Colburn and Slayton Exhibition Opens at the Fleming Museum

The Fleming Museum is proud to present the work of Vermont artists Francis Colburn (1909-1984) and Ronald Slayton (1910-1992), in celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of their births. The special exhibition is titled “A Centennial Celebration: The Art of Francis Colburn and Ronald Slayton.” Longtime friends, the two artists exhibited widely in group exhibitions throughout their long careers, however, they have never been the sole focus of an exhibition together. Their work has not been seen in this magnitude for over twenty years.

A 1934 alumnus of the University of Vermont (UVM), Francis Colburn embarked on an artistic career at the Arts Students League in New York, eventually returning to UVM, where he served as artist-in-residence and established the University’s Art Department. Also affiliated with UVM, albeit briefly, Ronald Slayton was enrolled at the University for the 1935-36 academic year. He left and joined Francis Colburn in the federally funded Works Progress Administration project (WPA), which ran from 1935 to 1943. The two artists are among the few native Vermonters to have participated in this government project.

Themes common to both Colburn’s and Slayton’s work produced during this period reflect a socially activist spirit, expressing sympathy with the labor movement and exhibiting an affinity for left-wing politics ranging from New Deal liberalism to socialism and communism. Although Slayton consistently used art to promote social change, he also responded to the beauty of the world around him through colors and forms that reflect an intense interior vision. Colburn also diverged from his socially driven art of the 1930s and 1940s to experiment with Surrealism, making him one of the first native-born Vermont artists to respond to European Modernism.

The exhibition, consisting of over 50 paintings, drawings, watercolors, and prints, will close on August 29.
For more information on Fleming Museum visit www.flemingmuseum.org or call 656-0750.

Air Supply Returns to Charts with New Single ‘Dance With Me’

Air Supply’s millions of fans around the world know the legendary hit-making duo is far from “All Out of Love”—in fact, they’re back on the Adult Contemporary charts for the first time in many years with “Dance With Me,” the first single from their Odds On Records debut “Mumbo Jumbo.”

Just weeks after composer and vocalist Graham Russell was honored with a BMI Million-Air Certificate recognizing 3 million performances of the duo’s hit “All Out Of Love,” Air Supply’s new song was the number one most added track on the FMQB AC40 Chart, number three most added on the R&R (Radio and Records) AC Chart and number two most added on the Mediabase AC chart.

Many of the superstars Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock are sharing chart space with weren’t even born when the duo was scoring its most enduring early 80s hits like “Lost In Love,” “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” and “The One That You Love.”

Mumbo Jumbo is Air Supply’s first studio album of all original material since 2002’s “Across The Concrete Sky.”

Air Supply is touring the U.S. this year. The tour includes a stop at the Theatre at Westbury in Westbury, New York on July 22.

For more info on the band, visit www.airsupplymusic.com.

Small Creates Sculpting Career After ‘Retirement’

By Stephanie Choate

Peter Small discovered his knack for sculpture when he took a pottery class shortly after retiring 20 years ago.
“It was like putting a shovel in the ground and finding gold,” the Williston resident said. “Once I got started, there was no stopping me.”

Small and his wife, Beatrice, moved to Williston from upstate New York three years ago. The walls of their Michael Lane home are covered with paintings and sculptures on pedestals, some of which are Small’s.
Small makes about 30 sculptures a year, which sell for between $250 and $5,000, depending on the work.
“I like the fact that (sculpture) is very tactile and that I have ways to create what I imagine,” he said.

Many of Small’s sculptures are elaborate heads or torsos with interesting designs or textures. He also made a series where he recreated figures by famous artists, including Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin.

Lately, though, Small has been working on pieces that show figures interacting with each other, like a recent piece depicting two wrestlers.

“It was a very complicated piece with arms and legs going in every direction,” he said. “It really came out the way I hoped.”

Small said one of the highlights of his sculpting career was when Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts curator Elizabeth Sussman chose him as one of the 80 artists in a show at the Katonah Museum of Art in New York. More than 1,500 people applied for the positions.

“That sort of gave me affirmation,” he said.

Small said he is hoping to find a gallery to display and sell his work.

“That would be nice,” he said. “At this point I would rather sculpt than merchandise my own
work.”

Red Stage Theatre Company Begins Second Season

Red Stage will produce two plays in repertory during the month of August at the Main Street Landing Black Box in Burlington.

The first show is the amazing “Spring Awakening,” written by Frank Wedekind. The play was recently turned into a Broadway musical that won the Tony for Best Musical in 2009.

“Spring Awakening” traces the dawning sexual awareness of four youths. Despite the recent success of the musical based on the play, “Spring Awakening” closed after one night in New York in 1917 amid public outrage and charges of obscenity. But even more radical is the unsentimental and brutal comedy with which Wedekind treated it.

The second show is a new play written by Rutgers Playwriting MFA Candidate Josh Levine called “Game Over.” A brutal and darkly comic play, it gives us a glimpse at the intimacy sometimes achieved in the most terrifying and savage of places. Two soldiers, Marcus and Jimmy, return from Iraq and must face the task of reconciling the bond formed overseas with their ever-differing reactions to the war. But, for these two friends, the road back to “normal” is just as explosive and unpredictable as the war itself. Red Stage is excited to perform the East Coast premiere of this startling and exciting new play.

To fulfill its social mission, Red Stage is working closely with the United States Refugee Institution to collaborate in hosting multiple workshops for children from the various populations to help them explore their own cultural stories through theatre. For more information, visit www.redstagetheatre.org or call Red Stage Theatre Company, 802-318-7935.

Summer Concert Series at the Essex Shoppes Pavilion

Phoenix Books and the Essex Shoppes and Cinema have partnered to produce a month-long music series celebrating local musicians. Attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and gather ‘round the gazebo every Wednesday in July (and one Saturday) for relaxing musical journeys.
The series will include:

• Wednesday, July 14 at 7p.m.: Jacob & Rachel
A program of light, inspirational music featuring a few of their own compositions as well as a mix of light pop and Contemporary Christian hits.

• Wednesday, July 21 at 7p.m.:  Green Mountain Swing
A 17-piece big band featuring hits of the thirties, forties, and fifties.

• Saturday, July 24 at noon:  Gigi & Joni
Gigi Weisman and Joni AvRutick perform original and traditional songs for children and families; their music is playful and poetic, concerning themes of friendship, community, and the environment.

• July 28 at 7p.m.: Summer Songwriter’s Show
Folk, jazz, blues, and bluegrass styles with a wry New England sensibility and the smoldering voices of Rachel Hamilton, Carol Ann Jones, and Rebecca Padula.

For more information,visit http://phoenixbooks.biz or call 872-7111.

Father’s Day Fishing Derby Returns for 29th Year

By Tim Simard

For the 29th Father’s Day in a row, thousands of anglers will take to Lake Champlain in hopes of catching several varieties of fish while spending an exciting time with family. Lake Champlain International’s Father’s Day Derby, this year presented by Yamaha, takes place June 19-21. With lucrative top prizes available for those who catch the largest bass, salmon, walleye and other fish, entire families head out onto the lake on boats or hit the shores to try their luck.

But it’s not all about prize money and bragging rights during the Derby, said Lake Champlain International’s Executive Director James Ehlers.

“Families are out there fishing because it’s a family event,” Ehlers said. “We have families sign up year after year after year. For some of these folks, it’s become part of a family tradition. People plan their whole vacations around the derby.”

What began as a small event in 1981 with only a few hundred participants has grown to become the largest derby in the Champlain Valley. In 2009, 5,500 participants took part.

“It seems like we always have at least one day of phenomenal fishing,” Ehlers said.

The derby hosts several family events, many at weigh-in stations in Vermont and New York. There is also a family barbeque scheduled to take place at the Apple Island Resort & Marina in South Hero on June 19 from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m.

The Father’s Day Derby is Lake Champlain International’s largest fundraising initiative. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to conserve, restore and revitalize Lake Champlain and its watershed. By taking part in the derby, participants help the organization keep Lake Champlain a vital natural resource, Ehlers said.
Costs to enter the derby are determined by how fishing enthusiasts sign up. There is a $30 entry fee per individual, or a $60 family pass for a husband, wife and child. You can sign up online at www.mychamplain.net or at nearly 40 participating stores across the Champlain Valley up until the day before the derby begins. Visit the organization’s Web site for a list of businesses: www.mychamplain.net
“This is a benefit to ensure Champlain is a swimmable, fishable and drinkable lake,” Ehlers said.

Killington Film Festival Winners Announced

The Killington Film Festival was held April 8-11 at the Summit Lodge in Killington. Independent filmmakers from seven states and Canada took home top honors at the second annual event.

“It was a tremendous success. It is a festival destined to continue its growth in years to come,” said Kerstin Karlhuber, a New York filmmaker originally from Killington who founded and directed the festival. More than 100 films from 21 states and five countries were submitted for judging in the four-day festival.

“The filmmakers were pleased and the audiences truly enjoyed seeing some outstanding films. We’re already looking forward to next year, when we’re certain to draw even more entries,” said Karlhuber.

Top entries included:
• New England Filmmakers
1st Place: ‘Shooting Beauty,’ Director George Kachadorian, Durham, NH
2nd Place: ‘Finding Our Voices,’ Director Vicky Hughes, Producer Holly Stadtler, Huntington, VT
• Documentary Shorts
1st Place: “Iowa Girls,” directed and produced by Donna Reyes, Union, NJ
2nd Place: “Nico’s Challenge,” Director Steve Audette, Concord, MA

More information can be found on the Web site: www.killingtonfilmfestival.org.

Bennington Museum Explores Studio Craft Movement in Vermont

Over the last four decades, Vermont emerged as one of the epicenters of the craft revival in America. However, the artistic, social, and economic history of the contemporary craft movement in the Green Mountain State has previously not been comprehensively researched or presented in a major museum exhibition…until now.
State of Craft is a landmark exhibition at the Bennington Museum examining the evolution of the contemporary studio craft movement in Vermont (1960-2010). On view from May 22 through October 31, State of Craft features more than 120 objects by 90 Vermont craftspeople, including master artists, emerging artists, and key individuals throughout the more than 50-year timeframe of the studio craft movement. The exhibition is the centerpiece of a statewide showcase of Vermont crafts coordinated by the Vermont Crafts Council, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, and has been designated a Cultural Heritage Event for 2010 by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing.

State of Craft explores three overarching themes – Living by “Making,” Communities and Connections, and Inspirations. Each includes compelling stories of Vermont’s diverse craftspeople, illustrates the multifaceted nature of craft production in the state, and is interpreted in the exhibition at the museum through selected captivating pieces created by representative artists.

Living by ‘Making’
Living by “Making” examines the cultural roots of the early pioneers and successive generations of craftspeople, in addition to exploring the challenges met while they try to sustain an artistic career in a small rural state.

Karen Karnes, known as the “grandmother of American ceramics,” is a highly respected master artist with a 60-year history of making a living at her craft. It was in part her involvement with the ceramics program at Black Mountain College in the early 50s that helped to spark the studio ceramics movement in America. Karnes assisted in the organization of the groundbreaking ceramics symposia in 1952 and ‘53 that featured such ceramic icons as Marguerite Wildenhain, Bernard Leach, Shoji Hamada, Peter Voulkos, and Warren Mackenzie, who collectively set in motion the studio ceramics movement in America. Seeking “quiet and concentration,” Karnes moved to the Northeast Kingdom in 1979, where she has maintained her studio for more than 30 years. Work reflective of the evolution of her artistic vision, from early pieces grounded in modernist tradition, to salt-glazed and wood-fired pots featuring a wide range of color and texture are included in Living by “Making.”

Weaver Carol Crawford epitomizes those young people drawn to the Green Mountain State during the ‘60s and ‘70s back-to-the-land era. Over the past 50 years, this migration has continued, and has made Vermont a rural epicenter of the national studio craft movement. Crawford came to Vermont to study dance and theatre at Middlebury College, but found herself caught up in the spirit of the counterculture prevalent after the Kent State shootings. Along with friends, Crawford created an intentional community called Snake Mountain Commune where she had her first encounter with weaving. Self-taught on an old loom found in the attic of a barn, weaving became a part of Crawford’s life that has continued for over 30 years. From her studio and home in northern Vermont, she continues to teach herself new techniques in weaving, now using a 16-harness computerized loom that allows her to design complicated twill patterns.

The time-honored tradition of mentor and apprentice is juxtaposed with the rule-breaking possibilities of a newly invented medium in the relationship and work of Celie Fago and Jennifer Kahn. Ten years ago, Kahn, a student at UVM, arranged an independent study to apprentice with Fago, an artist and skilled metalworker who was becoming a master in a “revolutionary new material,” precious metal clay (PMC). Fago explored the artistic potential of this new material and developed innovative techniques to create metal jewelry and objects. Kahn, once the apprentice and now a professional jeweler, also uses this relatively new medium to create pieces that appeal to a younger generation. Journey Necklace, a piece she describes as “tribal jewelry with a modern edge,” is an example. Kahn encounters issues of networking and marketing similar to those faced in the 60s and 70s, but approaches them in a modern way. Using technology to transcend the rural nature of Vermont, Kahn connects with other artists in online forums, and markets her work directly at craft fairs and online.

Communities and Connections
Communities of craftspeople have developed throughout Vermont for decades as creative individuals gravitated towards geographic regions for education, marketing, and a strong artistic culture. Creative clusters have formed near Goddard College in Plainfield, Windham College in Putney, and Marlboro College, to name a few.

Michelle and David Holzapfel’s distinctive works are deeply impacted by the artists’ integral connection with the Marlboro community where they have made their lives and from which they obtain their materials. Their daily interaction with people such as the local lumbermen who work the thickly wooded mountainsides and set aside burls expressly for the Holzapfels, provides significance to their inclusion in Communities and Connections. Michelle has evolved since the mid 1970s from a self-taught wood turner to a nationally acclaimed artist creating highly expressive and narrative vases, bowls, and other forms all from local hardwood. Coming to Vermont to attend Marlboro College, her discovery of woodworking came through her husband, David, himself a self-taught woodworker. The furniture pieces created by David, distinctively different from Michelle’s work, also start from locally obtained burls, gnarled branches and other “eccentric” hardwood materials. Both Michelle and David are nationally respected woodworkers whose work remains deeply connected to their community of lumbermen and fellow artists.

Another artist whose life and work is representative of this theme is Judith Reilly, fabric artist and quilter. Reilly moved to Brandon in 2004 seeking a stronger sense of community. While creating award-winning quilts representing stylized rural village scenes, she helps other quilt makers recognize their innate artistic abilities, and encourages them to value and defend their own creative self-expression. The fanciful view of a rural landscape and village depicted in Edge of Town expresses both her sense of community and the inseparable relationship between man and nature.

And artistic connections are well represented in the father/daughter duo of Robert and Caitlin Burch – two ends of the generational spectrum, both award-winning glassblowers. For more than 40 years, glass artists have connected through mentors and apprentices, as well as in more casual and supportive ways. The Burch’s relationship exemplifies many of these. Speaking on the transmission of knowledge of glass, Caitlin says, “My father always talked to me about dancing with the glass and living with it.  I believe I finally understand what he means.”

Inspirations
The interaction between traditional craft and expressive craft, along with many artistic influences found locally and globally, provide a framework for understanding the diverse nature of contemporary crafts in Vermont. Some artists are directly inspired by Vermont’s pastoral and forested landscape, but for others the landscape simply provides a quiet place of refuge that allows creativity to flourish. The effects of global and ethnic influences on aesthetics and design are also recognized as sources of inspiration.

One representation of this theme is the work and life of Daniel Omondi, a furniture maker who began learning his craft at age 13 in his father’s workshop in Mombasa, Kenya. Moving to Vermont from his homeland in 2001, Omondi’s successful transition between the two vastly different cultures of Kenya and rural Vermont is evident in his work, as he combines native Kenyan woods such as bambakofe and mvole with Vermont cherry, maple and walnut to create genuinely unique pieces. He further incorporates traditional Swahili carving techniques with New England woods and sensibility. The use of this style of carving is included to great effect in his hallway table that is included in State of Craft.

How To Get There
The Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main Street, Bennington. Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the museum is closed on Wednesday except for September and October when it is open every day of the week. For more information on the State of Craft Exhibition and the museum’s other programs, events, and exhibitions, visit www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571.

Local Tribute Band Honors Neil Young

By Stephanie Choate

Several times a month, father-son duo Ken and Jesse French pick up their acoustic guitars and break out the Neil Young tunes.

“The music fits us really well, and we definitely enjoy it a lot,” Jesse French said.

The two Charlotte musicians form a Neil Young tribute band called Ragged Glory. Ken French said Young’s prolific career gives them plenty of options.

“He’s all over the map,” he said. “He’s well known for acoustic ballads … and he’s also well known for screaming feedback guitar solos. As performers, it gives us a wide spectrum of sound to choose from, and we love the variety.”

The band now has about 65 songs in its repertoire.

Ken French said Young’s songs have “a very elegant simplicity. They’re easy to learn and it’s more like stripping away the layers of excess polish.”

“It’s letting the pure essence of the song come out, and that’s all that matters, so there is a joy to that simplicity,” Ken French said.

Jesse French, who goes to Champlain Valley Union High School, also sings with his school’s choir. He plays the cello, piano, banjo, saxophone and drums.

“The best part for me is working with Jesse,” Ken French said. “That’s been most the important part of this whole project.”

Jesse French said he especially enjoys singing with his father.

“There’s definitely a similarity in our voices that gives them the ability to blend very well,” he said.
“There’s a trust also that we can both express ourselves at the same time without competing, supporting each other musically that way,” his father said.

The CVU senior will head to college soon. The Frenches said they hope to keep playing together in some capacity, whether on school vacations or at gigs near the college.

“It’s really rewarding, and it’s a lot of fun in terms of the connection with the audience,” Jesse French said. “It’s really special to see somebody that really knows all of the songs, and knows what we’re doing. That’s the best part, seeing people really enjoying it.”

Ken French said performing can be both the best and worst part of being in the band.

“We have some gigs where people completely ignore us,” he said. “They’re just busy getting drunk or doing whatever they’re doing, and we feel like furniture.”

Ken French also plays in a ’60s cover band called Mellow Yellow, which he joined a little more than year ago.

“It’s a tribute to the psychedelic era,” he said. “It’s very detail oriented, in terms of recreating the music authentically, and the vibe of the ’60s with costumes, a light show and go-go dancers.”

Ken French said the band’s goal is to become the best ’60s tribute band in the country. The group hopes to do regional and national tours, which is “a very real possibility,” he said.

Ragged Glory started as a classic rock band with bass player Mick Petrie, called KJAM. The Frenches teamed with Petrie after he answered their ad in Seven Days four years ago.

“It was perfect because he’s a parent himself and he had the patience to work with an adolescent in the band,” Ken French said.

Petrie still sometimes plays with the duo.

Ken French said the group liked playing Neil Young songs, and eventually developed into a tribute band.
“I think we just got the idea and said, ‘Hey, wouldn’t that be something,” Ken French said. “We just liked (the Young songs) and started doing more.”

“It just evolved into that naturally, we felt that we fit well to those songs,” his son said.

The Frenches usually play a couple times a month, everywhere from Nectar’s to Battery Park. This winter, they played at First Night in Burlington for approximately 400 people.

On May 5, Ragged Glory will play at the Bar Antidote in Vergennes. On June 5, the duo will play at Dan’s Place in Bristol.“That’s really going to be a really great room to play,” Ken French said.

60s Flashback Party Gets the Groovy Going

By Robin Reid

For those born early enough to remember, rose-colored glasses, zoot suits and flowers in your hair are reminiscent of the “Swingin’ Sixties”— a time of social revolution when dreams of peace and acts of free love dominated. This era was marked by a counterculture, and the music that emerged in this decade reminds us in a powerful way of those days—good times when you could “let it all hang out!”

A 60s Flashback Party at the Vergennes Opera House on April 16 sure brought back the memories. Featuring Mellow Yellow, the most authentic sounding sixties band imaginable, the party was enhanced by a costume contest. After the third song, the dance floor was hopping with folks in flowing dresses, bellbottoms, floppy hats and beads.

The crowd was tantalized by the convincing performance of Mellow Yellow. The songs we remember tuning in to on the radio were rendered to near perfection and band members dressed and acted the part of the stars of the sixties. The performance included a convincing multi-media and psychedelic light show that was projected on a full-size screen at the back of the stage. There were even go-go girls shaking their booties alongside the band.

Mellow Yellow was formed about two years ago under the leadership of David Cooper (“Brad DaddyO” is his Mellow Yellow name). The band underwent several transformations until the current lineup gelled just over a year ago. In its current high-energy configuration, it also includes Dusty Love (Linda Bassick), Kenny Diggit (Ken French), Flip Funk (Brad Sourdiffe) and Franco Sunshine (Frank Zammiello).

Band members not only play the part, they are dressed in the flamboyant, outrageous style of sixties entertainers: Brad DaddyO wears a red fez and gilded black velvet jacket with a ruffled lace shirt; Dusty Love is in a short, sleeveless black dress with psychedelic stockings and big hoop earrings; Diggit wears round tinted glasses and sports a military-style jacket replete with epaulettes (sewn together by his wife Barb.); Flip Funk is cool in his rose-colored glasses and leather vest and Franco Sunshine is neatly buttoned into a buff Nehru jacket.

“It’s great to look into the audience and see older couples out on a date, dancing cheek to cheek,” said French. “We love playing at the opera house.”

Ken French (aka Kenny Diggit, who is a media consultant by trade) is responsible for creating the visual effects. Working mostly within the operating system of his Mac computer, French programs the backdrop for Mellow Yellow performances. Some of the imagery comes from public sources on the Internet; however, French also spent many hours researching how to recreate a psychedelic liquid light show using oil and water. He said, “you need specific ingredients to do it since you must find a dye that will mix with oil. It took a lot of trial and error…”

French wound up ordering bezels (large clock faces) from the Internet to use as mixing trays. He set up a lighted glass table where the bezels were placed and their various colorations swirled to get the effect. The light show compositions were then video taped from above. The video clips French shot of the light show were transferred to Quartz Composer, where real time manipulation of the video clip based on the audio clip can occur. A microphone in the drum kit activates different aspects of the light show and the visuals wind up in sync with the music.

Mellow Yellow selects its songs carefully using specific criteria. They look for compositions with strong three-part harmonies and songs that were unusual at the time of their release, but also popular – top ten hits from mainly 1967-72. Both Cooper and French are keyboard controllers using sound that comes from a computer program called Reason to enhance the authenticity of their performance with specific sound bites. Cooper is a sound engineer and mixes some of the special effects in his studio. The band has mastered over fifty songs, with more being added all the time. They accurately render the tunes of about 30 recording artists from this era including The Beatles, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, The Hollies, Jefferson Airplane and Donovan. You can see a current playlist at www.mellowyellowband.com.

Jennifer Vyhnak of Bristol, born in 1957, was the winner of the costume contest. She and her husband are founders of the Vermont Ukulele Society. “I adore 60s music!” said Vyhnak. “It expresses so many real things from my childhood.” She grew up in Florida as a military child and relishes her memories of black light posters, bellbottoms and all the music she loved as a kid.

Vergennes Opera House Director Jackson Evans was on hand taking tickets and serving popcorn. He estimated that about 150 were in attendance. Mellow Yellow and Evans are discussing another event that will take place during the summer months. Sign up at www.vergennesoperahouse.org for email updates or log on for more information.

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