Burlington City Arts

Artful Word: Fixed Fluxed at the BCA gallery 06/03/2016

James Gero's community produced video of the art opening at the Burlington City Arts of Fixed/Fluxed.

Taking advantage of the diverse range of artistic practices that visit Vermont each summer through BCA’s Seven Below artist residency program, this exhibition will transform the gallery into a space of constant flux. Three former artists-in-residence have been invited back to Vermont for this summer's residency to participate in the exhibition which will feature a total of 11 former residents. The three artists in residence, Thu Kim Vu, Meghan Gordon (working in collaboration with Cortney Andrews), Rob Swainston have been charged with installing, reinstalling, adding to, reducing, or removing their work from the space throughout the course of the exhibition. As a way to create sustained, public dialog with artists about their practice, Fixed/Fluxed will de-emphasize the gallery space as a place for fixed, final products, and reposition it as a place for transitory work and evolving ideas. The exhibition will also feature short films by Haisi Hu, Jonathan Monaghan, Willy Somma, Shane Morrissey, Jessica Segall, Oscar Santillan and Vermont artist and former Seven Below Resident Sage Lewis will be exhibiting in the Vermont Metro Gallery

The Seven Below Arts Initiative was established to provide artists practicing eclectic and emerging art forms with support to make art, and to enrich the Vermont community through the arts. The Seven Below artist residency, facilitated by BCA, brings up to six artists per season to live and create art at The Barn, a uniquely restored property on 65 acres offering magnificent views of Mt. Mansfield and the Green Mountains. The 200-year-old Alan Irish Barn was reconstructed in 1996 and served as the recording and rehearsal facility for Phish, Trey Anastasio, and other musicians. Residents are selected from a diverse range of local, national and international applicants, and are each provided with a $2,000 materials and living stipend to help support the creation of new work. Since 2006, Seven Below has granted more than 50 artist residency opportunities, presented numerous public lectures and art exhibitions, and has formed a critical arts dialogue between local arts educators, students, artists, and the greater Burlington community.

Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Artful Word: BCA "Cal Lane" 05/02/2016

Burlington City Arts Center's "Taking Pictures" gallery from Apr. 15th - June 18th. Bridging industry and fine art, Cal Lane eliminates the tough and imposing characteristics of steel and iron to create alluring, delicate, and intricate sculptural forms. Using wheelbarrows, shovels, and fuel tanks as her canvas, Lane transforms these once functional objects into ‘industrial doilies’ ornate with lacy motifs that reference domestic life. Soil is reinterpreted and repurposed, elevating it from a modest material of the Earth to a medium for the artist’s imagination. Often contradictory, Lane’s work juxtaposes strength and fragility while blurring the often prejudiced lines between what is conceived as either masculine or feminine.

This exhibition is sponsored by Hotel Vermont

Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Farrell Distributing, Harpoon Brewery, Fluid Bar Service, and Misery Loves Co. are proud sponsors of BCA Center exhibitions and events.

Artful Word: BCA "Dysfunction" First Floor Gallery 02/17/2016

Burlington City Arts Center - Dysfunction gallery from January 22, 2016 - April 9, 2016

Clay objects are often associated with particular utilitarian and domestic purposes. The long lasting association of ceramics with functionality engrains a tension between craft and fine art. Dysfunction challenges this tension by asserting that functionality may depend upon context rather than an absolute and fixed purpose. Beginning with the exhibition’s title, a playful pun, Dysfunction presents artwork varying from beautiful and precious to surreal and grotesque in an effort to initiate a dialogue about our own assumptions concerning ceramics. The crux of Dysfunction lies in the human tendency to categorize, organize, and separate. Often, the language we use to understand and assess our experiences, emotions, and objects narrow our ability to imagine larger possibilities for what something (or someone) can be. Together, these ten artists represent a microcosm of a larger artistic zeitgeist focused on questioning the social, political, and economic forces that determine “proper function.”

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Shae Bishop, Charlie Cunningham, Bech Evans, Leslie Fry, Margaret Kinkeade, Julia Kunin, Roberto Lugo, Brooks Oliver, Jessica Putnam-Phillips,
and Christopher Vaughn.

Events:
Thursday, February 18th: Tea Gathering with Bech Evans
Thursday, March 10th: Tea Gathering with Bech Evans
Thursday, March 24th: Dinner Gathering with Bech Evans

This exhibition is sponsored by Hotel Vermont. Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Farrell Distributing, Harpoon Brewery, Fluid Bar Service and Misery Loves Co. are proud sponsors of BCA Center exhibitions and events.

Artful Word: BCA "Taking Pictures" & VT Metro Gallery "In Motion" 01/30/2015

Burlington City Arts Center "Taking Pictures" gallery from Jan. 30th -April 4th. Using appropriation techniques and the process of picture making as points of departure, Taking Pictures examines the relevance of the work created by a group of artists included in the Pictures Generation. Presenting seminal work from the late 1970s alongside artwork made in the past few years, the exhibition is an opportunity to reinterpret these artists’ early work through the lens of their more recent production. The exhibition features the work of Gretchen Bender, Dara Birnbaum, James Casebere, Sarah Charlesworth, Nancy Dwyer, Jack Goldstein, Louise Lawler, Robert Longo, Allan McCollum, Cindy Sherman and Laurie Simmons. Vermont Metro Gallery "In Motion" gallery from Jan. 30th -March 17th. In Motion features a collection of abstract work by Nancy H. Taplin and Ethan Bond-Watts that captures the kinetic energy of color and light. Fluid dance-like strokes, smooth sculptural forms, and glowing color create a graceful elegance that is both poetic and energetic. The exhibition features the work of Nancy H. Taplin (Painter) & Ethan Bond-Watts (Sculptor)

Artful Word: Peter Heller - Burlington City Arts Center 11/21/2014

November 21, 2014 - January 24, 2015

This exhibition will feature work of the late Peter Heller. A WW II German Jewish refugee, Peter studied art at Columbia University and made a life in Vermont as a professor at the University of Vermont and Johnson State College. His largely unseen abstract paintings span a 50 year career and reflect an inner quest to capture the essence and meaning of life. A product of post-war neo-romanticism, Peter’s uniquely recognizable style is deeply fantastical and reveals a richness of internal feeling and observation. Peter’s stunning surreal forms and color convey unsettling transitions from order to chaos that leaves the viewer teetering between exhilaration and fear. Peter is survived by his wife and sculptor Alexandra and their two children. BCA is honored to make this rare collection of work available to the Burlington audience and collectors.

Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment For The Arts

Farrell Distributing Harpoon Brewery Fluid Bar Service and Bluebird Tavern are proud sponsors of BCA Center exhibitions and events

Artful Word: Break It! Build It! - Burlington City Arts Center 07/25/2014

Taking BCA’s popular summer camp as its point of departure, Break It! Build It! is an exhibition focusing on artists who embody the DIY spirit. Artists in the exhibition break, crush, destroy, and manipulate everyday objects to build, invent, and create their work. From altered couches to hacked iPods and installations using raw construction materials, Break It! Build It! will challenge the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and examine the ways destruction may be a necessary component of construction.

http://www.burlingtoncityarts.org/BCACenter/Exhibition.aspx?id=16167

http://www.burlingtoncityarts.org/

The exhibition will also feature work by young artists that was created in this summer’s Break It! Build It! camps. Artists Included : Christopher Abrams, Colin Brahmstedt, John Cohn, Maxwell Cohn, Eric Hall, Beatriz Herrera, Ken Howell, Jenn Karson, Keegan Kuvach, Kristin Rogers

Guided Tours Open to the Public:
Saturday, August 9, 12 – 1pm
Thursdays, August 14 and 21, 12-1 pm

Exhibition sponsored by Saint Michael's College

Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment For The Arts

Farrell Distributing, Harpoon Brewery and Fluid Bar Service are proud sponsors of BCA Center exhibitions and events

Artful Word: Traveling Spy - BCA Center 06/13/2014

Based in Cologne, Germany, Björn Schülke is informed by Dadaist traditions, randomness and the absurd. Schülke’s sharp, three-dimensional compositions merge Alexander Calder’s mobiles and the sonic circuitry of Peter Vogel’s sound sculptures into kinetic sculptures. The sculptures demonstrate Schülke’s interest in modern abstraction, music, and instruments of scientific measurement, as well as his desire to disrupt life as usual. By activating motion sensors embedded within the piece, viewers awaken the precisely constructed sculptures. Once activated, the sculptures’ slow and deliberate movements are playful and anthropomorphic. The cameras and video monitors embedded in the work suggest surveillance and artificial intelligence. They allude to our shared interest in machine-creatures and leave us suspicious about whether we are interacting with an absurdly elaborate device used by a spy or the actual spy itself. This is exhibit will be from June 13th - July 19th.

http://www.burlingtoncityarts.org/BCACenter/Exhibition.aspx?id=15997

http://www.burlingtoncityarts.org/

Exhibition sponsored by Hotel Vermont

Exhibition year sponsored by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.

Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment For The Arts

Farrell Distributing, Harpoon Brewery and Fluid Bar Service are proud sponsors of BCA Center exhibitions and events

Artful Word: Mildred Beltré - "Dream Work" - BCA Center 04/18/2014

Borrowing imagery from diverse sources – West African iconography, political movements, planar geometry, plant growth, and sports – Mildred Beltré’s playful abstract constructions are metaphors for the complexity of human relationships. Her work is constantly evolving, is never polished, and is in a perpetual state of progress. As an artist and activist, imagination and the ability to dream are fundamental to Beltré’s artistic process. Dreams cannot be realized with the absence of imagination and our world seldom changes without actively re-envisioning social constructs. Beltré not only provides a way for us to reimagine the world we live in, she also issues us a challenge to accept the effort that inherently accompanies dreaming.

Artful Word: Polly Apfelbaum’s 'Evergreen Blueshoes' - BCA Center 04/18/2014

For the last twenty-five years, Polly Apfelbaum’s work has situated itself as a hybrid of painting, sculpture, and installation. exploring the intricacies of color, Apfelbaum weaves her way through ideas of Minimalism, Pop aesthetics, and Color Field painting to blur the lines between two and three dimensional art making. Evergreen Blueshoes, a reference to a late 60s psychedelic rock band, continues her investigation of counter culture and experimental alternatives to art making. Apfelbaum’s exhibition at BCA expands her interest in color, the horizontal plane, and blurring the distinctions between fine art and craft as she designs and produces finely woven rugs and wallpaper. Make sure you wear nice socks and be prepared to leave your shoes at the door as you make your way through the exhibition.

Artful Word: Tarrant Gallery - "The Golden Cage: Mexican Migrant Workers and Vermont Dairy Farmers" 04/01/2011

A video by community producer James Gero.

The Vermont Folklife Center's Vision and Voice Documentary Workspace project The Golden Cage: Mexican Migrant Workers and Vermont Dairy Farmers, an exhibition of photographs, text, and audio (in Spanish and English) that explores the relationships between farmers and Mexican workers on dairy farms in Addison County. The Golden Cage is on display in the Amy E. Tarrant Gallery at the Flynn Center, Friday, April 1 through Saturday, June 11. At the opening reception, Brandon-based photographer Caleb Kenna gives a slide presentation and discusses how the project came about.

Featured Story

CCTV Receives NEH Grant to Support Community Archives

CCTV Center for Media & Democracy is pleased to announce receipt of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant alongside 32 peer archival institutions across the country. This $49,927 grant award will support efforts to preserve and expand access to audio/visual community history materials in the CCTV Archives. Read more about this opportunity here!