Calling All Artists ... to the ReUse Fair
A fair highlighting sustainable living and featuring original art? Can't get much more Vermonty than that.
On September 21, the 10-year-old nonprofit Planting Hope is holding a ReUse Fair in Montpelier and is seeking artists and crafters to show and sell their wares.
According to director of operations Daniel Staples:
The ReUse Fair is a celebration of sustainable communities and is meant to foster a broader understanding of how one person can have an effect on their community and the environment.
The event will also highlight how reusing items for new and interesting purposes not only keeps them out of the waste stream, but can even help people in other communities.
Toward that end, artists and crafters who make work using found, recycled or repurposed materials are particularly welcome at the fair, which will run alongside the Montpelier farmers market. In addition to arty vendors, Staples says, there will be an outdoor sculpture park curated by central Vermont artist Janet Van Fleet, and an exhibit of works by University of Vermont art prof Beth Haggart.
The Vermont-based Planting Hope "promotes educational opportunities, supports grassroots community development and fosters cultural exchange in Nicaragua and the United States," explains Staples. During the fair, he hopes to collect donations of used educational materials and household items to send to its programs in Nicaragua.
The nonprofit's projects include a mobile library, school scholarships, fostering community development and micro-enterprise, and camps for the children of migrant coffee farmers.
Artists interested in participating in the ReUse Fair can contact Staples at [email protected] or 778-0344.
Pictured are children in Nicaragua, courtesy of Planting Hope.
