Artists to Watch 2018

SPECIAL FEATURE

Artists to Watch 2018
A Survey of Vermont Artists

One of the mandates of the Vermont Art Guide is to direct attention to those artists doing remarkable work. We thought it would be interesting to canvas a selection of guest curators and ask them, What artists are on your radar? We reached out to a couple of people working in various corners of the state and asked them to send us the names of a few artists and some words about why their work spoke to them. We didn’t care if they were exhibiting or represented by a gallery, or well-known already. All we cared about was that the artist was doing something worth noting. We also asked artists to tell us what they were doing. The “2018 Artists to Watch” was born.

Now, I have a small confession to make. I am something of a hoarder. I collect, with near pathological obsession, images and information about artists. I have roughly 1500 files on Vermont artists alone: gigabytes and gigabytes of files; stacks and stacks of exhibition postcards and catalogs. This mass of data affirms my belief that something special is happening in Vermont; that the state produces a remarkable, unending well of talent; that after two decades of watching art in the state, I can still be surprised, titillated, and excited.

We are pleased to present this survey of noteworthy artists. And while it is by no means complete, we think it is a great way to kick off a year of looking at and seeking out Vermont art. This collection of artists demonstrates the diversity of practice and approach in the state. A second part of this survey will appear in the following issue of Vermont Art Guide. If you would like to see work by these artists in person, the Vermont Arts Council will host two exhibitions featuring artwork by these artists.

—Ric Kasini Kadour, Editor

Each issue of Vermont Art Guide has over a hundred places to see art around the state. The full-color, printed magazine has artist and venue profiles as well as articles and news about Vermont Art. Our goal is to document and share the state’s incredible art scene. “Artists to Watch 2018” is a survey of contemporary Vermont artists that appears as special features in Vermont Art Guide #6 and #7 and in a two-part exhibition at the Vermont Arts Council.

GET THE MAGAZINE | EXHIBITION PART 1 | EXHIBITION PART 2

THE ARTISTS

EXHIBITION

“Artists to Watch 2018” is a survey of contemporary Vermont art in two exhibitions. Both exhibitions take place at the Vermont Arts Council Spotlight Gallery in Montpelier. “Artists to Watch 2018, Part 1” takes place March 9 to April 29, 2018. Read more HERE. “Artists to Watch 2018, Part 2” takes place May 4 to June 29, 2018.

GUEST CURATORS

Kelly Holt is an artist and independent curator in both the U.S. and Germany, as well as the Creative Director and Curator for Edgewater Gallery in Stowe. Recent curatorial projects include SiteTime: Cordwood in the Vermont Arts Council Sculpture Garden. She is an active member of Urban Nation Berlin as well as the Vermont Curators Group and the Vermont Creative Network.

Danny Lichtenfeld has been the Director of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center since 2007 and has extended the museum and art center’s operations from seasonal to year round and expanded the organization’s cultural and physical footprint in Brattleboro.

Sophie Pickens and Justine Jackson founded Northern Daughters gallery in Vergennes in June 2016. The gallery strives to be “a space that merges the aesthetic of blue chip galleries with the familiarity and authenticity of a Vermont general store.” Pickens and Jackson grew up in Bristol, where their mothers were both artists.

Stephanie Walker is an independent curator based in Waitsfield. After operating a gallery in Boston for several years, she returned to Vermont in the early 2010s and opened Walker Contemporary, which deals in contemporary art with clients across the country. She also works with artists on site-specific and site-sensitive projects. In addition, she was the Assistant Curator for “Exposed. 2017” at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe.

Mary Admasian, multidisciplinary artist and marketing consultant from East Montpelier, was the recipient of a 2016-17 Vermont Arts Endowment Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation Grant for her sculpture Weighted Tears, which was on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center May 2017-April 2018.

GET THE MAGAZINE | EXHIBITION PART 1 | EXHIBITION PART 2

Image (top):
Subirdia
by Hannah Morris
16″x24″
gouache, paper, glue, varnish on wooden board
2017

Image (center):
Puppets by Janet Van Fleet