Dartmouth professor and art historian Jane Carroll will consider how political power has been projected through art in a talk at Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro on January 6. Her talk, “Projecting Leadership: Art Used for Political Ends," is part of the Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays lecture series and takes place at 7:00 p.m.

Smart rulers have long known that art can create myths more powerful than reality. Carroll will examine such art, from Rome to recent American examples.

Carroll is Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth College, specializing in Medieval and Renaissance art.

The Vermont Humanities Council’s First Wednesdays series is held on the first Wednesday of every month from October through May, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. Talks are held at Brooks Memorial Library.

First Wednesdays is also presented in eight other communities statewide: Burlington (at Fletcher Free Library); Manchester (at First Congregational Church, hosted by Mark Skinner Library); Middlebury (at Ilsley Public Library); Montpelier (at Kellogg-Hubbard Library); Newport/Stanstead, Quebec (at Goodrich Memorial Library and Stanstead College, in alternating months); Norwich (at Norwich Congregational Church, hosted by Norwich Public Library and Norwich Historical Society); Rutland (at Rutland Free Library); and at St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. The program is free, accessible to people with disabilities and open to the public.

Upcoming Brattleboro talks include “Horses Like Lightning: A Story of a Passage through the Himalayas” with Dartmouth anthropologist Sienna Craig on February 3; “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” with award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns on March 3; and “To Live or Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years in Pakistan” with journalist Nicholas Schmidle on April 7.

The Vermont Department of Libraries is the statewide underwriter of First Wednesdays. First Wednesdays is also supported by The Preservation Trust of Vermont.

Brooks Memorial Library is sponsored by Entergy Vermont, Friends of Brooks Memorial Library, and Windham World Affairs Council of Vermont.

For more information, contact Brooks Memorial Library at 802.254.5290 or contact the Vermont Humanities Council at 802.262.2626 or info@vermonthumanities.org, or visit www.vermonthumanities.org.

The Vermont Humanities Council is a private nonprofit working to bring the power and the pleasure of the humanities to all Vermonters—of every background and in every community. The Council envisions a state in which every individual learns throughout life—a state in which all its citizens read, reflect, and participate in public affairs.

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