Brandon festival highlights budding art community

Author: Alyssa O'Gallagher

At this winter's second Art in the Snow festival in Brandon, Vt., one part of its title was missing. Despite the unseasonably warm February day, the festival recognized and celebrated the town's growing arts community on Feb. 28. Recently christened "the art and soul of Vermont," Brandon has become, unbeknownst to many, a hotbed of artistic activity a mere 16 miles from Middlebury.

Art in the Snow started five years ago, when a coalition of Brandon innkeepers looked to bolster winter business in a town that lacks many of the classic Vermont winter draws, such as a ski slope. Innkeepers endeavored to attract five or six local studios to participate in the festival for the next two years. The following year, recognizing how much potential the festival had not yet tapped, local artists took control of the festival with Brandon fabric artist Judith Reilly at the helm. Since then, recruiting efforts have increased participation from five to six artists at its inception to 15 to 22 artists for each festival. For the first time this year, in an attempt to broaden its scope, Art in the Snow featured culinary and performing arts in addition to more traditional media.

Reilly, former chair of Art in the Snow, expressed that the relaxed pace of winter often gives artists some down time to be creative, explore new ideas and make mistakes, a luxury they don't have during the much busier spring and summer seasons.

"Art in the Snow gives visitors the opportunity to observe local artists at their most creative time," Reilly said.

Reilly herself is a fabric artist who has been quilting for 40 years. She uses the winters to experiment with new quilting techniques, and, as a part of Art in the Snow, opens her studio to the public four times a year to demonstrate her artistic process.

The Brandon Artists' Guild (BAG), located on Center Street in downtown Brandon, serves as the Art in the Snow headquarters. The BAG, a self-governed coalition of around 50 local artists, came out of the efforts of eminent folk artist Warren Kimble. Several local artists expressed that the entire artistic presence in Brandon can be attributed to Kimble, whom they say is even responsible for convincing artists to relocate to the budding artistic hub.

Kimble, known for his folk art, is just one of more than a dozen artists opening his studio to the public for visits and demonstrations as a part of the Art in the Snow festival this year. His most recent artistic endeavor, inspired by the recent presidential election, features a series of pieces centering on the sun.

"As a result of the election, the sun came out," he said of the pieces.

All of the artists - from Steve Zorn, who has worked with glass for the past three years, to Liza Myers, who sculpted her first goddess figurine at age 7 - are eager to discuss their creative processes with visitors.

As Myers expressed, "the arts have empowered [Brandon]." But they've also fostered a sense of community among the artists themselves. As I wandered from studio to studio, the artist-in-residence would often say something like, "You should really check out Warren Kimble next door," or, "You should head down the road to Robin Kent's place at Artisans on the Bend."

The artistic community has extended this bond to the town itself by partnering with Brandon businesses to provide events and specials at local shops, eateries and inns around the town as part of Art in the Snow. The BAG holds a monthly drawing for $100 in "Brandon Green," Brandon's local currency. Eligibility for the drawing requires the presentation of a Brandon Art in the Snow tour map stamped at 10 different locations.

While efforts like Art in the Snow and the Brandon Green movement have tried to spur local commerce, several artists did seem to express some fear for the future of the Brandon arts community in the deepening economic crisis. But for those enjoying the art, the last weekend of Art in the Snow on March 28-29 carries a price tag that fits: free.