BRATTLEBORO-As described in its publicity, the River Gallery School of Art (RGS), founded in 1976 by Barbara Merfeld Campman and Ric Campman, “has grown over five decades into a vibrant, inclusive arts organization serving people of all ages, abilities, and experience levels.”
“At the heart of River Gallery School’s work is the belief that everyone benefits from creative expression,” school leaders write. “The school is committed to fostering an inclusive art-making community, with programs intentionally designed to support equity, access, and belonging.”
A year-long series of events will honor the school’s 50th birthday, starting with “A Shared Legacy: Artwork by the Founding Family,” a show now open at the RGS Gallery 34. It features works by the elder Campmans, as well as by members of the founding family, children and grandchildren among them: Taj Campman, Finn Campman, Helen Schmidt, Maeve Campman, Tula Campman, Aleika McAllister, and Akirno Carl Raychaudhury.
I value that the RGS is among the most enduring arts establishments in the area. And I admire its capacity to garner such support — volunteer and otherwise — and its leaders’ eagerness to collaborate and cooperate, to reach out and to serve.
“When Ric and Barbara had the idea of providing a place to nurture each person’s creative spark, a different kind of art school was born,” Lydia Thomson, former RGS artistic director, says. “I was lucky enough to walk up the stairs of 127 Main many years ago, and I discovered there a second home.”
The Commons talked recently with Kimberly Carmody, the organization’s executive director, and Donna Hawes, who’d held that position from 2014 to 2022.
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Annie Landenberger: Fifty years! Congratulations. What’s in the works?
Kimberly Carmody: We normally rent our Gallery 34 out each month to local artists and they do with the space what they like, but we put that on hold so the school [can present a] slate of shows this year to celebrate. The work will be for sale and, in honor of our 50th, 50% of the proceeds will come to the school and 50% will go to the artists.
The first is this shared legacy show which honors the founding family. The second show will be an exhibition of River Gallery School teaching artists past and present — an alumni show for teachers, essentially.
We’re also going to honor Bob George, our local treasured photographer, with a summer show of his work over the decades in Brattleboro [and at RGS, where he has taught courses on making archival photo prints].
Then we have a couple of events coming up in the fall that will culminate the 50th.
Our second-to-last show in Gallery 34 in October will have all the pieces that are donated by local artists for “Off the Wall,” a Nov. 7 Golden Anniversary Gala at Retreat Farm’s North Barn.
[At the gala,] people participate by lottery ticket and literally get to take things off the wall. And so that’s going to be our real birthday party. We’re going to celebrate, give back to the community, have amazing food.
We’ll end the year with a children’s show because, you know, the children are the future.
We are also making a documentary this year to honor our 50 years. That’s going to show at Latchis Theater in early December. We’ll have a Q&A afterwards and a little reception. So that’s the slate.
And we’re going to have a number of events that will target very specific audiences.
We are envisioning and manifesting raising an additional $100,000 this year toward our general operating costs so that we can continue not only here on site, but in the Art for All programs, which are out in the community.
A.L.: You offer a range of programs. Could you describe them?
K.C.: At a staff meeting yesterday, we shared about what people are doing and the work that’s happening right now in the community and with classes on site here. We offer studio classes for children, classes for middle school tweens, for teens, for adults.
We offer very specific classes in watercolor, pastels, or drawing as well as workshops. These are led not just by teaching artists who are employees here but by local artists who come share their expertise.
All of those offerings are doing really well. We had the best tuition enrollment we’ve ever had, I think, this past fall.
A.L.: What’s the draw?
K.C.: We nurture people’s relationships with their own creativity. And linked with that is community.
People, even people who have their own studios at home, come to River Gallery to work because of the community. And that is really, I think, what people are turning to and embracing to get past the news every day.
Donna Hawes: The longevity of the school is the amazing foundational community here. Everybody needs each other when they come through that door. It’s very comforting.
There’s been such support over the decades: It’s clear that nobody wants to see it go away.
A.L.: Sounds like the school is in good health.
K.C.: We’re not in any way fearful that the doors will close. However, the amount of funds that it takes to offer the kinds of programs that we have here [and in Art for All programs in the community is significant].
It takes time and planning and organization and admin and networking — those are the kinds of hidden costs.
One of the intentions is to really create sustainability in the programs we’re doing: Working with refugees. Working with Bradley House seniors [in collaboration with Brooks Memorial Library through a Creative Aging grant from the Vermont Arts Council]. Working with [individuals with disabilities] in our Ability Arts program. Working with Families First. Working with four public schools for our Art in Schools program.
I’m trying to establish that kind of longevity so we’re not simply reacting but we’re actually able to provide a bedrock, which is what then goes to feed our mission revolving around the belief that Ric and Barbara instilled in everything here: that creativity is a birthright. We provide that opportunity for people to really delve into that.
D.H.: It’s the lifeblood for so many. [It’s the value] of hands-on experiences.
I have witnessed over the many years that it really is important to get your hands dirty and get them into something that’s engaging, that has a push and pull.
You’re learning, you’re experiencing, and you’re doing it all within a safe community. It’s very joyful and very positive, and it keeps people coming back to themselves.
A.L.: What’s your demographic?
D.H.: The demographic obviously in this community is aging. Regardless of that, the age demographic here is mixed, isn’t it?
K.C.: It is. We still have a large demographic of people that I would say are over 55 for sure. And we’re doing a really steady job of outreach to children and teenagers.
The demographic that’s most challenging is young adults. They have families, and they’re working. But we really make an effort to have classes on weekends and evenings, so we’re seeing those folks as well.
D.H.: Of course, there’re the younger students starting with toddlers on up, which is the feeder to the adult programs.
A.L.: And those numbers are pretty steady coming through even though people are having fewer babies?
K.C.: We just completed a strategic plan with the board. And one of the things we’ve really been looking at is what growth means for River Gallery School.
And the best discussions that have yielded some answers to that question have come from looking, for instance, at the Child Studio. When Barbara started that, I went to it — the day the school opened in 1976.
A.L.: Wow. Pretty special that you were here at the beginning.
K.C.: There were never more than 12 kids in that class. It was always between six and 12 kids. That’s exactly what we have now. We are offering it a couple more days a week and changing it a little bit, but all of those classes have between six and 12 kids. That is the winning recipe.
When you find something that works for over 50 years, you realize that is sustainable for our community here.
And there are more people coming from local towns now into Brattleboro for those experiences than there were in the 1970s and ’80s. People who live in Wilmington or Dover or over in Keene might not have come to Brattleboro for an art class then. Today they do.
A.L.: Among your alumni, as you look back, have any among them gone on to work as fulfilled lifetime artists?
D.H.: Oh, yeah.
K.C.: Definitely. Costume designer, filmmaker, illustrator, cartoonist, painter. But one of the things also that has come out of so many of the programs that started when you were here as director, Donna, is having young people in high school come to assist and learn about teaching.
And with an effort to codify things, we now have a program we’re calling “Creative Career Pathways” that’s currently funded by the Vermont Women’s Fund and specifically supports interns here who are in high school and in college to help in our programs. And part of that involves them having exhibitions here.
We have a lot of kids that came up in the Child Studio program and then went to Teen Studio. And then they came back and helped in the camps with the little kids. And now they’re helping with programs, with window displays; they’re helping me research for grants and the like — giving them an understanding and experience of what arts administration is like.
A.L.: About how many folks are enrolled in RGS programs?
K.C.: Over 1,200 in 2025 — and that includes all the Art for All programs. We’re out in four different public schools, we’re working with seniors, refugees — lots of partners.
A.L.: For Art for All, where you’re really reaching out, are you grant-dependent for any of these programs?
K.C.: This past year, we raised around $100,000 in grants. That’s in the budget. And so, yes, usually it’s a combination of participants [contributing], tuition in some cases, as well as grants. And individual donors.
A.L.: Has the current climate for federal arts funding had an impact on you?
K.C.: We haven’t had grants revoked, which is the good news because many artists and organizations have. However, grants I’d expected we would get a year ago when all of this went down [have not come through].
I’ve also had the experience, though, with one of our funders, the local Thomas Thompson Trust, which stepped up beyond measure and specifically funded our refugee arts program this past year.
A.L.: So will you be holding classes at the new Multicultural Community Center?
K.C.: We do have an art space set up there, so in some cases, yes. We also have a list of about 12 refugee children who’re going to come at full scholarship to our February vacation camp. We will most likely do that here in an interest of giving everyone the opportunity to get to know one another rather than have things feel segregated.
A.L.: Got it.
Donna, your perspective as a sort of unretired retired administrator here—
K.C.: That’s the perfect description of Donna.
A.L.: How do you feel about how things are progressing?
D.H.: I couldn’t be happier. So three years ago, when I was ready to pass the torch, we got word that Kimberly was interested, and then the whole thing just blossomed into this perfect scenario. So I am extremely pleased.
K.C.: She’s an ongoing consultant on a million topics.
A.L.: Why reinvent the wheel if you have such a resource? Thank you for your time.
K.C.: Honestly, I would just love to say this also: For the school to have the opportunity to mount an exhibition honoring the founding family, it just feels remarkable, it feels extraordinary. You know, the whole Campman family has such deep inroads in the community with so many people and so many organizations.
I couldn’t be more honored and grateful to be facilitating this.
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For more information, visit: rivergalleryschool.org.
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Editor’s note: Stories presented as interviews in this format are edited for clarity, readability, and space. Words not spoken by interview subjects appear in brackets, as do editorial clarifications.
Annie Landenberger is an arts writer and columnist for The Commons. She also is one half of the musical duo Bard Owl, with partner T. Breeze Verdant.
This Arts item by Annie Landenberger was written for The Commons.