11.30.2007

Student Professionals


Thursday night the gallery featured the artwork of four students from Bellows Free Academy- St. Albans. The reception was the first in a series of month-long exhibits to be held at the gallery throughout the rest of the academic year. Three of the four artists, Katie Brown, Sharlene Seymour and Brittany Dupont (Anthony Begins was unable to attend), had the opportunity to meet with the public as well as other local artists and talk about their work. It was a great introduction to the professional art world! Thanks to all who came and to the artists who spent time talking with the young artists…they really appreciated it.

11.25.2007

Jazzy Night


Last night the gallery featured its first live musicians for one of our holiday receptions. Local talent Fabian Rainville and friend Oliver Jacobson entertained the crowd with some excellent jazz guitar and violin. Both are attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston. (And the gallery's acoustics proved to be quite nice…)

The gallery still has some upcoming events. This Thursday is a reception for our student artists of the month so come see their work and show your support for our talented youth. The reception will be from 4-7pm.

Friday December 7 local author Leon Thompson will read holiday material from his two published collections of columns titled "Good Junk" and "Dork." Reception will be from 7-9pm.

Sunday December 9 will be another artist reception from noon to 2pm with cookies, tea and coffee and live music again. The duo "High Lonesome" will be performing, so take a Sunday afternoon break at the gallery.

Look forward to seeing you!

11.17.2007

Congratulations!


Just a note of congrats to our artist Jennifer Steinmetz and her husband Chris on the birth of their first child, Harper Everett-Marie Steinmetz.

11.08.2007

The Group Grows


Last night we had a good crowd for our second figure drawing session with 13 artists participating. We almost ran out of seats! It was especially encouraging to see two local high school students joining the group. Though they were a little wide-eyed and nervous to begin with they quickly eased into it and sketched the two hours away. I remember the feeling from my first figure drawing class in college. I hope to see more students! Our remaining two sessions before the holidays are going to be held on Monday, November 19 from 7-9 and Thursday, December 6 from 7-9.

11.06.2007

VAC Grants


Sonia Rae, VAC Community Programs Manager

Yesterday, I attended the grant writers workshop put on by the Vermont Arts Council and sponsored by the St. Albans Artists Guild in the Bliss Auditorium at the St. Albans Historical Museum. Some of our more experienced artists may know already about the VAC and its programs, but I had yet to look into it so it was very informative for me.

 

I missed most of the first part that was targeted for organizations. Some might think this would be the more important session for a gallery owner to attend, but since the STAART Gallery isn’t a non-profit, it’s not eligible for grants. The message from the two representatives, Sonia Rae, Community Programs Manager, and Stacy Raphael, Arts Education Program Manager, at the end of the first session was that both state and federal funding for the arts is not nearly what it needs to be (surprise). And the VAC actually gets more funding from the federal government than the state which is atypical of most state art programs throughout the country.

 

The second session was geared towards individual artists and funding available to them. Rae presented a slideshow taking us step-by-step through the grant application process available on the VAC website. There is a lot of information that needs to be filled in and can get tricky once you get to the budget form. That’s why it is important to have a specific project in mind with a clear idea of what kind of money you need and how it will be spent.

 

There are two types of grants available to artists. The first are called Creation Grants and are larger sums of money meant to aid artists in the creation of new work. In the past the typical grant was $3000 and they awarded about 15 grants per year (out of about 50 applicants), but for the next fiscal year they are changing their strategy and awarding larger grants of about $5000-$7000 but to fewer people. Tougher competition but a bigger more useful pot. You have to match the grant, so for a $3000 grant, you have to show that you will have $6000 of expenses. Therefore you are still making a personal investment.

 

Creation Grants are awarded by a panel of jurists that change every year so if you don’t get a grant one year you can start fresh the next. Part of the application does include samples of the work you do or will be developing so, yes, a critique of your work is part of the process. These grants are only awarded once a year and this year’s deadline is already past. The deadline for projects occurring from Sept. 1, 2008 to Aug. 31 2009 (they have a different fiscal year than the calendar year) will be sometime in May.

 

The other type of grant, Artist Development Grants, are meant to “provide funds for artistic and professional skill development as well as for promotional and marketing materials (VAC website).” These range from $250-$750, again with matching funding, and typically do not exceed $500. These are rolling grants, so they can be applied for whenever. However, an application needs to be sent in 60 days prior to the date you actually need the funding.

 

The funds from these grants can be used for a huge variety of expenses. Some include creating an identity kit with a logo and materials, expenses related to a professional workshop (including airfare to get there), web design, photographer’s fees for taking pictures of your work, research on a project, etc. There are a lot of possibilities.

 

Membership with VAC is (I think) $40. If you are a member you can apply for these grants for free. If you’re not, you can still apply but with an application fee. I’ll have some brochures at the gallery if anyone wants one. I also have notes from the presentation in case anyone decides to apply for a grant and don’t understand a particular section of the application. 

11.02.2007

County Courier PR


The County Courier did a great story about our figure drawing sessions featured in this week's issue. Many thanks to Jed Kettler for his great photo and story. 






Jed Kettler Photo