April is here and it's time to get down at AVA's 2016 Silent Auction Party! Join your friends and neighbors for the festive event on Saturday, April 2, 5:30-8pm in our beautiful galleries. Advance admissions are still available and tickets can also be bought at the door, if space allows. Please read on to learn more about our most important fundraiser of the year.

Sixteen classes for adults and ten camps and classes for children and teens mark the opening of our Spring education programs. Shake off the winter blues with a workshop or a class and let us help you put the renewing energy of the season to creative purpose.

We look forward to seeing you soon,
~The Board and Staff of AVA Gallery and Art Center

AVA's 2016 Silent Auction

Free Preview and Early-Bird Bidding

     Through April 2, 11:00am - 5:00pm;

Silent Auction Party and Final Bids

     Saturday, April 2, 5:30 - 8:00pm

     Admission Fee

 

Click here to download the press release for AVA's 2016 Silent Auction. 



 
Mark your calendars now, and be sure not to miss AVA's 2016 Silent Auction!

All donated auction items -- artwork in a variety of media as well as donations from the business community, ranging from furniture to gift certificates -- will be available for preview and early-bird bidding for a week prior to the Silent Auction Party on Saturday, April 2.

Admission is free during the preview period, and anyone who wishes may place early-bird bids. There is an admission fee, however, to attend the festive Silent Auction Party, when the final bidding will take place. Items may be won during the preview period with bids exceeding fifty percent of the stated value.
 

AVA's 2016 Silent Auction is generously sponsored by:  
Geokon, Inc.  
  
Tyler, Simms & St. Sauveur, P.C.
 

Framed Vintage Posters from the Collection of Alfred T. Quirk
On Display through April 2 
 

An exhibition and silent auction of vintage posters from the collection of former AVA Board Chair Alfred T. Quirk takes place in AVA's Johnson Sisters Library through April 2. The exhibition will overlap with AVA's 2016 Silent Auction. Featuring a selection of beautifully framed classic posters, this exhibition/auction will conclude at 7:30pm on April 2 during AVA's Silent Auction Party. While no admission is charged to preview the exhibition or to make early-bird bids, there is an admission fee to attend the Silent Auction Party, when the final bidding takes place.

We extend our sincere thanks to Al Quirk, who, over the years, has so generously donated posters from his extensive collection to benefit our nonprofit organization.

AVA's Spring Classes for Adults, Children and Teens Are in Full Swing!

Adults     
4/2   Digital Photography Basics for Point-and-Shoot and DSLR Cameras
4/3   No-Drawing Painting in Pastel -- New!
4/18 Daytime Advanced Drawing
4/18 Mixed-Media Painting Exploration -- New!
4/19 Matter of Life and Verse: Writing Poetry -- Offered with the Dartmouth Aging Resource Center
4/19 Evening Basic Drawing
4/21 Copperplate Calligraphy
4/21 Visual Improvisation -- New!
4/23 One Photo, Four Stories -- New!
4/23 Painting the Many Moods of Water in Watercolor
4/25 Fiber Mondays: Sewing, Embroidery and More!
4/25 Paper Cuts: Papercutting as Illustration and Stencil Technique -- New!
4/27 Daytime Open Studio
4/27 Evening Open Studio
4/29 Figure Painting in Oils and Pastels -- New!


 
Jane Davies -- Visual Improvisation


Children and Teens Spring Vacation Camps and Classes 
4/11-4/15    A Celebration of Birds (Ages 5-8)              AVA members / Non-members
4/11-4/15    Inventors' Workshop -- New! (Ages 5-8)      AVA members / Non-members
4/11-4/15    Developing Your Drawing -- New! (Ages 9-12)    AVA members / Non-members
4/11-4/15    May the Force Be with You! -- New! (Ages 9-12)    AVA members / Non-members
4/11-4/15    Painterly Prints (Teens)                             AVA members / Non-members

4/20   Puppet Circus -- New! (Ages 5-8)
4/20   Lego Robotics (Ages 8-12)
4/21   Spring into Design -- New! (Ages 5-8)
4/21   Calligraphy for Kids (Ages 9-12)
4/22   Drawing (Teens)


Click here to see AVA's Spring and Summer Adult Classes and Workshops
Click here to see AVA's Spring and Summer Children's and Teens Classes and Camps:
  


Enrollment in AVA's 2016 Summer Art Camps Is Now Open 
June 27 - August 26
Our exciting, nine-week program features some of AVA's classic camps combined with a selection of brand new offerings. Camps will include partnerships with: the Dartmouth College Architecture Faculty, the Dartmouth College Biology Department, the Dartmouth College Computer Science Department, the Enfield Shaker Museum, the Upper Valley Land Trust and the Upper Valley Music Center.

We are also happy to announce a new program partnership with Crossroads Academy--with full-day Summer Art Camps offered for four weeks at Crossroads' campus in Lyme, NH.

Click here to learn more about AVA's 2016 Summer Art Camps.

AVA 2016 Camp Assistants and Interns
Application Deadline: April 15
 
AVA's diverse programs provide dedicated and capable high school and college students the opportunity to make an essential contribution to the work we do in the community, while also gaining skills as they learn about the art world.
Camp Assistants, generally high school students passionate about the visual arts, work directly with faculty members to create exciting and memorable Summer Art Camps for children and teens. The application deadline is April 15. Click here to download the 2016 Summer Camp Assistant application.

Interns, generally college students, help in multiple ways with our education, exhibition, and community arts programs. AVA internships are designed with the unique interests of each applicant in mind -  individuals seeking experience in a fine art gallery, arts education and community arts programming, or arts administration would be rewarded by their time at AVA. The application deadline is April 15. Click here to download the 2016 Internship Application.
 

Castellini, Goldenberg, Porter, Davies
April 23 - June 1
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 23, 5pm -- including a special guest performance by saxaphonist Fred Haas, accompanied by Billy Rosen, guitar.

Patty Castellini -- Recent Work 

Rebecca Lawrence Gallery
Gallery Talk: Thursday, May 12, 6pm
 

Roger Goldenberg -- Visual Jazz 

Clifford B. West Gallery
Gallery Talk: Thursday, April 28, 6:00pm
 

Torin Porter -- Forms of Life 

E.N. Wennberg Gallery
Gallery Talk: May 7, 4:00pm
 

Jane Davies -- Recent Work 

Elizabeth Rowland Mayor Gallery


 
AVA would like to thank Mascoma Savings Bank, generous sponsor of this exhibition.  
 

Search for AVA's new Executive Director is Underway

Following the announcement that AVA Gallery and Art Center's longtime executive director Bente Torjusen will be retiring at the end of 2016, AVA's Board of Directors secured the services of the executive search firm Arts Consulting Group (ACG) to lead a national search for a new executive director.

ACG is the leading provider of hands-on interim management, executive search, revenue enhancement, facilities and program planning, and organizational development services for the arts and culture industry.

AVA's operations and programs will not be impacted by the cost of the search, as it has been offset by donations from current and former board members. Additionally, ACG is providing its services including a generous in-kind contribution in support of AVA and the Upper Valley arts community.
 
 
Call for Teaching-Artists & Art Teachers: Arts Connect 2016
Deadline: April 15

Apply now for Arts Connect 2016, a graduate level course for teaching-artists and art teachers in arts-integration and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) at St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vermont. Applications must be submitted by 4 PM on April 15, 2016.  For more information about the course, take a look at the YouTube video:  Deputies of Delight.

Vermont teaching-artists and art teachers are invited to apply to participate in this fourth Arts Connect graduate program/professional development cohort, offered by VSA Vermont and a consortium of arts and education organizations. The course consists of online learning, in-person class meetings, local-to-you classroom observations, and selected readings.

Ten applicants will be selected to participate. Those who complete the course will receive 3 graduate level credits through Saint Michael's College; tuition costs are fully covered for all participants.

Interested?  Click here to download the Arts Connect 2016-17 Application. The application provides more class information and details.  
  
Poetry Reading to feature Vermont's Poet Laureate, Chard deNiord, and Paige Ackerson-Kiely  
April 29, 7pm, Free!

 
 
For years, numerous events offered at AVA have demonstrated that merging the visual arts with other mediums, such as the spoken word, music, and dance create particularly meaningful experiences. And we are delighted to continue to offer more programs in that vein.
 
This April, AVA is honored to mark the celebration of poetry month with a reading by Vermont's newly installed Poet Laureate, Chard deNiord. Last November, when deNiord was invited to read at AVA, he was also asked to choose a poet, preferably a Vermont or New Hampshire resident whose poetry he felt would merit broader exposure, to be part of the reading. His choice was Paige Ackerson-Kiely.
 
deNiord is the author of five books of poetry; the most recently published volume is Interstate (The University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015). A Professor of English, he teaches Creative Writing and English at Providence College. His book of essays and interviews with seven senior American poets (Galway Kinnell, Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Jack Gilbert, Ruth Stone, Lucille Clifton, Robert Bly), titled Sad Friends, Drowned Lovers, Stapled Songs, Conversations and Reflections on 20th Century American Poets, was published in 2012. His poems and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Harvard Review, and American Poetry Review. de Niord lives in Westminster, Vermont.
 
Ackerson-Kiely is the author of the poetry collections In No One's Land (Ahsahta, 2007), My Love is a Dead Arctic Explorer (Ahsahta, 2012), and other works of poetry and prose. She splits her time between Yonkers, NY, where she is the Associate Director of Sarah Lawrence's MFA in Writing Program, and Addison, Vermont.
 
Please join us in our galleries for this free poetry reading on Friday, April, 29 at 7:00pm.
  
 

Sunday Soup at AVA

Community, Food & Arts Funding in One!

Sunday, May 1, 3:00pm

$5 in Advance; $8 at the Door

 
AVA is excited to announce that we will be hosting quarterly Sunday Soup gatherings, beginning on Sunday, May 1 at 3:00pm. Initiated and led by Randall Szott, Head Chef at The Prosper Valley School in Pomfret, VT, these playful engagements promise great food, creative community and newly funded art projects! 
 
What is Sunday Soup*?
Sunday Soup is a grassroots model for funding small-to-medium sized creative projects through community meals. Basically, community members are invited to share in a meal of soup prepared by Szott, accompanied by Red Hen bread, for a nominal fee. The proceeds will be pooled as a grant, and at the conclusion of the gathering, will be awarded to support a developing, local art project. Artists seeking funding for their work should bring a printed, one-page description of their goal, with accompanying images, to the Sunday Soup event. All proposals will be tacked to the wall for participants to review. Every diner gets to vote. At the conclusion of the event, the proposal with the most votes receives the collected monies - no strings attached.

Why do it?
Sunday Soup is worth engaging with because it generates independent funding for the arts, sparks dialogue among local creatives, cultivates how we think about collaboration and community, and gives artists of all ages and abilities the opportunity to propose projects they might not otherwise be able to complete. For applying artists, the proposal process is more streamlined and fun than traditional grant application packages. For participating diners, the decision-making process is quick and democratic, and the outcome will reflect our local priorities. Sunday Soup is platform that gives everyone the opportunity to discuss ongoing projects with new audiences, meet new collaborators, and share ways of working.
 
* Program descriptions adapted from the Sunday Soup website.
Call for Sculptors: Kira's Garden at AVA 
Deadline: May 1
 


 Kira's Garden, a sculpture garden dedicated to the memory of Kira Fournier Schore (1950-2002) and her contribution to the arts community of the Upper Valley and located on the east side of AVA's Carter-Kelsey building, was given by her husband, Benjamin Schore in 2008.
 
New works are installed every summer and are on display for a full year.

Click here for complete information about Kira's Garden and how to submit your work for consideration. 
  
AVA Gallery and Art Center   
11 Bank Street
Lebanon, NH 03766
(603) 448-3117
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5pm, Open until 7pm on Thursdays
Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm, Saturdays 11am - 5pm
 
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