Vermont Folklife Center
2009 - 2010 Events Calendar
Celebrating Our
th A1984-2009rsary
25 nnive
Documenting and preserving the
voices and traditions of Vermont
05753
Middlebury, Vermont
88 Main Street
Vermont Folklife Center
Celebrating Our
25 th Anniversary
1984-2009
Vermont Folklife Center
The Vermont Folklife Center, founded in 1984, is dedicated to preserving
and presenting the folk arts and cultural traditions of Vermont and the
surrounding region. Through ongoing field research, a multimedia archive and
an apprenticeship program, we document and conserve the diverse cultural
heritage of the region. Through exhibits, media, publications and educational
projects, we bring recognition to the skills, talents and traditions of Vermonters,
past and present. The Center has made preservation of the spoken word the
core of its endeavors, and the VFC archive now comprises over 3,800 taped
interviews, which have been transcribed and electronically indexed.
Hours of Operation
Shop (Winter): Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm
Shop (Summer): Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm, Sunday, 11am - 4pm
Vision & Voice Gallery: Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm
Vermont Folklife Center
Archive and Research Center: Monday - Friday, 10am - 4pm 88 Main Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
Office: Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm
802.388.4964
info@vermontfolklifecenter.org
Vermont Folklife Center
2009 Events Calendar
May 8 – September 5 July 30
Almost Utopia: In Search of the A Granddaughter’s Recollections:
Good Life in Mid-Century America Elka Schumann Remembers
An exhibition of photographs, text, Scott Nearing
and audio that explores the alternative Elka Schumann of Glover, Vermont,
community begun by Scott and Helen granddaughter of Scott Nearing and
Nearing in Jamaica, Vermont, in the Nellie Seeds. In conjunction with the
years following the Second World War. exhibit Almost Utopia: In Search of the
Images by community resident Rebecca Good Life in Mid-Century America. 7 p.m.
Lepkoff, interviews conducted by
Vermont Folklife Center staff.
July 31 – August 2
Champlain Valley Folk Festival 25 t h A n n i ve r s a r y
The Vermont Folklife Center E ve n t
partners with the CVFF to present
the Quebecois band Reveillons!, a
group of young musicians who are September 26
rooted in tradition while creating
Ira Glass of This American Life,
their own unique contemporary
LIVE in Concert
synthesis. A program in recognition
of the Champlain Quadricentennial. Join us as we celebrate our anniversary
Please visit us at the Vermont year with Ira Glass, host of the
Folklife Center tent. acclaimed program This American Life,
aired on National Public Radio. Glass
will bring his one-man show to the
August 6 Flynn Theater for a special night of
storytelling. Limited tickets available
May 13 Scott and Helen Nearing, Pikes for a pre-performance reception —
Falls, and Social Pioneering come and meet Ira before the show
10th Annual Governor’s and support the VFC.
A program in celebration of Scott
Heritage Awards 8 p.m. performance.
Nearing’s 106th birthday. Greg Joly,
Recognizing an outstanding traditional Nearing scholar and author of Almost
artist and place-based educator. 2009 Utopia: The Residents and Radicals
recipients are 82-year-old Laotian folk of Pikes Falls, Vermont, 1950. In
opera singer and composer Souphine conjunction with the exhibit Almost
Phatsoungneune, of Brattleboro, and
Burlington Champlain Elementary
Utopia: In Search of the Good Life in Mid- December 4 – 22
Century America. 7 p.m.
School teacher Colleen Cowell, of Eleventh Annual Gingerbread
Essex Junction. House Competition and Exhibition
August 9 Register by November 25th.
June 1 – July 31 Cone-Blanchard Reunion with
the Vermont Folklife Center at
In Their Own Words Windsor’s American Precision
Stunning images and text reveal the Museum
stories of refugees who have resettled in A reunion of employees from the Cone-
Vermont. By Vermont documentarian Blanchard Company, once a major
Ned Castle. Governor’s Office, Pavilion manufacturer of precision tools for an
Building, Montpelier. international market, featuring former
workers’ memories of the heyday of
the precision tool industry in Vermont.
June 22 – 26 All are welcome. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Discovering Community
Students, Digital Media, and Place-
Based Learning, a week-long summer
Late August
institute for educators. Launching the Website archive of
Franco-American singer/activist
June 6, July 11, August 8,
Martha Pellerin
This website offers access to Pellerin’s
collections of Franco-American
2010
September 12 & October 2 songbooks.
First Saturdays
January
Come join us on the front lawn Art of Action Exhibit
to see the work of a different Visit the VFC during the month of
traditional artist each month. January as we host the Art of Action
Gallery and Museum Tour. This
exhibit features the special work of
June 27 10 Vermont artists addressing issues
identified by Vermonters as essential
In partnership with the Flynn to our state’s future. This exhibit was
Center for the Performing Arts made possible by Lyman Orton and
the Vermont Arts Council.
A day-long program that includes
the film Reveil, master classes by
Quebecois musicians, performances by
Michèle Choinière and Genticorum, February – April
and culminates in an after-concert
soiree. A program in recognition of the September 1 Exhibits Exploring Vermont
Communities
Champlain Quadricentennial.
The Vermont Traditional Arts An exhibit series featuring exemplary
Apprenticeship Program student projects shaped by the
Begins its 17th program cycle, perspectives of ethnography and
providing stipends for master place-based education, from Addison
traditional artists to work with less County and schools throughout
experienced apprentices thereby the state.
ensuring that living traditional arts
are preserved.
May 14
Opening reception for Portraits
September 11 of Marlboro: A Deep Look at a
Small Town
Opening reception for After Featuring photographs, interviews,
Attica: the Prison Portraits of and text created by photographer
Neil Rappaport 1971-74 Forrest Holtzapfel, an in-depth
Featuring the first public showing exploration of the relationship of
July 10 of inmate portraits taken at the
Great Meadow Correctional Facility,
people and place in his hometown
of Marlboro.
Gallery Talk with Rebecca Lepkoff a maximum security prison in
The creative photographer behind Comstock, NY.
the Almost Utopia Exhibit as part of
Middlebury’s Monthly Art Walk.
5-7 p.m. September 12
Vermont Story Festival
July 23 A collaborative between the Vermont
Folklife Center, Ilsley Library and the
Sacred Natures: The Nearings, Henry Sheldon Museum. The festival
Homesteading, Localvores and will spotlight Abenaki stories, dance
the Way Ahead and art. There will be an exciting
Abenaki dance and story performance
A program by Rebecca Kneale Gould,
at Town Hall Theater, followed by an
Associate Professor of Religion and
array of participatory activities at the
Environmental Studies, Middlebury
sponsoring venues. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
College. In conjunction with the
exhibit Almost Utopia: In Search of the
Good Life in Mid-Century America. 7 p.m.
Visit us at our website: www.vermontfolklifecenter.org
S PR I N G 2 0 1 0 January 25, 2010
Class Schedule Getting the Word(s) Out: Multiple Settings for Audio Interviews
February 15, 2010
Oral History for Community Historians
Interested in learning about
interviewing techniques and March 8, 2010
preserving the special stories The Tools and Techniques of Community Ethnography
of your family and community? March 29, 2010
Join the VFC staff for our popular Digital Audio Recording for Ethnography and Oral History
spring workshop series.
April 19, 2010
Preserving Digital Multimedia Files