The warm sun and blue skies bring a surge of creative energy to the Upper Valley. Be like the birds above our front doors and fly down to AVA to get involved!

Our next exhibitions, which will open on April 23, will be followed by a gallery talk by exhibiting artist Roger Goldenberg on April 28; by a poetry reading by Vermont's Poet Laureate Chard deNiord on April 29; and, on May 1 by Sunday Soup--a new, local initiative for community based arts-funding on May 1.

In addition, 29 classes are scheduled to begin this month, covering topics from the traditional to the contemporary. Read on for more information.

With so much to share, we hope to see you soon,
~The Board and Staff of AVA Gallery and Art Center

Castellini, Goldenberg, Porter, Davies
April 23 - June 1
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 23, 5pm -- including a special guest performance by saxophonist 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 these exhibitions.  
 


AVA's Spring Classes Are in Full Swing!

Adults      
4/18 Daytime Advanced Drawing
4/18 Mixed-Media Painting Exploration -- New!
4/19 Matter of Life and Verse: Writing Poetry FULL with the Dartmouth Aging Resource Center 
4/19 Evening Basic Drawing FULL 
4/21 Visual Improvisation -- New! 1 Space Left
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! 2 Spaces Left
4/27 Daytime Open Studio
4/27 Evening Open Studio
4/29 Figure Painting in Oils and Pastels -- New!

 
  


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.
Art for Kids Exhibition at DHMC's Matthews-Fuller Library 
Opening Reception: Sunday, April 24, 1-2pm

Photo Jack Rowell 

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 at AVA, will be exhibiting artworks created in the program at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Matthews-Fuller Library this spring.  

The Opening Reception will take place on Sunday, April 24, 1-2pm and is free and open to the public.
  
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; his 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. Refreshments will be served. 
  
 

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 possibilities to have your special art project funded!  
 
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.

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 Artists: Bay Area Discovery Museum Fall 2016 Residency 
Deadline: May 10

 

The Bay Area Discovery Museum invites artists to create a cohesive play space using one of our large exhibit halls. We are looking for projects that engage our audience using interactive elements that highlight the intersection of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and creativity. Discovery Hall is usually home to BADM traveling exhibits and is an expansive space free for your artistic vision to come to life. Projects must be appropriate and engaging for children ages 0-8 and their families and have enough stand-alone components to remain open without the artist's presence 6 days a week.

Funding Artists-in-residence projects will be supported by stipends starting at $10,000 up to $30,000 negotiable based on scope of the project.

Click here for complete details. 
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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