Established in 1922, the Southern Vermont Arts Center provides cultural, educational, and creative opportunities for all ages. Situated amid over one-hundred acres of pristine forest in the heart of the Green Mountains, SVAC offers a first class experience in a traditional New England setting. With a rotating calendar of member and guest exhibitions, the largest sculpture park in Vermont, and a busy schedule of dynamic classes for all ages, the Southern Vermont Arts Center has something for everyone.
In late Summer 2019, Ric Kasini Kadour will guest curate an exhibition in the Elizabeth De C. Wilson Museum & Galleries at the Southern Vermont Arts Center. Kadour starts from a place that society’s relationship to art is broken and sees contemporary Regionalism as a curatorial practice that mends that relationship. Kadour will present examples of Vermont art in a way that engages the viewer in a conversation about the role art plays in Vermont communities and in the lives of Vermonters. A series of panels will bring artists, academics, curators, writers, and the general public together for a conversation about how regionalism can inform art’s relationship with society.
“Unlike most countries, the United States is unique in that it eschews placing a regional identity on art,” said Kadour. “In our failure to do so, we are missing an opportunity to grapple with the relationship between art and who we are as a people. In the pages of Vermont Art Guide, I often try to make the case that Vermont art is very much a thing.”
“New England Regionalism has always been in conjunction with Vermont Art. The basis of Regional Vermont Art is the reason the Arts Center exists today. Almost a century ago, a collaborative of many prominent regional artists, business men and women established SVAC,” said Gallery Director and Collections Manager Anna-Maria Hand. “The idyllic setting of the rural Vermont landscape offered a transformative experience and opportunity for artists seeking to work outside the social, political, and economical changes that were present at the time. The collaboration of like-minded artists and the picturesque landscape provided a renewed connection with nature for these artists and it continues to do so. Bringing art and artists together in this atmosphere to create discussion is one of the best ways to learn and educate. By asking these questions and by creating this conversation in the form of an exhibition, Ric exemplifies and re-establishes the meaning of Vermont Regionalism as well as the Vermont Regional Artist.”
In asking the question, What is Vermont art?, Kadour works to illustrate how Regionalism can frame and deepen art’s relationship with the rest of society. “Art is able to add poetry, emotional intelligence, and imagination to that civic conversation, but, in order for it to do so, we need to feel that art speaks to, for, and about us, that it is a part of our community. We need to have some ownership of it. That is why regionalism is important and that is the point I am trying to make with this exhibition.”
Questions?
Learn more about the Southern Vermont Arts Center and contact the museum via their website. Questions about the exhibition and program may be directed to Ric Kasini Kadour via email.
How to get involved?
Artists who wish to be involved are encouraged to send an email to info@kasinihouse.com, join the Vermont Art Guide Artist Database, follow the Southern Vermont Arts Center and Kasini House on Facebook to get updates and information about programs and artist opportunities.