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After two successful months, and an attempt to keep both locations going, Celone decided to leave Lyme and set up shop permanently in what’s being dubbed, he said, the “Brooklyn of Vermont,” and “Cambridge on the Connecticut.” The first full official month for the gallery in White River Junction was April, he said.
Long River Gallery carries the work of 150 artists and artisans, he said: 60 visual artists and 90 artisans from both Vermont and New Hampshire.
Although the space is smaller than the gallery in Lyme, the gallery has benefited from the increased foot traffic along South Main Street, and from extended hours into the evening, Celone said.
“The business community is very active and the arts community is huge,” Celone said.
He still maintains separate wall space, as he did in Lyme, for the artist of the month. (This month Martha Stevenson, from Londonderry, Vt. who has been influenced by famed 19th century painter Rufus Porter, who traveled throughout New England installing murals in public houses and private homes.)
The continued burgeoning of White River Junction as a center for the visual and performing arts, and for restaurants and bars, breaks down into four factors, Celone said: investors committed to redevelopment, educational opportunities in the downtown, grassroots business efforts and the support of the Hartford town government.
There’s an additional favorable aspect to running a gallery and shop in downtown, Celone said, and that is the cooperation among businesses when help is needed, and the cross-fertilization between galleries and stores that specialize in the arts.
“We’re in a niche that’s pretty cool. So far it’s been a great experience,” Celone said.
The town is making an effort to draw visitors off the interstates into downtown White River Junction so that visitors realize there is more to Hartford than the gas stations and fast food chain restaurants at the exits. As part of that, Celone said, the town is redoing an illustrated map that shows some of the key attractions in White River Junction.
Despite the presence of such on-line behemoths as Amazon, there are distinct advantages to having a bricks-and-mortar enterprise, particularly when it comes to works of art.
“Online is not the way to buy arts and crafts,” Celone said.
For more information email art@longrivergallery.com, visit longrivergallery.com or call 802-295-4567.
Openings and Receptions
The biennial Juried Summer Exhibition opens Friday at AVA Gallery and Art Center in Lebanon with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. This year there were 213 entries submitted by 121 artists from 63 towns in Vermont and New Hampshire. From that group, John Stomberg, director of the Hood Museum of Art, selected 103 works by 81 artists.
As in years past three Juror’s Recognition awards for excellence will be announced during the reception: Each recipient is given a cash prize made possible by the Ledyard National Bank’s sponsorship of the show. There is also a special Cornelia M. Rahmelow prize in photography, which also comes with a cash award.
The exhibition continues through Sept. 23.
Beginning Friday, the Zollikofer Gallery at the Hotel Coolidge in White River Junction will exhibit “Up Close in White River Junction,” a tribute by members of the White River Junction chapter of the Vermont Watercolor Society to the wealth of historic architecture in town. There will be a reception from 5 to 7 p.m at the Coolidge on First Friday, Aug. 4.
The Projects Gallery at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, Vt., shows Deborah Bohnert’s multi-media installation “Walk Into My Heart,” through Aug. 5. Bohnert, who lives on Boston’s North Shore, brings together paintings, sculpture, drawings and other objects that she has collected in an effort to engage the audience.
Father and son Marv Klassen-Landis and Pete K. Landis exhibit their photography at the Hartland Library through early September. Klassen-Landis, who lives in Windsor, and his son Pete K. Landis, who grew up in Hartland, exhibited last summer at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. There will be a public reception beginning at 6 p.m. on July 26 at the library.
Beginning Saturday, Royalton Memorial Library in South Royalton exhibits work by seventh-generation Vermonter and South Royalton native Lindsey Cole, who also obtained a master’s in environmental law from Vermont Law School. The library will show Cole’s paintings, drawings and photographs. There will be a public reception on Saturday, July 29, at 1 p.m. The exhibition runs through Sept. 29.
A group show, “Connecting Fibers,” is on view at Tunbridge Public Library through Aug. 26, 2017. There will be an opening reception Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m., which includes a demonstration of fiber techniques. The fiber artists include: Susan Cain, Judy Cayer, Louise Clark, Carrie Cooker, Christina Duffy, Betty LaWhite, Karyn Lord, Caitlyn Macglaflin, Katrina Mojzesz, Fern Strong and Belinda Whipple Worth.
Ongoing
BigTown Gallery, Rochester, Vt. An exhibition of photographs by Rosamond Purcell, the Boston writer and photographer, runs through July 23. Prints and sculpture by the late Hugh Townley are on view through Sept. 10. A documentary about Purcell, An Art that Nature Makes, screens Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Loew Auditorium in the Black Family Visual Arts Center at Dartmouth College. Go to hop.dartmouth.edu for information and tickets, or call the Hopkins Center Box Office at 603-646-2422.
Chandler Gallery, Randolph. “Scale: Models to Monuments” explores the history and impact of public art through sculpture and photography. Randolph sculptor Jim Sardonis curated the exhibit. On view through Sept. 2.
Chelsea Public Library. “Moving Paint, Moving Bodies,” an exhibit of paintings by the Chelsea artist and dancer Hannah Dennison, is up through August.
Center for the Arts, Lake Sunapee. The CFA sponsors three exhibitions throughout the Lake Sunapee region. An exhibition of landscape photography by James Mudie and photographs of flowers by Richard Gulezian is on view in the Lake Sunapee Bank’s micro gallery. Mary Beth Westward exhibits landscapes at Whipple Hall in New London. The second annual Center for the Arts exhibition, featuring oil, watercolor and acrylic paintings, as well as drawings and mixed media, is on view at the New London Inn. All three shows end July 29.
Cider Hill Art Gallery, Windsor. Cider Hill is open for the season with exhibitions of sculpture, painting and environmental installations by Steven Proctor, Herb Ferris, Gary Haven Smith, the Mythmakers and Gary Milek.
Converse Library, Lyme. Members of the artists’ group Odankansis show their work in the exhibition “Summer Time in Lyme.” Through Sept. 30.
Aidron Duckworth Museum, Meriden. Laura Moriarty exhibits works on paper and Claremont sculptor Ernest Montenegro exhibits “flatmensquared” through July 23.
Hall Art Foundation, Reading, Vt. There are three shows currently on view: “Hope and Hazard: A Comedy of Eros,” a show of more than 80 paintings on the subject of romantic and sexual love; “Ready. Fire! Aim,” a collaboration between the foundation and Burlington City Arts; and a solo show by David Shrigley. All run through Nov. 26.
Hood Downtown, Hanover. “The Everyday Fantastic,” an exhibition of photographs by Missouri photographer Julie Blackmon, is on view through Aug. 27.
Howe Library, Hanover. The work of Stephanie Gordon, who teaches art at Hanover High School, is featured in the exhibition “80 Degrees: Encaustic Paintings.” The show runs through Aug. 2.
Kilton Public Library, West Lebanon. Susan Pearson, a pastel artist from Canaan, exhibits her work during regular library hours through Sept. 30.
Library Arts Center, Newport. Carmela Azzaro, Christine R. Hawkins, Ali Keller, Susan Lawrence, Laura Morrison, Richard Stockwell, Patricia Sweet-MacDonald and Tara Van Meter show their work in the annual “Selections” exhibition, which features work from artists chosen from the 2016 Regional Juried show. The show is up through July 28.
Norwich Public Library. An exhibition of work by Claremont artists (and husband and wife) Sue Lawrence and Andrew Williams titled “Together, Captured Moments in Realism” closes Aug. 26.
Osher at Dartmouth, Hanover. “The Outsiders,” a show of work by Anne Hartmann, Judith Pettingell, and Ann Semprebon, runs through Aug. 24. Hours are: Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Scavenger Gallery, White River Junction. Black-and-white woodcuts, and handmade wooden serving spoons made by Norwich farmer, writer and artist Suzanne Lupien, are on view, in addition to the jewelry of Stacy Hopkins.
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish. An exhibit of large-scale, multi-media constructions by Brooklyn artist Katie Bell, who was a 2016 Saint-Gaudens Fellow, ends Sunday.
SculptureFest, Woodstock. The annual sculpture exhibition at 304 Prosper Road features work by Judith Wrend and Joseph Chirchirillo, with Murray Dewart as a special guest artist. Other sculptors showing new work are: Brooks Baird, Charlet Davenport, Herb Ferris, Liz Fletcher, Roger Goldenberg, Bruce Hathaway, John Hikory, Lela Keen Jaacks, Justin Kenney, Robert Markey, Jay Mead, Leah Woods and Zoe Frie.
Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, White River Junction. Elizabeth Mayor, one of the founders of AVA Gallery and Art Center and a well-known printmaker, shows work. The show runs through July 31.
Norman Williams Public Library, Woodstock. The photos of Joanna Garbisch, who helped develop early color Polaroids in the 1960s, are on view through Aug. 14.
Nicola Smith can be reached at nsmith@vnews.com.