Exner Block

The $1.2 million restoration of the historic Exner Block at 7 Canal Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont was completed in August 2000. The Exner Block is a historic building key to the revitalization of downtown Bellows Falls. It is a unique structure that contains many of the charming historic details - wainscoting, pressed tin walls & ceilings, solid wood doors intact with original glass and traditional brass hardware. In designing this project, the team took the opportunity to retain many of these elements while creating viable residential and commercial space. It is amazing to think that in 22 months a building that was virtually dormant for 60 years was beautifully restored to serve as a live/work setting for emerging artists!

This project was a joint effort of several organizations including Housing Vermont and The Rockingham Area Land Trust. RAMP (Rockingham Arts and Museum Project) has acted locally and regionally to raise awareness of the project with the public. RAMP also oversees the process of filling the residential and retail spaces in the building.

The building includes:

Affordable Housing and Studios for Artists

• 6 one-bedroom duplex apartments with a Studio Space
• 3 one-bedroom apartments
• 1 two-bedroom, wheelchair-accessible apartment with a Studio Space

• 6 commercially viable spaces ranging from 250 - 1200 square feet.

• The Exner Gallery which features rotating exhibitions tailored by local community members.

Applications for space in the historic Exner building are accepted on an ongoing basis. If you are an interested artist, please see eligibility for more information. If you are interested in a retail storefront, please see available spaces for more information.

Photos of one-bedroom duplex apartments with a Studio Space

Upstairs Living Room

Upstairs Kitchen

Upstairs Kitchen (Door to Bedroom)

Upstairs Bedroom

Downstairs Studio Space

nrmurray@sover.net
http://www.suntreader.net

Suntreader Photography
7 Canal Street
Studio C
Bellows Falls, VT 05101
Tel: 802.460.1234

The Bay of Fundy (French: Baie de Fundy) is a bay located on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. The Bay of Fundy is known for having the greatest difference in water level between its high and low tides in the world. Fundy is a 270km (170 mile long) ocean bay that each day flows 100 billion tons of seawater in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle; more than the combined flow of the world's freshwater rivers. The name "Fundy" is thought to date back to the 16th century when the Portuguese referred to the bay as "Rio Fundo" or "deep river".
The bay was also named Baie François by explorer/cartographer Samuel de Champlain during a 1604 expedition led by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Monts which resulted in a failed settlement attempt on St. Croix Island. The exhibit will present inkjet photographs generated from digital film scans of the bay side communities and wildlife from Eastport, Maine to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia.
Portions from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Neil Murray has been a resident of the Exner Block for four and a half years, concentrating on a hybrid method of photography that encompasses traditional film developing and digital scanning and file preparation in nature, travel and landscape subjects.

gretta@sover.net

Profile

Gretchen Schmid, daughter of the painter Richard Schmid, began her studies with him at an early age. Clearly intent on following her love of art, she continued her studies in the classical tradition of painting at the American Academy of Art and the Palette & Chisel Academy, both in Chicago. While pursuing her studies later at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in Connecticut, Gretchen entered the professional art world with exhibitions and sales of her work in various galleries in the United States.

Though she explores all manner of subjects, her skill and fondness for painting people has established for her a well deserved reputation as a portrait painter. Gretchen's success as a portrait artist derives from her earliest experiences growing up in an artistic home and her exposure to the highest standards in painting. Her love of portraiture and her insistence upon perfection underlie her reputation for excellence in this specialty.

hilarymsmith@yahoo.com

When traveling into Bellows Falls, VT, one can visit Hilary Smith, Patternmaker to have custom pattern work and personally tailored garments made on site (including wedding dresses). The focus of Hilary's business is collaboration; meaning she consciously seeks to establish a dialog between her creative ideas, skills, and knowledge of fabric and the vision of her clients. Hilary thrives off the process of working with her clients ideas to create a finished garment. By October of 2007, Hilary will also have ready-to-wear garments available that are exclusively based what is inspiring her in the present moment. Her handmade clothing will incorporate some sustainable fabrics into the collection while focusing on natural fibers. Make sure you take the opportunity to explore her unique collection when you are in town!

Hilary preparing a pattern

The Exner Block serves artists by providing affordable housing and studio spaces. The town's architecture, history, and location supplies a visually and culturally rich playground where one can find stimuli ranging from intensely industrial to naturally pristine. Constructed circa 1905, the tin clad building is situated along the canal and every apartment has a view of this swiftly moving body of water. Across from the canal is the train station, a hub for the passenger and freight trains. Many of the trains that pass through town switch lines and add cars, each one carrying its own unique sound. Within the building up 10 artists are living and working within close quarters. Some choose seclusion while others meet together to discuss new projects. The apartments are beautifully restored with modern appliances (including digital heat for each room!). The original molding was preserved along with the floors and hardware. On the first floor one can peruse the halls which are lined with art, visit the gallery which features rotating shows, or pop into one of the retail establishments that foster inexpensive spaces for aspiring business owners. Over the years, some of the resident-artists have taken the initiative to run retail spaces. For more information please consult eligibility.

One 2 Bedroom Apartment with Wheelchair Accessibility is now available for $590/month!

anneyart@yahoo.com

Artists Statement

Abstract art would seem to have no purpose other than an arrangement of line, color and value, yet I am sure the arrangement speaks to our minds, our experience.

Abstract art is a reflection of the mind -- a mood, an idea, and emotion. Abstract art has opened up the reality of seeing ideas as designs in color, form and dimension.

Understanding a painting can turn into a form of guessing game, so difficult it is to say exactly what the artist meant. That is why I say that abstract art speaks to us through our own response. Indeed, the phrase "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like" is an excellent way to view any work of art, especially abstract.

It's a gut reaction, pure and simple.

blackjackoak@msn.com

A Bit of History:

In my life, I have drifted through several musical genres beginning with punk at fifteen and transitioning into metal by seventeen. When I read interviews of my favorite metal guitarists of this time, almost all of the musicians quoted Hendrix as being their major influence. As I became more familiar with Hendrixs music, I became mesmerized with his expressive style of guitar playing. His music also grabbed me emotionally. I began to research Hendrixs influences and this journey introduced me to Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, Wes Montgomery, and John Coltrane. These new sounds, styles and forms generated a desire to find more complex and interesting ways to express myself. At this point, I transferred from a traditional college into a liberal arts university in which I began to avidly study Jazz and Blues. This became a period of rapid musical growth, a time where I studied, rehearsed, and performed live gigs with talented players from the Pacific Northwest Region. Through all of this research into the history of Jazz, Blues, and Swing I developed a great love for roots music. The isolation of the early 1900s created melodies, chord progressions, and lyrical content that captured specific times and locales. The music of this era is the true beginnings of American music and I find it to be the most creative due to the isolated nature of the time. It is my hope to bring the spirit and creativity of this music into a contemporary context.

conniehelen50@yahoo.com

A Little About Me and My Connection to Music

Playing music has been a preoccupation with me for thirty-five years. I started out on flute at the Hartt School of Music with an original member of the Glen Miller Air Force Orchestra and also a member of the Harftord Symphony. After moving to Vermont to attend Marlboro College, I studied with Kimi Hasegawa and was told I had to start all over again and practice more. Years went by and I wound up in Manhattan where I lived for 13 years. While on that island I studied alto sax with John Purcell and Lee Konitz. I also worked as a doorman/manager at Sweet Basil's and the Blue Note and hung out with people like Illinois Jaquet, Junior Cook and Sun Ra and also met Michael Brecker and Dexter Gordon among others. It was in NYC that I was 3exposed to live music on a regular basis and began to play in bands usually for no money. Because of wanderlust, I moved to Mexico City where I had my own band and played in the Zona Rose, as schools and private parties. In addition, I taught music at prep schools and the University of the Americas in Choula, Mexico. I gave private lessons all over the place. I think I taught maybe one hundred Mexicans to play the saxophone. There were many great musicians and opportunities to play in Mexico and I really enjoyed the place, however, for many reasons I had to return to the USA and I have been studying for nearly three years with Scott Mullet and even occasionally playing out. Music is an endless preoccupation with me and still I don't know whay.

Anne Y
Inscapes
Opening: Friday, June 15th

Anne Y a resident artist at the Exner Block, will open the series with her first solo show entitled "Inscapes" on June 15th, to coincide with Bellow's Falls' third Friday Artwalk. Mark your calendar for magic. Anne's work is a watercolor window to whimsy, a place where the imagination can play. Anne Y's integration of lyrical color with abstract compositions yields a softly illuminated landscape, one that is nuanced with vibrant bursts of color and slightly recognizable forms. One can travel into her compositions as they allow for openness in thought, a refreshing element to any artwork. Anne begins with blank paper guided by process and a devotion to beauty. Her thematic strength lives in her mature understanding of color, the ways in which one can create harmony or dissonance through the application of two or more hues. Anne's pieces are universally beautiful in their sense of effervescent color. They light up a room while emoting a quiet repose.

Photographs of Inscapes:

Kerry Lucier and Kate Gorman
Feeling Shapes & Hearing Colors
Opening: Friday, July 20th, 5:30pm - 8:30pm (Meet the Artists)

Rockingham Arts and Museum Project (RAMP) and artists living at the Exner Block have organized a seven month exhibition series featuring solo and group shows. This month's show will feature a two-person show entitled "Feeling Shapes and Hearing Colors" Kerry Lucier and Kate Gorman, Exner Block residents, relocated from Connecticut about a year ago. Their studio within this artists community is filled with cans of latex paint, the medium of choice for these two artists. The use of color contrasts found in Kerry's work is an expression of the energy he feels in nature, dreams and his interactions with people. He believes that the need to create is inherent in all people and, is life sustaining. Some of the works are masked so that the fluidity of the latex paint takes shape, often set up on an acrylic background.

Kate believes that art is an experience in co-creation with the universe, an exploration of soul and a link to the expansion of consciousness. Water is an integral part of her work with latex and though it's used with intention, it moves and dictates what the painting wants to be. Many of the paintings are images over images, creating texture, depths and backgrounds. Some of the small works on canvas, created with latex paint and oil pen are shapes and symbols that arise free from thought, as a connection to ancient and tribal knowing. Don't miss this Opening on Friday, July 20th, 5:00-8:00 pm, coinciding with Bellows Falls Third Friday ARTWALK, at The Exner Block, 7 Canal Street, Bellows Falls, VT 05101. Come feel the music of color and the emotion of shape.

The Exner Block Gallery features rotating exhibits that highlight regional artists and themes. The proceeds from the sale of artwork in this gallery go mostly to the artists involved and a small percentage goes to RAMP to assist with the purchase of lights, advertising, and staff.

For the beginning of 2008, the Exner Block gallery will feature a thematic show entitled A Year in the Everglades: Recent Works of Art.

The schedule for the Exner Block Artists Series is as follows:

char_pv@yahoo.com

Thoughts on My Art

I first started doing art while in college. I received my B. A. in Art and Literature from VT College of Norwich University in 1998. I was in my final semester and looking for my voice. I thought to myself "why not try to find it through a visual art semester"? I found a voice. I'm assuming it is mine; most of the art I do is self-portrait in nature.

As far as my art goes, I believe in "it is what it is". To be more specific, it is what you, the viewer, perceive it to be. I don't want to alter or interfere with your perception of what you are seeing. Rarely will I offer up titles or neatly packaged explanations of what I have done.