Renowned artist and environmental designer Michael Singer along with architect and planner Charlie Cannon will host a series of community meetings inviting the public to share their vision of Brattleboro’s river front.
Sponsored by the Creative Communities' Council of Windham County and Marlboro College, The Singer-Cannon Team will work with other professionals to recommend environmental, structural and social guidelines for the kind of development that could happen along the river front at a site now owned by the Town, located behind the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center and Marlboro College's Technology Center.
Funded by an Entergy Vermont Yankee Environmental Stewardship Grant and grants from The Thompson Trust and the Vermont Arts Council, this project will identify innovative and creative ways of preserving the two historic structures on this parcel as well as protecting the ecosystem of the river bank and examining program possibilities.
In a process designed to involve as many community members as possible, public meetings will be led by Michael Singer and Charlie Cannon. Michael Singer is a leading voice working nationally addressing the integration of community needs, sustainable building principles, land-use planning, environmental responsibility, and aesthetic design. His work has been instrumental in transforming public art, architecture, landscape, and planning projects into successful models for urban and ecological revision and renewal. His longtime collaborator Charlie Cannon is an architect who seeks to understand how people interact with their environment and the use of design to build stronger, more sustainable communities.
On the first day of the community meetings, ideas about the opportunities and ways to use the river front will be collected; on the second day Singer and Cannon, working with their team, will present their thoughts on what they heard during the first meetings and how the community's input can shape the possibilities at this river front site. A final report with findings and feasibility will be presented in mid-August.
The community is invited to attend either one of the first meetings on Wednesday, June 13th. One will be held at 9am in 2 East at the Marlboro Graduate Center on Vernon Street. The other initial meeting will be held later that day at 7 pm at the River Garden. The following day, Thursday June 14th, the two meetings will reconvene at the same times to receive Michael and Charlie's thoughts. We are holding daytime and evening meeting to be able to involve as much of the community as possible.
For more information please contact Betsy Gentile at betsgentile@verizon.net.