Deep Roots for the Creative Soul

I love the name Artistree. It reminds me of old growth—a place where the intrepid artist can explore wild ideas and beautiful realities in a firmly rooted community of people who endeavor to express themselves creatively. Maybe this is why Kathleen Dolan (Artistree’s visionary founder) chose this name for the community arts center and gallery she opened in Woodstock a decade ago.

Artistree’s public mission describes the organization as “a non-profit committed to making creative expression and its appreciation accessible to our community.” They do this by offering arts and crafts classes to people of all ages and abilities. Whether you like to sing, dance, play instruments, bend yourself into a yoga pretzel, draw, paint, sculpt or test your eyesight with needlepoint; Artistree is designed to provide resources to help you express yourself creatively. They even offer a class that uses pastels as a path toward personal growth.

(If you will indulge my tree metaphor a little longer), the people who work with Artistree seem to become grafted to the Artistree trunk like sturdy branches that enhance the beauty of the whole. For example: Annette Compton, a well known local artist who recently succumbed to cancer, was a regular teacher. Annette was a gifted painter who developed quite a following at Artistree and her death did not end her contributions to the arts center. Thanks to her mother, Trish Compton, Annette’s legacy continues to support the center she loved in life through a scholarship program. According to Kathleen, one of the goals of Artistree is to “make it so that nobody is turned away.” The contribution left behind in Annette’s honor helps achieve this goal.

Artistree has been stimulating minds young and old in Woodstock since 2003 and will be celebrating their ten-year anniversary by moving to a new location in South Pomfret. By the end of the summer of 2014, they will be located in a dramatically renovated dairy barn directly behind the Teago General Store. Kathleen believes the new space will be “a much more accommodating space for art classes.” You might even say it has been a treemendous success..or then again, you might not.

The Green Mountain Horse Association (GMHA) has been around since 1926. If you said this about a trucking business, your mind might travel back over the years and wonder what the trucks looked like back then.  Trucks, like everything in the modern world, have picked up the pace to race around the clock. Everything moves at full gallop on a 24/7 schedule.  Horses, though, have evolved over 50 million years and change comes more slowly in nature.  Somehow I find it comforting to watch a horse extend its head and nip a bunch of grass beside a brook and take time to savor the taste.

I grew up on a small ranch outside of Tucson, Arizona where we raised Quarter Horses and much of our own food. My experiences on the ranch and in 4H Club (my brothers and I were members for years) instilled in me an appreciation for the rhythm of living things moving mindful only of the moment. GMHA offers us an opportunity to change our pace to the particular rhythms that surround horses.  

Located on Route 106, past the South Woodstock store, GMHA is an integral part of the Woodstock community. In fact, the Tuck School of Business recently completed a study on the impact GMHA has had on its local economy, and found that they had injected a whopping $4.2 million per annum through direct impacts (visitors eating and shopping locally) as well as indirect impacts (the contractors brought in for upkeep of the property).

The true impact, or the one that matters most to me, is the chance GMHA gives to local children and families and those from nearby states and countries (well, really just one country—Canada) visit GMHA to experience working hands-on with horses.  Vermonters might take country life for granted, but those from more crowded places may not have the resources to board and raise their own horses (it should be noted that GMHA does not have horses, so children bring their own).  In addition to teaching children riding skills, GMHA shows them how to care for a horse.  They learn basic grooming, nutrition, and veterinary care through programs like the Junior Horsemanship Clinic.  Horses are an expensive hobby, so GMHA provides a variety of scholarships for qualifying riders.

GMHA is a great place to stop or plan an afternoon of fun for the family. There is no entrance fee to watch the shows, so you can hang out for the day and watch the horses and riders go through their paces.  You’ll be able to share in a moment or two petting the horses or talking to the riders while they are at rest. You can bring a brown bag snack, but GMHA has a sweet little café, which is open for events.

GMHA has something going on at all times of year, even winter, since horse lovers passions don’t wax and wane with the weather.  GMHA has many events planned, so you’ll want to check out their schedule. From my perspective, the must-see events are the Team Jumper Challenge and Lobster Bake in July (no the lobster isn’t local) and Chef’s Night (yes, they are local), and sample sumptuous fare.

GMHA’s Mission: GMHA is dedicated to providing and maintaining opportunities for educational and competitive activities for diverse equestrian disciplines; emphasis is placed on equestrian trails preservation, horsemanship and youth education.  

After graduating from Dartmouth, Serena Nelson first worked with the Hopkins Center for the Arts. She spent two summers at her local opera company before taking a job with the Pentangle Arts Council. She was hired to work in the Pentangle administrative offices but her background and skills quickly earned her a place on the production team for the summer’s performance of Oz. As stage manager, Serena helped Director RLee Adams coordinate the exuberant energy of a multi-generational cast.

Serena continues to work in the administrative offices and glows when you ask her about her experiences with Oz. Part of her excitement is born from the spark of creative talent meeting need. The other part is clearly the kindling of her gift working with children eager to fire their own imaginations.

At the heart of the Pentangle mission is a commitment to encouraging “accessible multi-generational arts experiences and the participation of both current and future audiences.” Pentangle began, in 1974, as an arts council serving a five-town area with Woodstock at its center and now reaches a diverse community including Barnard, Bridgewater, Reading, Pomfret, Quechee, Killington, Hartford, Hartland, Sharon, Bethel, Plymouth, and beyond.

Pentangle provides a local venue where we can share rare performance experiences, quality films of general and limited distribution, concerts provided by gifted musicians and consciousness-expanding education series. The scope of entertainment ranges from simple community events like the annual snow-sculpture festival (Vermont Flurry) and summertime concerts on the Village Green (Brown Bag Concert Series) to a performance by Judy Collins at Christmas. The Council works with area schools and non-profits, providing programming for several thousand school kids each year through the ‘Dana Emmons Arts in Education Program’.

Pentangle and the arts are where I dedicate most of our firm’s financial gifts dedicated to community support. The premise behind so many spending decisions today, both public and private, is based an objective criteria of a ‘dollars and cents’ economic benefit. The educational emphasis in school today on test-driven ‘Three R’s’ is missing one important ‘R’; the one in ‘aRts’.

As I see it, the greatest contribution of our local Pentangle Arts Council is the opportunity it offers local talent to explore and expand their abilities and to communicate personal creative vision. Another incalculable benefit is broadening and deepening artistic experiences in a world in need of a muse.

I believe the most quantifiable thing in life is the quality of existence and our human need and desire to share it. Art enables us to communicate the infinite variety of ways we experience the world in the isolated shells of ourselves. Art, in its many forms, expressed—in shades, sounds, shapes and words—builds bridges of understanding that defy destruction.