MANCHESTER — Over the weekend, the galleries and grounds of the Southern Vermont Arts Center were abuzz with activity. The extensive parking lot was overflowing, and cars lined the top of the long drive.
Outdoors, children were running and playing, families were strolling about, several guests were having picnics, the benches were full of couples, and lawn chairs had been set up by the trees.
By the entrance, live music and entertainment was being played. Two youngsters streaked out the front door and into the sunlight, laughing – slices of pizza flapping in their hands.
Indoors, a jangling cacophony of sounds greeted guests. Pizza and other refreshments were being served at a long crowded table to the left, and people were everywhere.
The spacious entranceway was brimming over with people, and the sounds were joyous – visitors were talking eagerly over one another, children were calling out in greeting to their friends and teachers, and youngsters were pulling their family members eagerly through the galleries in search of their exhibitions.
This merry gathering of hundreds was the making of Erin Kaufman, Manager of Education at Southern Vermont Arts Center.
She waved merrily to attendees as she scurried about behind the refreshment table.
The art from more than 30 schools was showcased in the Art from the Schools exhibition, and included both static and interactive art. Drawings, paintings, and sculptures lined the walls – in some cases even hanging from the ceilings. Nearly every inch of accessible space was utilized, including the walls to the three level staircase.
Massive and collaborative installations hung everywhere.
The Mountain School at Winhall had a tree secured to the wall. From it dangled fish, just caught on lines. Above it, soared an eagle – and massive colorful flowers adorned the walls.
The Vermont Arts Exchange displayed the work of several schools on the back wall of one of the galleries. It was covered with three dimensional people, floating through the skies – some of them suspended by balloons, others appeared to be swimming through the sky.
In a downstairs room, was a luminary exhibition created by the fourth and sixth graders from Floodbrook School in Londonderry. The luminary exhibition was a tribute to the influence of several well-known artists, and the exhibit was entitled, "The Moon Colony Room."
People entered and exited, closing the door gently behind them. Inside, two apartment-like towers stood to the right – each with windows that could be peered through. Visitors stood, like peeping Toms, engaging with the scenes through the softly lit windows. On the roof stood a sign, Welcome to the Moon (for incoming colonists).
The room was also aglow with nearly a hundred other luminaries – paper luminaries, glass luminaries, punch hole luminaries – all from the School’s first ever Lantern Festival.
In one of the upstairs galleries, student Markus Berry stood next to a series of five huts – each constructed in miniature out of natural materials.
“This is mine,” he said of the yurt, teepee, wattle and daub, adobe, and wigwam. “It’s different huts from all over the globe. This is from Mongolia. This is wool and I had to sew it myself. And, this is the wattle and daub. You would put four stakes in the ground. You would weave between them with trees or with anything, and then you would slap mud on the inside. Mud on the inside. Mud on the outside. Mud everywhere. Then you would make the top – and brush, leaves, tree branches, anything you find – and, boom. There you go – let it dry and you have a hut. The wattle and daub.”
Berry was in fourth grade. His sister, Aden Berry, was in seventh. Both Berrys contributed to the homeschool section of the exhibition, taught by their grandmother, Carol Berry. Carol Berry, now retired, was the former art teacher for the Long Trail School.
Downstairs, two long tables had been pulled together and covered with black exhibition cloths. The tables were covered with upcycled books. Each had been altered from a book into a piece of three dimensional art. This was the work of Fisher Elementary School students.
“So clever,” exclaimed a woman examining them closely. “So clever.”
Art from the Schools covers art from Arlington Memorial Middle High School, Burr and Burton Academy, Cavendish Town Elementary School, Currier Memorial School, The Dorset School, Fair Haven Union Middle and High School, Fiddleheads Farm and Forest School, Fisher Elementary School, Flood Brook School, Homeschools, The Lawrence School for Young Children, Long Trail School, Manchester Elementary Middle School, Maple Street School, Mettawee Community School, Mount Anthony Union Middle School, Mountain School at Winhall, Northshire Day School, Poultney High School, Pownal Elementary School, Red Fox Community School, School of Sacred Heart Saint Francis de Sales, Shaftsbury Elementary School, Southwestern Vermont Supervisory Union Art Therapy Program, Sunderland Elementary School, Stratton Mountain School, Village School of North Bennington, Vermont School for Girls/New England School for Girls (VPI), West River Montessori School, and Woodford Hollow Elementary School.
The exhibition will be on display at Southern Vermont Art Center until May 26.
Mother Myrick’s Confectionery, Mulligan’s Restaurant, Sam and Kim’s Wood Fired Pizza, Willoughby’s Depot Eatery, and Wilcox Ice Cream contributed to the refreshments served at the opening celebration.