Break out the bubbly: First Anniversary of Sover Scene

According to tradition, the proper first-anniversary gift is paper, which is apt, as today heralds (pun unavoidable) a full year of reporting all the Southern Vermont arts that'll fit into 30 or so weekly columnar inches of this fine paper.

Before I started the Sover Scene, I knew Vermont had a thriving cultural infrastructure, with its numerous galleries, museums, bookshops, theaters, concert venues and festivals. Still, I assumed I'd need to do at least a tiny bit of digging each week in order to find truly exceptional events upon which to expound.

The delicious reality, however, is that I'm more often than not hard-pressed to decide what not to write about. Sounds like an ill-conceived BBC series, but, honestly, come Friday each week I already have a vat of ideas for next week's column percolating in my head and not because of any shrewd investigative effort on my part. Outstanding visual, literary, musical and theatrical art happenings are simply ubiquitous around here, like moss on boulders and weathervanes on barns.

And since I'm one of those people who'd rather go deep into one topic than skim the surface of many, the end of each week usually has my brow furled as I attempt to settle on one theme. Hmmm … the lecture on Steinbeck in East Dover or the Tibetan documentary screening in Saxtons River? The exhibit in Jamaica of photos from Kyoto or the Nigerian dance performance in Bellows Falls? The Winslow Homer sketches in Bennington or the Britpop band in Brattleboro?

Without question, Southern Vermont is a voluminous feast for us culture vultures and, unless every Vermont resident who loves or creates art is suddenly abducted by aliens, I will never run out of ideas.

It's a terribly nice problem to have, though sometimes it really is a tough call. Case in point, there are two compelling events taking place on June 7, both of which I'd love to cover in depth next week but, alas, I must resist. My editors already have a hard enough time reigning in my verbosity on one topic without having to crack the whip on two.

For lack of a better term, the "first runner-up" is a talk on Gertrude Stein during which Barbara Will, associate professor of English at Dartmouth, will be discussing the Mother of Modernism's illustrious Left Bank salon, which included 20th-century heavyweights such as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Manet, Picasso and Cezanne.

Anyone who's read more than a couple of these columns can attest that I could easily write thousands of words on this kind of event. Not only does my academic background in art history make me giddy at the thought of all those Titans of the painting world milling around the Stein-Toklas' Parisian parlor, but such a pivotal time in literary history is like a smorgasbord to those of us with stalagmites of books cluttering our floors. So, despite my urge to spotlight this absorbing event as well — 7 p.m., June 7, Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro — I just can't.

The topic that elbowed out Gertrude and her posse is a worthy opponent, as you'll see in the first of Sover Scene's second year, next week!

And to think that when I moved here six years ago, some of the friends I was leaving behind in San Francisco were concerned that I'd have constant culture cravings and that my intellectual life would be drastically narrowed to things like maple candy competitions and lectures on the art of sheep shearing.

Well, for one thing, I love maple candy and very much appreciate that all things aggie embody a crucial slice of Vermont's incredibly rich cultural history. But the truth of the matter is — and this is what got this flatlander here in the first place — Vermont has more artistic mojo per capita than most places on the planet and writing this column reaffirms that, every week.

As a matter of fact, it was art that got me here. In early 2000, my former husband and I were considering moving to New England from the Bay Area and had just come back from a reconnaissance road trip around Maine, where I'd spent a lot of time as a kid with relatives. A few friends and acquaintances that heard about our trip made a point of advising us to check out Vermont before we made any decision, attesting that it's an incomparable place with a rare appreciation for creativity and independent thought.

Like every self-respecting business-owner and mother considering moving with her family across the country, I Googled the words crucial to any well-researched, prudent relocation venture: "art," "literature" and "Vermont." The first listing was RAMP, the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project in Bellows Falls. I think my husband must have thought I'd spiked my tea because I came squealing out of our office as if I'd found Nirvana — not the band, we already had that CD.

I was thrilled to have discovered such a thriving arts organization in the middle of New England and guessed, correctly, that it was a testament to the vibrancy and pluck of the community in general. A year later, we'd bought a house just outside Bellows Falls and knew it was the best move we ever made, particularly for our children. I'm quite sure they're exposed to far more kultchah here than they would have been in San Francisco because most art events and venues there are prohibitive and, almost more to the point, there's never any bloody parking, which dissuades even the most committed of us "museum-moms" from teaching little Johnny about things like post-modernism or the Fauvists.

By now RAMP's founder, Robert McBride, has heard my moving — in every sense of the word — tale so many times he can recite it verbatim, but if it weren't for Robert and the Internet — thank you, Al Gore — I wouldn't have found this extraordinary corner of the world, much less this outstanding publication.

The experience of learning more and more about the bustling southern Vermont art world by writing the Sover Scene each week has been extraordinarily positive, as has the response. E-mails from readers who connect with something they see herein or who offer informative tidbits about favorite topics are frosting on an already delectable cake.

Add to it that the editors with whom I work are as astute, congenial, respectful and intrepid as any I have ever encountered in my two decades of writing, and this first year of working with a family-owned, conglomerate-eschewing paper of such admirable integrity has been a true joy.

As the cards say, here's to many more!

Contact Annie Guyon at [email protected].

The creative courage of hospice: When art, aging and death make beautiful music together

Who knew Vermont had its own private army? It's not your average force but it's a mighty one, which summons a brand of fearlessness most of us assume we do not possess, conquering terrain the typical citizen dare not tread upon and looking death calmly in the face on a regular basis. It's called hospice, a brave brigade of folks who take time out of their lives to help make the experience of dying a peaceful, private and enriching process for patients, caregivers and loved ones.

And, like so many aspects of Vermont culture, hospice isn't one-dimensional, for its participants wear many hats, often integrating personal talents and passions into the remarkably generous, soulful work they do with families experiencing an imminent loss.

Filmmaker Camilla Rockwell, who is based in Burlington, is one of these intrepid artists, a visionary woman who has not only surmounted the trepidation so many of us have around the issue of death by becoming a hospice volunteer but who has also utilized her creative acumen to illuminate and celebrate what is a universal and ever-timely topic.

A 14-year veteran at Florentine Films, the production company of documentary guru Ken Burns, Rockwell set out on her own 10 years ago and her latest film, "Holding Our Own: Embracing The End of Life," looks at aging and dying through a bold yet compassionate lens, with a focus on how art can enhance the journey.

The film explores the remarkably reverent, meticulous portraits of the dying that renowned local fiber artist Deidre Scherer creates and the positively divine intonations of Hallowell, a Windham County choral group that devotes most of its musical artistry to hospice, following both artist and singers from bedside to bereavement.

A week from today, on Thursday, April 5, there will be a screening and discussion of the film at 8 p.m. at the Latchis Theater in Brattleboro, benefiting Brattleboro Hospice Services and featuring a live performance by Hallowell, which is itself an entirely transformative experience you don't want to miss.

When I asked Rockwell how she came to make a film about hospice work, she said "I just wanted to face aging and dying and all my anxieties around it, so I decided that, rather than running away from it, I'd just dive in and focus on it."

So she embarked on a hospice volunteer training program and, after learning of Scherer and Hallowell and how they augment the dying process with their visual and aural artistry, decided to make a documentary about this unusual fusion of life's most profound experience with creative expression.

"Just being able to work with Deidre and Hallowell made me feel more committed," Rockwell said. "I was thrilled about how they bring art and music into hospice services."

Scherer, a consummate craftswoman whose work deftly straddles the line between fine art and fabric mastery, is to sewing what Chuck Close is to painting. Her vibrant, exquisitely complex figures have been shown in fine art, science and craft museums around the world and, without question, merit scholarly appreciation from each discipline.

As the depth and detail of her work suggests, Scherer's path to the elderly took shape early on.

"I remember as a kid looking with wonder at my great-grandfather, who was in his 90s", she said. "Later, it became evident in my art that there was a pull there and I wanted to be open to my biases and fears, as well as a celebration, of aging."

Add to that influence the fact that her father - who is now 92 - was a diorama painter for New York's American Museum of Natural History and it's obvious that Scherer's very DNA is coded with artistic prowess, making this merging of skill and sentiment a perfect amalgam.

Already deeply honored by the invitation to sketch her often frail models, having Rockwell document this close relationship with her subjects has great meaning for Scherer, as does the overall collaborative process of working with fellow artists like Hallowell.

"It's about taking two art forms and using them for a similar purpose, to witness and be present during this amazing transition" she affirms, adding "I listen with my pencil."

The musical element spoke to Rockwell as well, so much so that she's now a member of one of the many sister hospice choirs that exist in Vermont, devoting her voice to making death more tranquil and positive.

Rockwell also had a personal impetus in becoming a part of hospice and sees it as a family philosophy. "When my father died, hospice came in and it made it much easier", she said. "My sister was also a hospice nurse and now my mother, who's 82, is a hospice volunteer."

Susan Parris, executive director of Brattleboro Hospice Services for the past 11 years, also came to hospice work through personal experience.

"It made a huge difference for my family," she attests. "I'd always had a huge curiosity about death and, after going on that journey with my father, I signed up for the volunteer training."

Brattleboro Hospice Services serves approximately 80 families a year with hospice care and more than 700 individuals with counseling. Founded in 1979, it offers everything from companionship to the dying and respite for loved ones, to loans of hospital beds and transportation to appointments.

The volunteer training at Brattleboro Hospice Services is, according to Parris, the most comprehensive in the country and presents various options to volunteers, including walking patients' dogs, cooking meals, emotional support for loved ones and end-of-life vigils.

Having been a beneficiary of hospice services when my mother passed way, I've experienced the tremendous strength and encouragement these folks bring to the families they serve.

I recall one very difficult night when I called the hospice at 3 a.m., out of concern for my mother's comfort. The on-call volunteer appeared 20 minutes later, bleary eyed but perceptibly sensitive to what we were enduring.

After increasing Mum's pain medication, she stood with her arms around us and said quietly "What you're doing for your mother - allowing her to be here, in her own living room, surrounded by her family - is the greatest gift you can give her … and you're doing a wonderful job."

It was exactly what we needed: Someone who'd done this before to basically pat us on the head and assure us that we were doing right by our mother.

I'd never experienced that potency of unconditional support and tenderness before. The only thing possibly missing from that life-changing experience was the caring creativity of someone like Scherer or the emotive tones of hospice singers such as Hallowell.

Kathy Leo, Hallowell's artistic director, describes the meaning of their work. "For us, it is a great honor to be invited into the intimate space of one's passing, of a family's well of grief and to be able to sing songs of healing and grace into this space."

Hallowell's richly layered original compositions, American shape-note songs, international harmonies and traditional hymns create a soothing environment for families, often instigating a release of emotion that may otherwise remain bottled up.

One of Hallowell's original songs, named after the choir, poignantly articulates the message they seek to impart:

I thought when someone died,
the spirit flew over furthest field.
Now I see death will leave behind
a scrap of light, a broken smile,
the remnants by which
I might be healed.

Rockwell captures her motivation with equal eloquence. "Our culture does not talk about death well and that is what this film is all about."

A world of women in film

   I guess I'm not your average feminist.

   Sure, I support the fundamental rights for which women have long fought to improve our collective quality of life. And I believe we should be afforded the same respect, remuneration and opportunities that society grants men. I understand the continuing necessity to pursue these rights through legislation, organizations and education. But, when it comes to art, I'm torn.

   Take the National Museum of Women in the Arts. It's a spectacular building in Washington, D.C., that houses a collection of works by master painters from the 16th century to the present, including pivotal pieces by such demigods as Cassatt, Kahlo and O'Keefe, along with lesser-known female artists whose outstanding work merits academic inclusion and public consideration.

   Though it is supported by major hitters in the art world and enjoys the well-deserved veneration of a long and impressive list of members, whenever I talk to artists and art patrons about it, most have either never heard of it or have never been - even regular Smithsonianites, and it's only a few blocks away from the Mall.

Franken offers pop-culture jujitsu on film

Alfred Hitchcock once said, "In feature films, the director is God; in documentary films, God is the director." Somehow I feel sure the subject of the recently released documentary, "Al Franken: God Spoke," would beg to differ. Regardless of one's spiritual or partisan leanings, it's fairly evident to anyone who knows the difference between a scud and a chad that Franken - pundit, comedic craftsman and potential 2008 U.S. Senate candidate - has a strong calling to scrutinize and satirize the inner workings of the political process.

"God Spoke" is the result of filmmakers Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus' intrepid shadowing of Franken as he trekked through a two-year period from book signings to rallies to forays into enemy territory, such as the 2004 Republican convention and the Bill O'Reilly show.

Since Franken is known for being an irreverent and outspoken champion of independent thought, it makes perfect sense that "God Spoke" is being screened as a benefit for another bastion of unconventional aplomb, WOOL 100.1 FM Black Sheep Radio, a delightfully eclectic indie station in Bellows Falls.

The event, which takes place Nov. 9 at the Bellows Falls Opera House, kicks off WOOL's annual capital campaign and dovetails with its membership drive, both of which will further develop the station's technology and train more members of the community to be DJs.

"WOOL is almost entirely funded by its membership and the occasional additional fund-raising effort like this gives us a real shot in the arm," said WOOL board member Gary Smith. "In addition, Franken's stint on Air America radio is now very popular, so the tie-in with community radio is a natural."

Known for a colorful comedic career that includes "Saturday Night Live" stardom and several top-selling books, including "Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them," Franken has immersed himself in the political realm as commentator, critic and, according to his Web site, potential future senator representing his home state of Minnesota.

Election hopes notwithstanding, his plainspoken humor has usually elicited bipartisan appreciation.

One of Franken's more memorable television triumphs was an ongoing skit with self-described former right-winger Arianna Huffington on Bill Maher's controversial television show "Politically Incorrect," in which he and Huffington literally became political bedfellows, covering the 1996 presidential campaign from a huge red, white and blue bed.

He, the scholarly liberal, and she, the erudite conservative, engaged in a pointed and astute faux-adversarial repartee, though Huffington has since gone over to what she describes as compassionate progressive populism.

Franken himself has always been firmly planted on the far left side of the mattress and has explained his current crusade with simple defiance. "I take what they say and use it against them. What I do is jujitsu. They say something ridiculous and I subject them to scorn and ridicule. That's my job."

Bold stuff from the same guy who created the endearingly fey, ceaselessly self-helping Stuart Smalley on SNL, who would gaze wide-eyed into his enabling mirror and tentatively declare "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh-darn it, people like me."

His creation of Smalley helped put Franken on the pop-culture map and that character continues to enjoy his own loyal, though probably woefully co-dependent, fan base.

With some heavy-hitting, creative industry clout behind it, "God Spoke" is likely to add to Franken's distinction as a politcult phenomenon.

Its executive producer is D.A. Pennebaker who, along with Hegedus, co-directed "The War Room," a brutally honest documentary on Clinton's 1992 campaign, but who more famously made "Don't Look Back," the compelling documentary that followed Bob Dylan on his 1965 tour of England.

Just about every side of the political spectrum is represented in "God Spoke" - from Walter Mondale, Henry Kissinger and Ann Coulter to Michael Moore, Al Gore and Stuart Smalley himself - pretty much guaranteeing that it'll be, if nothing else, thought-provoking.

Considering that the film is being shown on a very limited basis around the country, in venues such as NYC's Lincoln Center Cinema and San Francisco's Opera House Theatre, WOOL-FM has scored a major coup by bringing this film to Vermont.

As you pass through the lobby on the ninth, look for their information table and consider becoming a member, buying a cool black sheep T-shirt or just making a donation to help them continue their admirable advocacy of Vermont's innovative thought and independent ears.

Tickets are $10 and available at Bulls Eye Music and Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls and online at www.wool.fm.

Contact Anne Lawrence Guyon at [email protected].

Southern Vermont bursting with stimulating activities

It's only June 1 and summer in Southern Vermont is already bursting at the seams with thought-provoking plays, eclectic exhibits and some wonderfully wild workshops that will expand your mind and stimulate your senses. And while bigger towns have full rosters of all things artistic, our vibrant villages are equally engaging and make meandering through the Green Mountains yet more meaningful.

If you're after a dose of full-immersion art therapy, The Garden Gallery in Londonderry is the place to go, with walls as densely populated by paintings as the average Russian novel is with colorful characters. The collection here covers nearly every genre, from bold, oversized canvasses of rocky river gorges to exquisite portrait etchings.

Gretchen Abendschein's miniature, "Fallen Blossom," poignantly captures an amber hibiscus bloom as it inexorably spirals into the first phase of decay, its viscous oil pigmentation glowing against a mottled background masterfully built up by painterly layers of subtly-hued whites. In "Mist Ring" by Virginia Webb, a muted palette of ocher, mauve, grey and chartreuse balances lush minimalism with realist elements, a brushy bank of fog encroaching toward vague gables that jut out from behind. "Old Orchard," a large, vivid and vigorous oil by Jerry Pfohl, celebrates the chaotic beauty of mother nature, evoking an almost sculptural weight of hefty branches strewn across a grassy hillside after a windstorm, turning organic forms into poetic abstraction. Likewise, the geometric complexity of his wooden roller coaster in "Promises of Pleasure" has a distinctly Bauhausian dynamic of form and light.

A couple of hills away is the ever-enticing Weston Playhouse, which launches the season with "Cookin' at the Cookery," running from June 20-July 8. A lively tribute to consummate blues artist, Alberta Hunter, it includes beloved classics such as "Sweet Georgia Brown," gospel traditional "When the Saints Go Marching In" and Eubie Blake's "My Handy Man." Other upcoming productions include the Tony-winning satire "Urinetown," as well as the remarkable two-actor/15-role "Stones In His Pockets" about a couple of small-town Irish celebrity-wannabees.

Adults aren't having all the fun in Southern Vermont, though - not by a long slingshot. With all the amazing kids' activities and events I've been discovering, I can attest that children are not only our future, they are our extraordinarily creative present as well.

Through June 10 at The Vault in Springfield, there's an eclectic exhibit of fine photography in which several unusual techniques were employed, such as pinhole and solarization, as well as collaged "Legacy Tiles," all made by 11- to 18-year-old members of the RightFoot Club.

Serving as both parental panacea and rugrat recreation, there are also some fantastic summer art camps offering everything from printmaking, poetry and clay to jewelry, journaling and theater. Organizations to contact (ASAP, as they can fill up fast) are: The River Gallery Art School in Brattleboro, the Frog Hollow Crafts Center in Manchester, Winged Arts Studio in Londonderry, Great River Arts Institute in Bellows Falls and Main Street Arts in Saxtons River.

For imaginative adults, Main Street Arts is also offering a sapling sculpture workshop Saturday at the Saxtons River Recreation Area. Mark Ragonese will show students how to fashion useful items such as fences, trellises and tables from beautiful, sinewy branches.

On the music front, be sure to catch at least some, if not all, of the 7th Annual Roots On the River Fred Eaglesmith Weekend, June 8-11 in Bellows Falls. Fred and his band, the Flying Squirrels, will be joined by the illustrious likes of Willie P. Bennett, the Corb Lund Band, James McMurtry & the Heartless Bastards, Roger Marin, Syd Straw and Ingrid's Ruse. Produced by Flying Under the Radar. www.galleryatthevault.com

Southern Vermont's culture pulse

With a number of sizable and extremely vibrant cities in Southern Vermont and dozens of small but bustling villages linking them together, the lower half of the state is a culturally thriving, artistically rich and intellectually stimulating fountain of activity. When I moved here from San Francisco several years ago, I figured that the only way to fully quench my thirst for truly stellar exhibits, performances, films and lectures would be through frequent sojourns to the bigger cities dotting New England - at the very least Burlington and Northampton and, in all likelihood, Boston and New York as well.

Within weeks, however, it became delightfully apparent that this region boasts oodles of outstanding art, music and theater venues that keep even the most insatiable culture vultures completely content. I only find a need for urban forays once or twice a year and even then it's rarely urgent since there's so much happening right in my own backyard).

This spring brought an endless stream of entertainment that made winter darn colorful and mud-March at least a little more tolerable. The Windham, Bellows Falls' stylish, intimate music club, which brings both well-established and brazenly-budding talents to the stage, recently had its windows happily trembling during a rousing and resonant performance by Ingrid's Ruse, a local alternative folk-rock foursome.

Along with several moving, complex originals, they infused their fresh, muscular sound into classics such as Joni Mitchell's "For Free" and Jane's Addiction's "Jane Says," with Ingrid Ayer-Richardson's potent, lush vocals and Josh Maiocco's nimble, emotive lead guitar crafting gorgeous interpretations. Earlier in the season, Burlington's Starline Rhythm Boys graced a packed house with their buoyant blend of honky-tonk, rockabilly and bluegrass, telling often-wry, sometimes poignant tales with their own sparkling tunes as well as offering verdant homages to legends like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.

Likewise, the lengthy roster of upcoming events is equally enticing and sure to entertain, intrigue and sometimes challenge all those curious and creative minds out there.

In Bennington, from June 6-25, the Old Castle Theatre Company is offering Edward Albee's riveting "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," starring exceptional equity actors who bring a high-caliber professionalism to every production.

Brattleboro's Gallery In the Woods is exhibiting gorgeous Alebrijes carvings from Oaxaca, each one a stunningly vivid creature formed from copal wood and hand-painted with complex, jewel-like enamel designs. Run do not walk, though, as it's only up through June 4.

Just as that show comes to a close, a compelling peek into the permanent collection of the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester is opening, with a solid range of 19th- and 20th-century genres represented. Rich, regional landscapes by Grandma Moses, tranquil, Homer-esque scenes by Ogden Pleissner and exquisite still-lifes by one of this region's most skilled and celebrated painters, Luigi Lucioni, make this show a definitive must-see.

Southern Vermont is a veritable Mecca of all things creative, engaging, stimulating and fun and, with so much happening just over the hill or around the corner, we "Sover Citizens" are a mighty lucky crowd. So leave room in your social calendar for quenching your cultural thirst, because it's a giant pitcher of soul-nourishing sustenance out there.

Other scintillating summer events -

Roots On the River Music Festival & 7th Annual Fred Eaglesmith Weekend, June 8-11
Fred brings the usual suspects and a whole bushel of new sounds, including Crooked Still, Trish Murphy, James McMurtry & the Heartless Bastards, Roger Marin, Syd Straw and Frog Holler. Produced by Flying Under the Radar.

Saxtons River 4th of July Parade & Carnival, July 4
Über-quaint, relaxed, rural fair with something for everyone, from kiddie games and cotton candy, to Thai spring rolls and fire hose hockey, all culminating in a lovely community bbq and fireworks display at the local pond/picnic area.