Poetry Reading Thursday in Guilford

I am pleased to invite you to my second collaborative reading with Tom Ragle, of Our Favorite Poems, this Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 pm at Guilford Community Church.  Admission is free, with donations covering the modest cost of our use of the church for this event.

Last May, we read a program of sonnets, and decided this time that we’d each read some of our favorite poems, and see what correlations emerge.  

Tom is reading a number of English poems, from the Elizabethan era to the early 20th century, including an interesting grouping of three different treatments of “Come live with me and be my love,” by Marlowe, Raleigh and Donne.  The Romantics are also represented, as well as poems of Americans Walt Whitman and Robert Frost.


American Legion Post 5 Honors Soldiers Killed in Action in Vietnam: 2LT Stanley Baker

On Saturday, November 21, Brattleboro’s American Legion Post 5 will honor local soldiers killed in action during the Vietnam War.

A ceremony, at the post home on Linden Street, will include students from Brattleboro Union High School reading the names and a brief biography of each of the 11 men, followed by a brief address by Dr. Robert Tortolani, a combat battalion surgeon during the Vietnam War.

The soldier biographies, along with family photos, will be posted in succession on the Brattleboro Historical Society in the days leading up to the November 21 event.

Today we remember 2LT Stanley Martin Baker.


Weekend Creativity Series – Basic Ballet with Svetlana Todinova

I enjoy watching experts explain tips and pointers about their craft, even when it isn’t my field of expertise. It can be useful and thought-provoking to hear about how other artists think about how they approach their work.

There is something similar in the way professionals, be they dancers, painters, animators, craftspeople, stone carvers, or scientists, think about their skills and professions.

Here, Svetlana Todinova of the Moscow Ballet walks us through what we all need to become ballerinas. As an animator and someone who thinks about drawing gestures, I find her discussion of muscles, weight, and posing to be very interesting and useful.


Ricardo Nava: Collagraphs for Sculpture – Exhibition Opening Reception and Book Launch

Collagraphs for Sculpture

After his recent sculpture shows at Brattleboro Museum and Helen Day Art Center (VT) and Governor’s Island (NY), Rodrigo Nava debuts at C.X. Silver Gallery his series of collagraph prints, a book accompanying this exhibition, and selected sculpture in new installations inside and out front of the gallery.  

Inspired by textures and shapes of vessels and other objects of his home and studio, Nava sees these collagraphs “as much a part of my oeuvre as the sculptures themselves” and values both their relic-like qualities of uncertainty and imperfection as remnants of his processes and experiences and the sculptural qualities of way the collagraph plate is prepared.


Diwali New Year Festival of India Downtown at 118 Elliot, Sun. Nov 15 1-3pm

Asian Cultural Center of Vermont (ACCVT) presents Diwali New Year Festival of India, Nepal and Sri Lanka downtown at 118 Elliott Art Space, Brattleboro, VT (across from the Fire Station). All ages welcome.

Ras Garbha community dance to join in, learn (no prior experience needed), or watch. Trying on a sari. Henna decoration. Making paper Diwali lanterns. Community art: making a rangoli, an auspicious circular design usually done in sand but also (and in this case) done with flowers, pine cones, leaves, and dry beans and lentils (find some of these to bring to the festival – for flowers, bring ones that have a lot of petals like chrysanthemums – traditional flower petal colors are white, red and yellow.)


Shoppell’s House Plans

1887:

S.H. Sherman’s new house on High street is making rapid advancement, and when completed will be one of the finest residences in town. The plan is Shoppell’s No. 300. It will be the first building in town to be warmed by the Gurney hot water system.

https://www.mitchellspublications.com/rep/arch/shoppell/toc/

Reviews mention that these books of Victorian-era house plans are quite popular among restorers.


Antje Duvekot and The Stockwell Brothers at The Windham Ballroom on Saturday, November 14

Next Stage Arts Project, in collaboration with Twilight Music, Popolo and WOOL91.5, presents contemporary folk singer/songwriter Antje Duvekot and newgrass quartet The Stockwell Brothers at The Windham Ballroom in Bellows Falls, VT on Saturday, November 14 at 8:00 pm.

Antje Duvekot is a German-born, American-raised singer/songwriter whose songs have been critically praised for their hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism and street-smart romanticism. Her bicultural upbringing and relative newness to English have helped shape her unique way with a song, giving her a startlingly original poetic palette. They are the keys to the powerful, even revolutionary, empathy that informs everything she writes. She has won some of the top songwriting awards including the Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Competition, the Kerrville Folk Festival Best New Folk Award and the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act.


On Exhibit! at Brooks Memorial Library in November

On Exhibit! at Brooks Memorial Library in November.

Mezzanine Walls above MAIN FLOOR: Brattleboro Camera Club, “Getting from A to B,” photographs illustrating how we move from one place to another in our daily lives.

SECOND FLOOR-CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATORS CASE: Seasonal exhibit by Brattleboro illustrator John Steven Gurney, Over the River and Through the Woods and The Night Before Christmas.

MEZZANINE-LOCAL HISTORY ROOM WINDOWS: left Abenaki artifacts collected locally; right Glass and ceramic vases from the Loud Collection.


Get Help Writing Your College Essay at Brooks Memorial Library

Get Help Writing Your College Essay on Saturday, November 14, 1 pm at Brooks Memorial Library. Julia Taylor, teacher at the Compass School, will help lead attendees through the Common Application, brainstorm essay ideas, look at example essays, and help you begin your own essay.

Please bring a laptop, smartphone, chrome book or alternative typing device if you have one! The Library has a few laptops or iPads to loan, but if you have your own that would be better for you.


Vermont Jazz Center Presents Samba-Jazz in “A Tribute to Jobim”

On Saturday, November 14th at 8:00 PM, the Vermont Jazz Center presents “A Tribute to Jobim,” a performance by three leading artists from Brazil, all of whom had direct connections with Antônio Carlos Jobim who is widely regarded as “one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century.” The VJC presents pianist/musical director, Grammy Award-winning Hélio Alves, Grammy Award-winning vocalist Maucha Adnet (who for 10 years sang with maestro Jobim) and Grammy Award-winning drummer, Duduka Da Fonseca. They will be supported by first-call bassist David Finck in an evening of beautiful Bossa Novas and exhilarating sambas.

To this day, Antônio Carlos Jobim’s compositions continue to serve as a musical bridge between Brazil and the United States. He is best known for penning How Insensitive and Wave but, by just scratching the surface of his tremendous compositional output, we discover other gems such as A Felicidade, Triste, Agua de Beber, Chega de Saudade, Aguas de Março just to name a few. The composer first became known through his association with the Brazilian intellectual, poet, bon vivant and diplomat Vinicius Moraes who hired the then little-known pianist to write music for his play/movie “Black Orpheus.”


BCTV Schedules For The Week Of 11/09/15

BCTV channel 8 schedule for the week of 11/9/15

Monday, November 9, 2015

1:00 am Building a Vibrant, Inclusive Vermont

2:30 am Brattleboro Storm Soccer: 10/9/15 vs Wilmington

3:30 am Rivergarden: Ten Gallon Swing 6/24/15

4:35 am TED Talks: BJ Miller: What really matters at the end of life

5:00 am Vermont Workers Center: Salvation Farms


Spanish for Travelers Class and Free Spanish Classes

Elissa McLean of Express Fluency is offering two free Spanish classes in November. The goal of these classes is to introduce participants to a different kind of language class that allows participants to acquire language effortlessly. We invite you to come experience this for yourself on:

Saturday, November 21st from 9:30-10:30am at Fit Body Boot Camp on Route 5 in Westminster, VT and

Monday, November 23rd from 7pm-8pm in Brattleboro– 73 Main Street, Suite 1.


Weekend Creativity Series – Mark Kistler

Commander Mark will teach you to draw in 3-D. Just learn the magic words.

Mark Kistler had a few TV shows and books aiming to teach anyone to draw in three dimensions. He’s fun, funny, and a good teacher, plus he has his nifty space suit fully-outfitted with pens, pencils, and markers.

This is an early show, The Secret City, from Maryland Public television. Grab some paper and pencils and follow along. You’ll learn something by the end of the hour.


Informational Meeting for River Gallery School Trip to Spain

Brattleboro — The River Gallery School in Brattleboro will hold an informational meeting on Thursday, November 12, for those interested in participating in its April art trip to Andalucia, Spain. The meeting will take place from 6:00-7:30 pm the art school at 32 Main Street in Brattleboro.

The River Gallery School tour will includes a week of making art and exploration of the Spanish countryside. Pleine air painting sessions will be led by Mary Giammarino, a frequent instructor at River Gallery School workshops and a well known local artist.

The trip will be held from April 2 to 9, 2016 and led by Cicely Carroll of Travel Fever Tours in Putney.


Tickets Going Fast! Tony Barrand & Keith Murphy in Concert

TICKETS GOING FAST! Tony Barrand & Keith Murphy in Concert, November 6, 7 PM, Brooks Memorial Library Main Room. Please join us for a Friends of the Library benefit concert with renowned folk musicians Tony Barrand and Keith Murphy at the Library on Friday, November 6 at 7 PM. Tony Barrand and Keith Murphy will sing dramatic ballads, romantic and funny songs about domestic life and marriage and “Jubilee Jim Fisk,” a song about Brattleboro’s own Jim Fisk, notorious Robber Baron of the Gilded Age. .

Advance tickets are available at the Library’s Main Circulation Desk, or at the door on the evening of the event. Ticket price is $10 and $5 for children under 10. Sponsored by the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library. For more information email the Library at info@brookslibraryvt.org or call (802)-254-5290 ext 0. 


Brattleboro Museum & Art Center Seeks Original Artwork and Writing from Vermont Teens – Submissions Now Being Accepted

BRATTLEBORO, VT — The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) is now accepting submissions for the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a prestigious national recognition initiative for teenagers with exceptional artistic and literary talent. Vermont students in grades 7-12 are invited to submit art and writing entries in dozens of categories, including ceramics, digital art, painting, photography, poetry, humor, science fiction, personal essay/memoir, and more. The submission deadline is December 16, 2015. Students and teachers seeking guidelines or additional information are encouraged to visit www.brattleboromuseum.org or to contact Sarah Freeman at 802-257-0124, ext. 102 or sarah@brattleboromuseum.org.


Paint Parties Right Here in Downtown Brattleboro

Paint Parties right here in Downtown Brattleboro

Looking for a fun evening activity? You can join us for a fun night in a relaxed atmosphere, to create your own piece of art. No experience necessary. Teacher is able to take a complex painting and break it down into easy steps. Bring out your inner artist, even if you paint like a 2yr old. 🙂

The evening cost $35 per person. We must restrict students to age 15+. This is a BYOB event, so no pressure to buy a dinner or drinks at restaurant prices. There are several nights and pictures to choose from. You could even book a private party, email for details.


NBC’s Today Show is Coming to Brattleboro!

BREAKING NEWS! NBC’s Today Show is coming to Brattleboro! Thursday, November 12th at 9pm
Celebration begins at 8:30pm

Today Show meteorologist Al Roker is trying to set a Guinness World Record for reporting the weather in all 50 states in 7 days. And guess where he’ll be in Vermont? You guessed it the One and Only Brattleboro!

Al will be in town on Thursday, November 12th and he’ll be using the Brooks House as the backdrop for his forecast. We want to give him a big Brattleboro welcome – please come downtown and join in the fun! Al is scheduled to roll into town at 9pm, but the welcoming celebration will begin in Pliny Park at 8:30pm. (Yes, he’ll be here in the evening.)