Barre City Place Sculpture Honors History of Granite Workers

If you've been through downtown Barre and wondered what's under that tarp outside the brand-new Barre City Place building, here's a hint: coffee.

That is, "Coffee Break," Heather Ritchie's sculpture that speaks to the camaraderie and labor of the city's granite workers and stone carvers. And she should know. The Plainfield artist has spent some five years in the granite sheds herself.

Ritchie's commissioned piece is the first in the Stone Sculpture Legacy Program supported by the Charles Semprebon Fund. More works will be sited in the city over the next few years.

In the photo at right, Ritchie and Joe Calcagni of the Granite Corporation of Barre are setting the sculpture. See the lunchpail and Thermos at right?

Studio Place Arts director Sue Higby, who coordinates the program, has this to say in a recent announcement about Ritchie's work:

The sparely elegant sculpture recreates idle stone blocks waiting to be shaped where workers set down their cutters tools, lunch pails and coffees for a scheduled break. Four blocks of stone are arranged in a horseshoe shape to encourage people to enter the space and interact with the sculptures. The blocks of exposed granite showcase the natural beauty of the stone and invite viewers to rest on the blocks, touch the life size tools on the stone surfaces, and consider the work ethic of the men and women toiling in local sheds. 

"Coffee Break" will be unveiled in a ceremony on Wednesday, January 29, at 4 p.m.

A Different Kind of Happy Hour at the Mt. Philo Inn

Visitors to the newly renovated Mt. Philo Inn can expect to find more than cozy quarters, including the Charlotte inn's library pictured here. If you arrive at one of three upcoming Thursdays at 5:30, you can sit back with a Vermont beer or wine and listen to a speaker from a local museum.

That's the idea behind the "History Happy Hour," which launches today in the inn's Ballroom with a salon-style talk by Jane Williamson, director of Ferrisburgh's Rokeby Museum. It's one way owner Dave Garbose aims to get people — whether staying in one of the inn's suites or just living nearby — to come in and see the place.

Just two more History Happy Hours are planned for now:

October 17, with Erick Tichonuk, executive director of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum; and October 24, with curator of design Kory Rogers of the Shelburne Museum.

The talks are scheduled for 5:30 to 6:30, and an RSVP is required at 425-3335 or [email protected]. The inn is at 27 Inn Road at the base of Mt. Philo State Park in Charlotte.

Photograph courtesy of Dave Garbose.

 

Being Margaret Bourke-White, and Sally Matson

Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) was a pioneering photographer, a hang-with-the-big-boys righteous babe. Not only did she take amazing photographs throughout the 20th century, but she looks good in one, as the 1943 self-portrait here shows. (Courtesy of the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection.)

No wonder Sally Matson likes playing Bourke-White. And this Wednesday, October 2, she'll do just that at the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury.

Matson's one-woman show, titled "Margaret Bourke-White, Courageous Photographer," is part of the Vermont Humanities Council's "First Wednesdays" lecture series. But don't expect some dry, academic lecture. Matson becomes Bourke-White in what VHC calls a "living history" presentation.

She clearly has a yen for scrappy women (and who doesn't, really?): Matson also performs as a godmother of the suffrage movement in a show called "Susan B. Anthony — the Invincible!" 

Joel Najman and His Beard Celebrate 30 Years on VPR

 

Joel Najman (and his beard)

Joel Najman has been the host and producer of the weekly rock-and-roll-history program "My Place" on Vermont Public Radio for 30 years. That's a remarkable accomplishment, one for which he was recently honored by the Vermont Legislature with a resolution congratulating him on his three decades spinning the classic (and not so classic) songs that compose the rich tapestry of our collective musical past — and more importantly, unearthing the stories behind them.

Najman's show is as much a celebration of early rock and roll as it is a history lesson, and it is entertaining and educational in equal measures.

The anniversary love for Najman continues this Saturday, September 28, as his esteemed employers are throwing a celebratory sock hop called VPR A Go-Go, a 1960s-themed dance party at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury.

The party will feature prizes for the best '60s hairdo, a Twister competition and go-go dancers. It will also, of course, feature the host with the most himself, Joel Najman, spinning the platters that matter. Oh, and Najman's beard. His totally awesome beard.

In anticipation of that party — and because we profiled Najman for his 25th anniversary — we recently got in touch with Najman's incredible Rip van Winkle and asked for its thoughts on 30 years behind the mic. Here's what Najman's typically silent partner had to say.   

SEVEN DAYS: 30 years. Wow. What are your thoughts about three decades in the biz?

JOEL NAJMAN'S BEARD: Well, it's certainly been a hairy ride. But I like to think there's been a lot of growth, too.

"Little Jerusalem" Doc Wins Vermont History Prize

Each year since 2006, the Vermont Historical Society has presented the Richard O. Hathaway Award for "an outstanding contribution to the field of Vermont history." Past winners have included books, documentaries and plays. Last Saturday, the prize was presented to Vermont Public Television for its documentary "Little Jerusalem."

Dorothy Dickie (far left) produced the doc, which was nominated by VPT's chief content officer Kathryn Scott (second from left).

The film, which debuted late last year, is the first Hathaway winner to deal with Jewish themes, in this case the immigrant community that sprang up in Burlington's Old North End in the 1880s.

What cemented its win? According to VHS executive director Mark Hudson (second from right above), the professional quality of the movie impressed the selection committee. "It had a great story and richness in telling the story of the community and the individual lives that were represented in the story as well," he added by phone.

The Queen Is Coming to Vermont, and She Is Helen Mirren

I don't know about you, but I think Helen Mirren is more than a queen; she's a goddess. But in the live National Theatre broadcast of The Audience this week — at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury — she is indeed playing Queen Elizabeth II. Word has it, Mirren is stunning, and I'm not surprised.

Actually, the show isn't "live" from across the pond this time — The Audience played at THT in June to rave reviews and sold-out shows. This week's two encore performances are literally back by popular demand.

Peter Morgan's play, which has been a huge hit in London, is structured as a series of "audiences" the Queen holds with a series of prime ministers who have served during her long reign. Who remembers John Major?

The Audience will be screened at 1 and 7 p.m. at THT in Middlebury. But that's not all! In honor of the occasion, the Middlebury Inn will be serving a British-style high tea after the 1 p.m. showing. Plan on a few extra squats to work off that clotted cream and trifle, mates.

Tickets for both The Audience ($17) and the high tea ($15) are available through the THT box office at 382-9222 or online.

A Strong Woman and a Jamie Wyeth Portrait

My consciousness for all things Wyeth has been heightened since viewing and writing about the Shelburne Museum's exhibit "Wyeth Vertigo" earlier this summer. In fact, that exhibit taught me more than I previously knew about N.C. and Jamie Wyeth — father and son, respectively, of Andrew.

So a recent article in the New York Times about Jamie caught my eye, as did the accompanying luminous portrait he made of one Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig in 1963, when he was just 17 years old.

(For copyright reasons, I can't replicate the painting here, so you'll have to check it out at the Times site. Jamie Wyeth's "Comet," right, is courtesy of the Shelburne Museum.)

Alongside Jamie's portrait in the Times is a more conventional one of Taussig, from 1981, by Patric Bauernschmidt. And the difference between the two plays a part in a fascinating tale about permissible images of women — in this case, professional women — and how they have changed over a half century.

The story is also enlightening about the portrait-painting business itself, and how Jamie approached this commission. Not least, the article is about Taussig, who is no longer a household name but was famous in the 1940s.

Feel Like Screaming? Join Edvard Munch ... in High Def

Since the advent of high-definition broadcasts, Vermonters have been offered a regular diet of lavish productions in real time from New York's Metropolitan Opera, or La Scala in Milan. Then came documentaries, pop concerts and other specialty programs. And then: art exhibits from major museums around the world.

Middlebury's Town Hall Theater has gotten in on the acts by installing HD satellite technology, and in addition to opera broadcasts has already shown a Manet exhibit this year, in April. In October, a Vermeer show from London's National Gallery will arrive.

Today, in two screenings at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., it's Edvard Munch's turn.

Broadway Legend Len Cariou Sings in Vermont

You may know him as the bloodthirsty Sweeney Todd in Stephen Sondheim's musical of the same name. Or that guy Jack Nicholson pounded in About Schmidt. Or, perhaps as Tom Selleck's dad on CBS' popular police procedural "Blue Bloods."

But on August 17, at 7:30 p.m., Len Cariou will play the real-life role of cabaret chanteur at a benefit for the Greensboro Arts Alliance at that town's Mountain View Country Club. A dinner precedes the show at 5:30 p.m.

The veteran singer and actor introduced his show "Musical Memoirs" last November at New York nightclub 54 Below, which specializes in cabaret shows starring well-known Broadway performers.

He'll perform it for the first time since then in the Green Mountains, which he says he last visited to film skiing scenes in Stowe for Alan Alda's 1981 directorial debut, The Four Seasons.

Although the act is a new one, the 73-year-old says that he got his start in show business singing in clubs in his native Winnipeg as a teenager.

Robert Resnik Signs Legendary Locals of Burlington

Recently Seven Days intern Meredith White wrote about Legendary Locals of Burlington, a book penned by local writer and musician Robert Resnik. He's also a Fletcher Free Library reference librarian and host of Vermont Public Radio's show "All the Traditions," two positions that utilize Resnik's gift for collecting arcane history.

So did writing Legendary Locals — the Burlington installment in Arcadia Publishing's series on American towns — which features short segments on dozens of individuals, both historic and current, who have made an impression in the Queen City's history. It's a subjective take, to be sure, but a fascinating walk through the city's history, particularly of the past few decades. Longtime residents will recognize plenty of faces, and be reminded of many more who have passed on.

Tonight at 7 p.m., Resnik will sign copies of his book at the Fletcher Free's Main Reading Room. He'll also appear up the street next Monday, August 12, 7 p.m., at Phoenix Books Burlington; and Saturday, September 7, 3-5 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in South Burlington.