We hope this eNewsletter finds you well. We've planned many exciting arts opportunities in the coming weeks, including "Work It, Baby" at The Mudroom, a Valley Improv performance, gallery talks by our currently exhibiting artists, classes, workshops and more!  
 
We look forward to seeing you soon,
~The Board and Staff of AVA Gallery and Art Center
 
Heifetz, Morel, Swett, Shullenberger, Joline
On Display through October 9



Jeanne Heifetz--Geometry of Hope

Amy Morel--Relationscape
Clifford B. West Gallery
Gallery Talk: Thursday, September 24, 5:30pm 
Click here to download the press release for Amy Morel--Relationscape

Slow Literature: The Narrative Tapestries of Sarah Swett
E.N. Wennberg Gallery
Dianne Shullenberger--Outside Influences
*



Remembering John Joline (1948-2015): Paintings and Drawings
Johnson Sisters Library, Second Floor
In This Issue
* Heifetz, Morel, Swett, Shullenberger, Joline
* A Celebration of Upper Valley Artists in Collaboration with Pompanoosuc Mills
* Adult Classes Starting Soon
* Children and Teen Classes Starting Soon
* Special Programs Starting Soon
* Live Storytelling: The Mudroom
* AVA's Annual Meeting
* Margarita's Noche Mexicana
* Valley Improv
* Call for Entries: En Plein Air at VINS
* Kyudo Free Demonstration and First Shot Program
* Call for Entries: Prince Street Gallery National Juried ShowAVA's Fall 2015 Winter 2016 Brochure
 
Follow-up Links
 
AVA Gallery and Art Center

11 Bank Street
Lebanon, NH 03766
(603) 448-3117
 
A Celebration of Upper Valley Artists in Collaboration with Pompanoosuc Mills
On Display through September 20
 
This exhibition is being held at Pompanoosuc Mills in East Thetford, VT. 
 
 
Adult Classes and Workshops Starting Soon  
 
Drawing the Figure with Robyn Whitney Fairclough, 10/3  
 
    
 
Children and Teen Classes Starting Soon  

9/16  Arms and Armor (5-8)  AVA member / non-member
9/16  Lego Robotics Club (9-12)  AVA member / non-member
9/17  Fall into Art (5-8)  AVA member / non-member
9/18  Homeschool Studio (All Ages)  AVA member / non-member
9/18  Oil Painting (Teens)  AVA member / non-member


 
 
    
 
Special Programs Starting Soon 
Click the Program Title for Complete Program Information

Art Lab--the imaginative art program for adults with special needs--began again on September 2 and is ongoing.

Senior Art--a program where seniors work on their own self-directed projects among a growing community of other enthusiastic seniors--began again on September 3 and is ongoing.

Art for Kids--the unique art program where children with chronic medical conditions make art with medical students from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College--began again on September 13 and is ongoing.

ART STOP!--a free afterschool program that encourages youths in grades 5-8 to take inspiration from AVA's ongoing exhibitions to create their own drawings, paintings, and sculptures on Tuesdays--begins again on September 15.

CAOS for Toddlers--a weekly program where children with caregivers make their own self-directed art projects using AVA's diverse assortment of art supplies--begins again on September 18.

CAOS (Community Arts Open Studio)--a weekly workshop where children of all ages with their caregivers make their own self-directed art projects using AVA's diverse assortment of art supplies on Saturdays--begins again on September 19.

 
   
 
Live Storytelling: The Mudroom
September 17, "Work It, Baby" 
 


The Mudroom, modeled after NPR's The Moth Radio Hour, continues to draw large crowds to AVA for lively evenings featuring talented storytellers, mesmerized audiences, live music, and locally sourced refreshments.

The Thursday, September 17 event will be on the theme "Work It, Baby." 

Food available from a Local Thai Kitchen
Beverages from Harpoon Brewery
Music by Etna Old Time Association 
 

 
AVA's Annual Meeting
September 22, 6pm


  
All AVA members are cordially invited to our Annual Meeting. Election of new officers and Board members will take place, and the proposed budget for fiscal year 2015-2016 will be discussed. There will also be a progress report on AVA's 3-D studies building. Please join us to learn more about the organization you so generously support! Refreshments will be served.

Bring the whole family! Our Children's Studio will be open with instructors and art supplies on hand to encourage creative explorations.

 
Margarita's Noche Mexicana on September 24 to Benefit AVA

    

Eat dinner at the Lebanon, NH Margaritas on Thursday, September 24, and a percentage of the proceeds from your meal will be donated to AVA!

¡Buen provecho!

 
Valley Improv
Saturday, September 26, 3:00pm

    

Since 2010, the improvisational comedy troupe Valley Improv, or Improv for short, has performed throughout the community in a variety of venues. In fact, the then fledgling troupe appeared at AVA in 2011 in a program that combined the literary, performing and visual arts. Now, Valley Improv and AVA have formed a partnership that will showcase myriad aspects of the creative process.

Improv's founder, Becky Byars of East Thetford, VT, states that her goals in forming this troupe were to create a fun family show and to establish a creative outlet for local talent. "We live life on the edge by creating comedy in the moment based exclusively on audience suggestions," says Becky, a longtime performer in children's theater and improvisational troupes nationwide.

The performance at AVA is free and open to the public. The audience is always engaged, sometimes even on stage. The comedy is fast-paced, energetic, upbeat, and family friendly.

Parents, bring your children to AVA's legendary Saturday CAOS (Community Arts Open Studio), then enjoy an Improv performance in our galleries!
 
 
Call for Entries: En Plein Air at VINS
September 26 - October 1



Come paint with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science to celebrate the remarkable beauty and diversity of the Ottauquechee River and the Connecticut River watershed, its surrounding forests and waterways, its vibrant communities, its important message of conservation, and its diverse bird life.

Click here for complete details about the festival.

Click here for complete details about the en plein air painting competition. 
 
Kyudo Free Demonstration and First Shot Program
Friday, October 16 & Saturday, October 17 



Kyudo means "the way of the bow" and is an ancient form of Japanese archery. It is also a meditation practice, often referred to as "Zen Archery." Practicing kyudo involves focusing one's attention and calming one's mind for the precise drawing of the bow and release of the arrow. It is a path to opening one's heart and mind to the natural dignity of being human, beyond the obstacles of ambition, doubt, and loneliness. Hitting the target is not considered important.

"You do not practice kyudo to polish your form. You practice kyudo to polish your heart."
           -Kanjuro Sendai
 
Those interested in learning kyudo can sign up for the "First Shot" Workshop, a daylong practice to be held on Saturday, October 17, 9am-4pm. "First Shot" gives the beginner an opportunity to practice the Seven Coordinations (Shichido), the basic form of kyudo as meditation. A portion of the proceeds from the "First Shot" Workshop will go to the Aya Itagaki Scholarship Fund at AVA. Adults and older teenagers are welcome to participate.
 
A Kyudo demonstration to introduce the "First Shot" Workshop will be offered on Friday, October 16, from 6-7pm. The Kyudo demonstration is free and open to the public.
 
Instructor: Ray Chin is the instructor of a small group of kyudokas who practice regularly in Thetford, VT. He was a student of Kanjuro Shibata Sendai, a bow maker and kyudo master whose lineage spanned twenty generations of master bow makers. Shibata Sendai died in October 2013.
 
Click here to enroll in the October 17 Kyudo -- First Shot Program. 
    
 
Call for Entries: Prince Street Gallery 2016 National Juried Show
Deadline: October 31 

Prince Street Gallery in NYC has an open call for their 2016 National Juried Show.

Juror: Graham Nickson

Graham Nickson, born in England, received his Masters degree from London's Royal College of Art, and has resided in New York since 1976. He was the recipient of a Harkness Fellowship at Yale; a Prix de Rome; a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Ingram-Merrill. He is represented by Betty Cuningham Gallery in New York, and is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art; Harvard's Fogg Art Museum; The Albright Knox Gallery, and many more. He has been Dean of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture since 1988, where he originated the internationally renowned "Drawing Marathon".