ROCKINGHAM — Some two years ago, Lyman Orton was in the process of organizing an exhibit from his private collection, "Lost Vermont Images," when he was inspired - inspired with the idea of turning the tables on his concept by looking through art to the future instead of the past.
Orton, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and lifelong Vermonter whose family created the Vermont Country Stores in Weston and Rockingham, began thinking about the possibilities of how art could express ideas that affect the future landscape of Vermont, how an artist's work could create discussion and perhaps initiate the direction and development.
"I started to think about the role that art could play in the process of planning a community," Orton said in an interview earlier this year. "I thought that artists could perhaps provoke discussion or bring forth debate as we look to the future of our community and state."
Orton, along with associates Craig Byrne and Janice Izzi, funded some $400,000 to develop the "The Art of Action: Shaping Vermont's Future Through Art" initiative, which will commission ten artists to create two-dimensional works that will investigate issues tied to Vermont's political, social, economic, and environmental future.
Ten will be selected in January from a group of 20 finalists announced Oct. 22, including Charlie Hunter of Bellows Falls and Dana Wigdor of Brattleboro.
Each finalist will receive a $2,500 honorarium to become familiar with the findings of the Council on the Future of Vermont to inform their thematic or conceptual content. Finalists will have three months to prepare their proposal for presentation to a project review committee.
"The Art of Action" received some 300 art applications from all over the world, with two-thirds coming from Vermont, along with requests from 25 other states, Canada, England, and Germany.
"We were indeed surprised at the phenomenal response to our Call to Artists, both the number and quality of applications," said John Zwick, Vermont Arts Council project director.
Zwick said the response “even surprised the experts at CaFE,” a Web-based service that administers applications and jury processes for such visual-arts competitions.
"Similar calls they handle typically receive 50-150 applicants,” Zwick said. “I think this is a clear indication of the appeal this project holds for artists."
Identifying the issues
The next step was determining the issues that most concern and affect Vermonters.
Enter the partnership with the Vermont Arts Council (VAC) and the Center for Rural Development, which helped develop the issues on which the artists would base their work.
A phone survey of some 600 Vermonters determined subjects of concern. Public forums took place throughout the state, and a completed summary report was incorporated into the process.
"A common thread among applicants was the 'passion' they exhibited, either in their artist statement about the project, or through images of past work that they submitted to support their application,” Zwick added.
"Some applicants were strong in one area and less strong in another,” he said. “Therefore, the challenge of the Project Review Committee became to find that combination of the superior statement, images, and resume all from one artist, to ensure the best fit for the project… and finding that 20 times."
Windham County finalists
Hunter, a Bellows Falls resident, said "one did not actually submit a project, but rather a portfolio of images along with an artist's statement."
Hunter's statement spoke of his Vermont upbringing and how the Green Mountain state has influenced his art. His paintings often focus on "Vermont's 'urban village,' an archetype that is underrepresented in the prevailing narratives of Vermont's demography, which tend to gravitate to themes such as the bucolic countryside, the artisan hamlet, and the white-steepled village green."
The world in Wigdor's paintings “is chopped up, spinning and tilting in a grid superimposed over the landscape, forcing its way over the snow, fields, trees and sky,” she writes in an artist's statement. “Splicing together different points of view in this manner is my reconciliation of fragmented time.”
Ten artists will realize their final proposals, receiving commissions ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 to create their art works, which are among the largest grants VAC has given in the agency's 44-year history.
" I am always glad to see initiatives developed that benefit artists," said Robert McBride, founding director of the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project (RAMP) in downtown Bellows Falls.
"Many of the public art projects that RAMP has been involved in are broad based, involving multimedia and a variety of artists and organizations,” McBride said. “This is a very effective approach to community development.”
“I applaud the steps that Lyman has taken and encourage more Vermont businesses to step forward and develop collaborations with Vermont artists and arts organizations,” McBride added. “Artists and the arts do make a difference."