newly installed sculpture of a spawning trout gleams in the sun on the lawn outside the Roxbury hatchery. Photo courtesy of Vermont Arts Council.
Languages of Joy
In the 2019-2020 school year, Winooski High School teachers brought dancer Rose Bedard into their classroom through the Council's Artists in Schools program. Each year, Winooski High School welcomes refugees from all around the world. Upon arrival they enter a Newcomer Program that focuses on language development. One of the goals of the program is to give students opportunities to share information about their own culture and learn from each other in a positive and joyful learning environment. Classroom teachers Nellie Maley, Annie Schneider, and Lindsey Cox saw an opportunity to work with Rose to massage the Flynn Center’s Words Come Alive program into this vibrant space.
The teachers used this dance residency to bring their multicultural group of students together. They focused on cross-cultural engagement, learning more about various cultures, and experiencing different genres of dance. They also focused on what was important to them now as they settle into their new community. The residency was an opportunity to strengthen communications skills. They talked and read about different genres of dance, famous performers, and leaders in the dance movement. They also expressed their ideas and cultures through written and verbal reflections. Above all, however, the opportunity sparked joy in students. The residency culminated in a student-choreographed performance exploring themes that are pillars in the students’ lives such education, arts, sports, family, and friends.
Teacher Nellie Maley recalled, “There was one English Language student who had been in the school for only two weeks. He was extremely quiet, and I had barely heard him say, ‘hello’ since he entered the class. We were sitting next to each other at the beginning of a session and he whispered to me that this is the ‘best day.’ His words shed light on how impactful these opportunities to share and self-express through creativity can be for students.”
Image: Two students laugh and dance with each other while groups of others do the same in the background in a Winooski High classroom. Photo courtesy of Winooski High School.
A Rural & Resilient Creative Economy
Vermont's creative businesses, individuals and institutions boost the state's economy and help to revitalize Vermont's communities. Vermont's share of creative economy jobs (9.3% of all employment) is higher than the national average. These jobs are in design, specialty foods, visual arts and crafts, and other industries, and include people like Evan Carlson, who partnered with Northern Vermont University to create Do North Coworking in downtown Lyndonville, a creative entrepreneurship center to expand and encourage networking, coworking and maker spaces. As active participants in the Vermont Creative Network’s NEK zone, Evan and Do North exemplify the power and innovative potential of the creative sector in this rural region.
The first goal identified in the VCN's 2019 Northeast Kingdom Creative Economy study was "strengthening the creative entrepreneurial and business development system." Evan Carlson and the team at Do North Coworking have done just that by partnering with LaunchVT to bring Co.Starters to the region. A national entrepreneurial program that operates in over 100 communities across the country, Co.Starters hosts a speaker series open to the public and runs a ten-week program for budding entrepreneurs to explore, test, and build their ideas into profitable reality. Eight small business owners have already completed the program, among them a stone mason who had designed a new device for moving stone, a teaching artist who wanted help broadening her customer base for her behavioral assessment and prevention methods, and a young electrician looking to go out on his own. Topics included marketing, raising capital, and hiring.
Post-pandemic, creative workers in the Northeast Kingdom can look forward to coworking again at places like Do North with its meeting room, coffee area, planned weekly meetings, and events organized around common needs and interests.
“Coworking spaces like Do North present a natural environment for collisions of ideas and connections that can be especially hard to find in our rural communities," Carlson says. "Pair that with access to business resources and educational opportunities, and you have a winning combo.”
Image: Evan Carlson works on a laptop while facing a screen across the room which reads, "DO NORTH Coworking: Co.Starters Proposal." Photo courtesy of Do North Coworking.
Light in the Dark
Expanding access to the arts is important, maybe more so during a pandemic. Arts and cultural organizations responded creatively to the challenge, meeting audiences outdoors, however large or small, and by providing accessible online experiences.
Arts Impact grantee Vermont Vaudeville, in Greensboro, reached families and individuals stuck at home during the state of emergency due to COVID-19 through online shows. While the majority were from the local area, they were also able to connect with quarantined people around the world. They also performed 56 “curbside shows,” no matter how large or small the audience. One livestream improv Q&A reached over 1,000 views. Another audience was the approximately 60 developmentally disabled adult residents of Heartbeet Life Sharing in Hardwick. An even smaller audience – a family in Calais whose relative in Denver was ill with COVID and viewed online – gathered “curbside” to view fire juggler Brent McCoy. "We were able to give them a bit of escape and a bit of togetherness," said co-founder Maya McCoy.
Brattleboro's In-Sight Photography Project, one of our Arts Partners, had to shuffle its ambitious plans for 2020, which kicked off with a new event in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr Day of Service to provide free professional portrait services to the public. With a mission to provide youth access to the arts—photography in particular—regardless of financial barriers, providing free, professional portraits was In-Sights’ way of expanding its mission to the broader community. That day it engaged 67 people, capturing moments for individuals and families and creating headshots to advance professionals in their line of work.
Then the pandemic hit. In-Sight moved everything online, creating community-sourced photos of what people have been doing during the pandemic and posting them with the hashtag #insightphotosquad. In-Sight also created “Boredom Buster” kits with hands-on activities that students can do with limited internet access and a series of lunchtime virtual artist talks and online classes. Its annual photographic auction went online, and proceeds were shared with other visual media and social justice organizations.
Images: A fire juggler brandishes five flaming torches for an outdoor performance as the sun sets over mountain ridges in the background. Photo by Beana Bern.
The Gaze of History
Brattleboro photographer Vaune Trachtman’s 2020 Creation Grant project, Now is Always, combines cellphone photos with her father’s negatives taken 100 years ago during the Depression and in the aftermath of the 1918 pandemic. Trachtman’s goal was to blend time and photographic technology to grow closer to her father, and in the process she discovered a more universal connection.
“When I began making Now is Always, I didn’t realize we’d be swallowed by our own pandemic and economic collapse,” said Trachtman. “The work began to assert itself as shared history—his and mine, theirs and ours. Instead of the work following me, I began to follow the work. Instead of me gazing at history, history gazed at me.”
The photos from Trachtman's father were all taken one summer in the 1930s around his neighborhood in Center City, Philadelphia. He died when Trachtman was five years old, but a relative passed on his photo negatives nearly 90 years after he took them. When Trachtman received the negatives, she saw a chance to connect with the father she never knew while continuing her mastery of photogravure, a printing process that yields rich, distinctive tones of shadow and light. Working from the original negatives, Trachtman used the photogravure process to etch the people from her father's neighborhood into her own images. The result is, as Trachtman says, "a collaboration across time and technology."
Now is Always has earned Trachtman a Vermont Studio Center fellowship. Pieces from the series have been shown at galleries in Vermont and Arizona, and in 2021, she will exhibit solo at the renowned Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. Select pieces will even appear on the set of an upcoming HBO series and as the cover of a novel forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press. Trachtman also plans to make an accompanying artist's book to offer audiences a more intimate and interactive way to experience the series.
Image: A photogravure of two young people who appear to be in swimsuits, their legs fading away into tendrils of light and water in the ocean as stars shine above. Image courtesy of Vaune Trachtman.
Grantees
Fiscal Year 2020 (July 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020)
Animating Infrastructure Grants support community projects that integrate art with infrastructure improvements.
Town of Hyde Park , Hyde Park, $5,000
Town of Royalton, South Royalton, $5,000
Artist Development Grants support professional development for artists at all stages of their careers.
Casey Blanchard, Shelburne, $375
Jason Baker, Burlington, $500
Shoshana Bass, Putney, $500
Jaclyn Bishop, Burlington, $445
Lauren Breunig, Brattleboro, $820
Dylan Broderick, Montpelier, $400
Sean Clute, Jericho, $1,000
Vanessa Compton, Burlington, $500
Trisha Denton, Burlington, $500
Gahlord Dewald, Burlington, $500
Rose Friedman, East Hardwick, $800
Jonathan Gitelson, Brattleboro, $410
Makenna Goodman, Vershire, $500
Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, Montpelier, $500
Jennifer Karson, Colchester, $500
Laura Kujawa, South Burlington, $290
Tim Lehmann, Montpelier, $690
Toby MacNutt, Burlington, $770
Nancy Winship Milliken, Charlotte, $1,000
Dug Nap, Burlington, $384
Owen August Nied, Chester, $500
Rik Palieri, Hinesburg, $350
Pike Porter, Burlington, $290
Michael Rakoto Razafy, Burlington, $350
Raphael Sacks, Springfield, $800
Stephen Schaub, Wells, $500
Lauren Scuderi, Burlington, $300
Kaylynn Sullivan TwoTrees, North Ferrisburgh, $1,000
Stefania Urist, Londonderry, $600
Artists in Schools Grants help schools develop in-class residency relationships with Vermont artists.
Academy School, Brattleboro, $2,500
Baird School, Burlington, $2,500
Bellows Falls Union High School, Bellows Falls, $2,250
Bingham Memorial School, Cornwall, $1,500
Brook Street Family Literacy Center, Barre, $2,500
Calais Elementary School, Plainfield, $1,250
Canaan Schools, Canaan, $1,250
Champlain Elementary School, Burlington, $2,500
Crossett Brook Union Middle School, Duxbury, $1,000
Dover School, East Dover, $1,750
Edmunds Elementary School, Burlington, $2,500
Ferrisburgh Central School, Ferrisburgh, $2,500
Integrated Arts Academy at H.O. Wheeler, Burlington, $2,000
Lamoille Union High School, Hyde Park, $1,250
Laraway School, Johnson, $1,500
Monument Elementary School, Bennington, $2,500
Newport City Elementary School, Newport, $1,750
Randolph Union High School, Randolph, $2,500
Ripton Elementary School, Ripton, $1,250
Riverside Middle School, Springfield, $1,250
Shrewsbury Mountain School, Shrewsbury, $1,250
Twin Valley Elementary, Wilmington, $1,250
Windsor School, Windsor, $1,250
Winooski Middle/High School, Winooski, $2,500
Winooski Middle/High School, Winooski, $1,750
Arts Impact Grants expand access to and participation in the arts.
Art in the Neighborhood, Brattleboro, $3,000
Brattleboro Literary Festival, Brattleboro, $3,000
Champlain Community Services , Colchester, $3,000
Clemmons Family Farm, Charlotte, $3,000
Dorset Theatre Festival, Dorset, $2,250
Farm to Ballet, Winooski, $2,250
Kayla's Directory, Shelburne, $500
Music-COMP, Duxbury, $3,000
Norwich University, Northfield, $2,250
Revels North, White River Junction, $3,000
Sundog Poetry Center, Johnson, $2,250
Vermont Jazz Center, Brattleboro, $2,250
Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Burlington, $3,000
Vermont Vaudeville, Greensboro Bend, $2,000
Arts Partnership Grants support the annual operations of Vermont arts organizations.
Burlington City Arts, Burlington, $6,300
Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, West Rutland, $6,300
Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury, $7,350
Circus Smirkus, Greensboro, $7,350
Community Engagement Lab, Montpelier, $6,300
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, $7,350
Friends of the Brattleboro Music Center, Brattleboro, $5,355
Grass Roots Art and Community Effort, Hardwick, $5,355
Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, $6,300
Inclusive Arts Vermont, Essex Junction, $7,350
The In-Sight Photography Project, Brattleboro, $5,355
Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier, $5,355
Main Street Arts, Saxtons River, $6,300
New England Youth Theatre, Brattleboro, $5,355
Northern Stage, White River Junction, $6,300
River Arts of Morrisville, Morrisville, $5,355
Shelburne Craft School, Shelburne, $5,355
Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, $6,300
Vermont Arts Exchange, North Bennington, $5,355
Vermont International Film Foundation, Burlington, $6,300
Vermont Performing Arts League, Burlington, $5,355
Vermont Stage Company, Burlington, $6,300
Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, Colchester, $5,355
Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Weston, $6,300
WonderArts Vermont, Greensboro, $7,350
Yellow Barn, Putney, $6,300
Covid-19 Cultural Relief Grants provide organizational support as a result of financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants were made in partnership with Vermont Humanities.
2Creative Community, Winooski, $5,000
Alburgh Public Library, Alburgh, $5,000
Alice M. Ward Memorial Library, Canaan, $5,000
Art in the Neighborhood, Brattleboro, $5,000
Barre Historical Society, Barre, $5,000
Bennington Museum, Bennington, $10,000
Big Heavy World Foundation, Burlington, $5,000
Billings Farm and Museum, Woodstock, $10,000
Bixby Memorial Library, Vergennes, $7,500
Blake Memorial Library Association, East Corinth, $5,000
Brandon Free Public Library, Brandon, $5,000
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, $7,500
Brattleboro Words Project, Brattleboro, $5,000
Bread and Puppet Theatre, Glover, $7,500
Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville, $7,500
Burlington City Arts, Burlington, $10,000
Carving Studio and Sculpture Center, West Rutland, $7,500
Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury, $10,000
Center for Arts and Learning, Montpelier, $5,000
Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra, Middlebury, $5,000
Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, $7,500
Circus Smirkus, Greensboro, $10,000
Clemmons Family Farm, Charlotte, $5,000
Community of Sound, Burlington, $5,000
Craftsbury Chamber Players, Craftsbury, $5,000
Craftsbury Public Library, Craftsbury Common, $5,000
Dailey Memorial Library, Derby, $5,000
Ethan Allen Homestead Museum, Burlington, $5,000
Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, St. Johnsbury, $10,000
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, $10,000
Friends of Hildene, Manchester, $10,000
Friends of the Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, $5,000
Friends of the Jeudevine Library, Hardwick, $5,000
Friends of the Morrill Homestead, Strafford, $5,000
Friends of the Wardsboro Library, Wardsboro, $5,000
Gallery at the VAULT, Springfield, $5,000
Get Thee to the Funnery, Brattleboro, $5,000
Green Mountains Review, Johnson, $7,500
Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, $7,500
Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History, Middlebury, $7,500
Heritage Winooski Mill Museum, Winooski, $5,000
Inclusive Arts Vermont, Essex Junction, $7,500
Island Arts, North Hero, $5,000
JAG Productions, White River Junction, $7,500
Jaquith Public Library, Marshfield, $5,000
Lanpher Memorial Library, Hyde Park, $5,000
Latchis Arts, Brattleboro, $5,000
Londonderry Arts and Historical Society, Londonderry, $5,000
Lost Nation Theater, Montpelier, $7,500
Lyric Theatre Company, South Burlington, $7,500
MAC Center for the Arts, Newport, $5,000
Main Street Arts, Saxtons River, $7,500
Main Street Museum, White River Junction, $5,000
McCullough Free Library, North Bennington, $5,000
Mercy Connections, Burlington, $5,000
Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, Leicester, $5,000
Middlebury Studio School, Middlebury, $5,000
Middletown Springs Historical Society, Middletown Springs, $5,000
Music-COMP, Duxbury, $5,000
New England Center for Circus Arts, Brattleboro, $10,000
New England Youth Theatre, Brattleboro, $7,500
Next Stage Arts Project, Putney, $7,500
Northern Stage Company, White River Junction, $10,000
Off Center for the Dramatic Arts, Burlington, $5,000
Opera Company of Middlebury, Middlebury, $5,000
Orleans County Historical Society, Brownington, $7,500
Out in the Open, Brattleboro, $5,000
Outright Vermont, Burlington, $7,500
Paramount Center, Rutland, $10,000
Park-McCullough Association, North Bennington, $5,000
Pawlet Public Library, Pawlet, $5,000
Pentangle Arts, Woodstock, $7,500
Pride Center of Vermont, Burlington, $7,500
Revelry Theater, Burlington, $5,000
River Arts of Morrisville, Morrisville, $7,500
River Gallery School of Art, Brattleboro, $7,500
Robert Frost Stone House Museum, Shaftsbury, $5,000
Rokeby Museum, Ferrisburgh, $5,000
Ruth Stone Foundation, Goshen, $5,000
Rutland Area Art Association, Rutland, $5,000
Saint Albans Museum, St. Albans, $5,000
Sandglass Center for Puppetry and Theater Research, Putney, $7,500
Scrag Mountain Music, Marshfield, $5,000
SEABA, Burlington, $5,000
Seven Stars Arts Center, Sharon, $5,000
Shelburne Art Center, Shelburne, $7,500
Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, $10,000
Snelling Center for Government, Shelburne, $7,500
Social Band, Hinesburg, $5,000
Society of Vermont Artists and Craftsmen, Ludlow, $5,000
Solomon Wright Public Library, Pownal, $5,000
South Hero Library, South Hero, $5,000
Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, $10,000
Springfield Community Players, Springfield, $5,000
St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, St. Johnsbury, $7,500
Stone Valley Arts, Poultney, $5,000
Stowe Story Labs, Stowe, $7,500
Studio Place Arts, Barre, $5,000
Sundog Poetry Center, Johnson, $5,000
T.W. Wood Art Gallery, Montpelier, $5,000
The Barre Opera House, Barre, $7,500
The Center for Cartoon Studies, White River Junction, $8,500
The Fairfield Community Center, East Fairfield, $5,000
The MINT Rutland Makerspace, Rutland, $5,000
Theatre Adventure, Brattleboro, $5,000
Town Hall Theater, Middlebury, $10,000
Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, Burlington, $5,000
Vermont Arts Exchange, North Bennington, $7,500
Vermont Council on World Affairs, Burlington, $5,000
Vermont Crafts Council, Montpelier, $5,000
Vermont Curators Group, St. Johnsbury, $5,000
Vermont Dance Alliance, Burlington, $5,000
Vermont Granite Museum of Barre, Barre, $5,000
Vermont International Film Foundation, Burlington, $7,500
Vermont Jazz Center, Brattleboro, $7,500
Vermont Performing Arts League, Burlington, $7,500
Vermont Ski Museum, Stowe, $5,000
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, $10,000
Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, Colchester, $7,500
Very Merry Theatre, Burlington, $7,500
Windsor Public Library, Windsor, $5,000
Woodbury Community Library, Woodbury, $5,000
Woodstock History Center, Woodstock, $7,500
Creation Grants support the creation of new work by Vermont artists.
Kristian Brevik, Burlington, $4,000
Steve Budington, Shelburne, $4,000
David Cooper, Burlington, $4,000
Glynnis Fawkes, Burlington, $4,000
Wylie Garcia, Charlotte, $4,000
Kate Gridley, Middlebury, $4,000
Dona Ann McAdams, Arlington, $4,000
Carol Potter, Tunbridge, $4,000
Brittany Powell, Middlesex, $4,000
Evan Premo, Marshfield, $4,000
James Shea, Montpelier, $4,000
Brett Stanciu, Hardwick, $4,000
Vaune Trachtman, Brattleboro, $4,000
Bira Vanara, Middlebury, $4,000
Mary Zompetti, Grand Isle, $4,000
Cultural Facilities Grants support nonprofit organizations and municipalities to improve the safety, quality, or accessibility of public buildings.
Bradford Public Library, Bradford, $28,200
Burlington City Arts, Burlington, $28,200
Friends of the Capital City Grange Hall, Northfield Falls, $25,971
Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, $18,864
Heritage Winooski Mill Museum, Winooski, $3,121
Isle La Motte Historical Society, Isle La Motte, $1,091
Jeudevine Memorial Library, Hardwick, $24,000
Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Montpelier, $5,750
Kimball Public Library, Randolph, $15,668
Lamoille County Players, Hyde Park, $25,200
Paramount Theatre, Rutland, $24,992
Park-McCullough Association, North Bennington, $3,412
Phantom Theater, Warren, $3,760
Rockingham Free Public Library, Bellows Falls, $2,753
Stone Valley Arts, Poultney, $4,606
Westminster West Public Library, Putney, $3,102
Head Start Arts Integration Grants support arts-integrated experiences for early education students and teachers in Head Start classrooms.
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, $4,000
Burlington Children's Space, Burlington, $5,050
Burlington City Arts, Burlington, $5,050
Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Burlington, $4,000
King Street Center, Burlington, $1,400
Vermont Arts Exchange, North Bennington, $5,500
WonderArts Vermont, Greensboro, $3,000
Special Covid-19 Response Grants provide relief and assistance to Vermont artists in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Grants were made in partnership with the New England Foundation for the Arts.
Clemmons Family Farm, Charlotte, $10,000
Vermont Abenaki Artists Association, Burlington, $5,000
Special Project Grants support statewide services or are awarded at the discretion of the Council’s executive director.
Community Engagement Lab, Montpelier, $2,500
Sean Hay, Quechee, $500
Emily Zanleoni, Wilder, $500
Panelists and Advisors
Accessibility Advisors
Mike Charron
Peter Johnke
Sarah Launderville
Jake Lavigne
Deborah Lisi-Baker
Toby MacNutt
Lisa Ryan
Heidi Swevens
Renee Wells
Art in State Buildings Legislative Advisory Committee
Sen. Joe Benning
Chris Cole
Rep. Alice Emmons
Karen Mittelman
Keith Robinson
Cultural Facilities Coalition
Caitlin Corkins
Karen Mittelman
Steve Perkins
David Schutz
Grant Panelists
Richard Amore
Gordon Auchincloss
Tom Ayres
John Bauer
Charma Bonanno
Pavel Cenkl
Karen Dillon
Isaac Eddy
Alissa Faber
Martha Fitch
Mona Frye
Ceilidh Galloway-Kane
Paul Gambill
Shanta Lee Gander
Barbara Ganley
Miciah Gault
Irene Green
Jarvis Green
Megan Helm
Tamra Higgins
Kelly Holt
Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup
Renee Kelly
Rick Kerschner
Marv Klassen-Landis
Matt LaRocca
Ann Lawless
Ken Leslie
Jodi Lew-Smith
Evie Lovett
Charlie McMeekin
Beth Miller
John Miller
Tracy Montminy
Brian Murphy
Mickey Myers
Barbara Paulson
Elizabeth Powell
Jane Preston
Steve Scrivens
Kelly Stoddard-Poor
Hope Sullivan
Heidi Swevens
Tess Taylor
Luis Vivanco
Avi Waring
Diana Whitney
Kiersten Williams
Jane Williamson
Orly Yadin
Jack Zeilenga
Board of Trustees
Sabrina Brown
Ed Clark
Sean Clute
Jo Sabel Courtney
Greg Cutler
Major Jackson
Reeve Lindbergh
Becky McMeekin
Nicole Nelson
Gail Nunziata
Greg Paus
Tony Pietricola
Stephen Pite
Greg Sargent
Nick Sherman
Edmond Strainchamps
Yasmin Tayeby
Staff
Kira Bacon
Michele Bailey*
Meredith Bell*
Deirdre Connelly*
Alice Claflin
Catherine Crawley*
Amy Cunningham*
Annie Gould*
Dominique Gustin*
Troy Hickman*
Susan McDowell
Karen Mittelman*
Hannah Morris
Desmond Peeples*
Tom Pilon*
*staff as of June 2020
The Vermont Arts Council is funded, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which requires a 1:1 match from the Vermont State Legislature. Council grants, programs, and statewide arts promotion would not be possible without the critical funding provided by these government agencies.
We could not do our work without the support of our wider Vermont Arts Council community. THANK YOU to the hundreds of generous individuals, businesses, and foundations that made vital contributions to our work in the past fiscal year. View FY2020 Contributors.
136 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633-6001 | 802.828.3291 | info@vermontartscouncil.org