Save the date! Sunday, November 8, 2009
The 8th Annual Art Raffle hosted by the Rockingham Arts and Museum Project (RAMP) will be held on Sunday, November 8, 2009 , starting at 3 P.M. in the lobby of the Hotel Windham, on The Square in downtown Bellows Falls, VT. The Raffle offers an opportunity to win original artwork, meet artists, fellow art lovers, have some great food and support RAMP.
Over fifty regional artists have donated works. Images of the donated works are posted on the RAMP website: A $25.00 ticket can lead to winning one of approximately 60 pieces of art valued in the hundreds, even thousands of dollars.
Artist: Robert Sydorowich, Dimensions: 10.5 x 14.5 Framed, Medium: Oil and Watercolor on Paper, Title: The Canal In Bellows Falls
RAMP was created in 1995 to convey an important message: artists and the arts are essential to the revitalization and sustainability of rural communities. To this end, RAMP focuses on the importance of developing affordable live/work spaces, hosting quarterly regional Artist Town Meetings that bring artists, artisans and local food growers together as a constituency, supporting public art initiatives and participating on a variety of boards of directors in order to make sure the arts are represented and involved in policy making.
RAMP's founding director, Robert McBride whose journey brought him from San Francisco, through New York City where he lived for twenty-five years, and was a founding member of PS122 an alternate art space on the Lower East Side. In the early 1980's Robert purchased a house in Bellows Falls and by the the mid 1990's moved there full time. He feels strongly that rural life and small communities offer a unique opportunity for the residents to directly participate in shaping their own community. In recent years he has become more involved with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has given him a national perspective on the cultural/economic challenges and advantages that rural communities face. McBride feels that in these economic times the small scale of rural communities offers a great advantage for resident to be involved and stay grounded. Rural communities, with their main streets are a wonderful resource to share with visitors who might only know the mall and miracle mile.
The 8th Annual Art Raffle is a great opportunity for the community to come together. It is exciting for both the artists and the people who purchase raffle tickets. "The quality of the art is very high, and the possibility of winning a piece of art is very exciting to the people who purchase tickets. And at the end we feed you!"
The art raffle is part of RAMP's mission to develop an awareness of the arts, create vitality in the community through art, and demonstrate that art can favorably impact a community both financially and culturally. The raffle is an opportunity to meet the artists and become part of the creative arts community.
The donated paintings, photographs, ceramics, drawings and sculpture will be on display in the lobby of the Hotel Windham, Thursday November 5 through the day of the raffle November 8 11-3.
Tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100. Artists, it is not too late to donate work. Call us at RAMP, 802-463-3252, for details.
For further information call 802-463-3252; or ramp@sover.net
