GAME (LIFE) -- New Arcade-Style Exhibition -- Opens Friday (Tomorrow!)

Friday, Dec. 18th (tomorrow!) from 5-8pm at the Firehouse Gallery --
Opening Reception for new exhibition:

GAME (LIFE)
Video Games in Contemporary Art
Dec. 18, 2009 - Feb. 13, 2010

The gallery has been transformed into an interactive arcade. Come experience the visual aesthetics and messages behind some of today's most creative, independent video games!

First Friday Art Walk --> Dec. 4th

This Friday is December 4th -- it's the First Friday of the month, so come on down to the Firehouse Gallery from 5pm until 8pm! Informal tours, exploring the art exhibited around Burlington's Church Street, run from the Firehouse at:

5:30

6:00

6:30

7:00 pm

Or, you can hang out at the Firehouse, and soak in the detached creepiness of Medicine & Mortality - this exhibit closes after next week (through Saturday, Dec. 12).

Pick up your free copy of Art Map Burlington, or check out online: http://www.artmapburlington.com/ to see what art Burlington has to offer throughout the month of December!

Remember: that's this Friday, Dec. 4th. We look forward to seeing you there.

Film Series at the Firehouse: The Films of David Cronenberg

Dear Movie Lovers (NOT of the faint of heart),



The second movie Dead Ringers (rated R) in this series of four by the award-winning filmmaker David Cronenberg is being shown at the Firehouse Gallery (2nd floor) Thursday, Nov. 5 (TOMORROW!). It's free and open to the public. Brave the cold and brace yourselves! Mature audiences only, donations accepted.

David Cronenberg is known as the originator of the venereal horror genre. His films' explore themes such as disease, disaster, and the transformation of one's physical self.

The Full Series at the Firehouse:
- October 29 -- Videodrome, unrated
- November 5 -- Dead Ringers, rated R
- November 12 -- Existenz, rated R
- November 19 -- Crash, rated NC-17

New Exhibit -- Medicine & Mortality -- Opening Reception and Artist Talk: This Friday (Oct 30)

Image: Sasanqua Link, Abdominal Stele, 2006

It's time to say goodbye to Human = Landscape, and hello to our next exhibition at the Firehouse Gallery, just in time for Halloween, Medicine & Mortality.

This show will run from October 30-December 12. It features three artists with ties to Vermont, each of whom finds inspiration in how contemporary medicine and technology leave their imprint on the human body and spirit.

Join us for an opening reception, snacks included, and artist talk THIS FRIDAY, October 30 starting at 5:00 pm. We will be open until 8pm that night.

Come at any time to see the art, come for the discussion, come for the food! We look forward to seeing you there.

Human = Landscape Closing Celebrations -- This Saturday (October 24th)

For more information:

CONTACT: Eric Ford

P 802.865-5355
E eford@ci.burlington.vt.us


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Human = Landscape Closing Reception at the Firehouse Center October 24th


Burlington, VT: (October 16, 2009) On Saturday, October 24th from 3-6pm, join activists, community members, and artists in Burlington’s City Hall Park and Burlington City Arts’ Firehouse Center on Church Street for a closing reception of the exhibition Human = Landscape featuring speakers, performance, discussions and environmental action.

As part of the current exhibition Human = Landscape at the Firehouse Center, artist and UVM Professor Cameron Davis presented the Dear World Project, an installation at the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts composed of “small works” from many contributors in the community, who were invited to participate throughout the two month exhibition of Human = Landscape. Each artist was asked to create artwork as a response to www.350.org’s Call to Action, a Non-Governmental Organization initiative working internationally to organize and promote climate awareness and change.

Beginning at 3pm, on the 24th at locations around the city including the University of Vermont’s Ira Allen Chapel and the Firehouse Center, tower bells will be rung 350 times to bring awareness to 350.orgs mission promoting awareness of carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and it’s relationship to global warming. Performers will walk in silence from three sites: the UVM campus, Viva Espresso Café, and Magnolia Bistro, to the Firehouse Gallery and City Hall Park handing out the small works created as part of the Dear World Project to onlookers. On the back of each work of art is info about the 350.org day of action. For more information about the global day of action, please visit http://www.350.org/.

Also at 3pm, artists Nancy Dwyer, Ethan Bond-Watts and Rebecca Schwarz from the Human = Landscape exhibition and 350.org guest speakers including ecologist, activist and Middlebury College research scholar Amy Seidl will give talks in the gallery. The procession will culminate in City Hall Park around 4pm, to be followed by a series of speakers on the back plaza of the Firehouse Center and a formal panel discussion entitled Art and Environmental Intervention, featuring artists Cameron Davis, John Anderson, Patrick Marold and Firehouse Gallery Curator Christopher Thompson.

OCTOBER 24th SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

2pm: Artists and activists gather at various locations and begin walk to Firehouse Center and City Hall Park

3pm: Tower bells at Ira Allen Chapel, The Firehouse Center and other locations are rung 350 times.

3pm – 6pm: Closing reception at the Firehouse Center for the exhibition Human = Landscape.

3pm: Speakers in the Firehouse Gallery:
· Ethan Bond-Watts, Human = Landscape artist
· Nancy Dwyer, Human = Landscape artist
· Rebecca Schwarz, Human = Landscape artist
· Amy Seidl, Ecologist, activist and Middlebury College research scholar

4pm: Speakers on the Firehouse Plaza in City Hall Park:
· Orin Langelle, Global Justice Ecology Project
· Elizabeth Sawin, Program Director, Sustainability Institute
· Jeff Wolfe, CEO, groSolar

4:30pm: Panel Discussion in the Firehouse Center, Art and Environmental Intervention, featuring artists Cameron Davis, John Anderson, Patrick Marold and Firehouse Gallery Curator Christopher Thompson.

Human = Landscape: Aesthetics of a Carbon Constrained Future, is a part of
Energy Project Vermont, a partnership between ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science
Center at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and BCA, with the support of the
University of Vermont. Human = Landscape is sponsored by The Jan & David Blittersdorf Foundation, The Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, Seventh Generation, Green Mountain Power, Burlington International Airport, and the Lintilhac Foundation, and is an important part of Burlington City Arts, which is dedicated to the promotion of excellence, experimentation, and education in all forms of contemporary art. For more information about gallery exhibitions, special events, classes and workshops, please call 802.865.7166 or visit BURLINGTONCITYARTS.COM.

###END###

Microhouse Lecture Tomorrow! (Tuesday, October 13 at 7pm)

Have you seen this house?

It’s called the “Microhouse,” and it can be found in Burlington’s City Hall Park, right outside the back entrance to the Firehouse Gallery. The 10’x10’ compact house was constructed on a budget of $4,000 for materials.

The project was created by Alex Carver, Christopher North, and H. Keith Wagner. Carver and North are partners in Northern Timbers Construction in Ripton, Vermont. Wagner is a Vermont landscape architect and metal artist.

Curious about the Microhouse's construction? Want to learn more about alternatives to large “trophy houses” or “McMansions”? You can learn more by attending a lecture given by the three artists, to be held at the Firehouse Gallery this Tuesday (October 13th) starting at 7pm. An informal reception will follow.

If you haven’t seen the Microhouse yet, it’ll be on display through the run of Human = Landscape at the Firehouse Gallery. But don’t wait too long – there are two weeks to go! The last day to see the Human = Landscape exhibit is Saturday, October 24th.


*** Recap:

* Lecture on the Microhouse this Tuesday at 7pm (October 13th) at the Firehouse Gallery.

* Saturday, October 24th is the last day to see the exhibition Human = Landscape.

Lights Out! -- Looking Back on a Special Art Hop Show (9/11 - 9/18/2009)

Lights Out!

While we are looking back at past B.C.A. events, we can't forget the special Art Hop show, "Lights Out!"…The opening was Friday September 11, 2009, and the show was on display until Friday September 18.

Artists Mia Feuer, Peter Miller, and Will Walker, in Residence at ‘the Barn’ for the months of August and September (sponsored by the Seven Below Arts Initiative and B.C.A.), showcased original installations at the Annex of Memorial Auditorium.

The works all deal with the manipulation of light and an embodiment of impermanence.

Mia Feuer’s piece, Evacuation Route with Rubies, was inspired by her time spent in deadlocked Washington D.C. traffic, listening to the financial news on radio during the height of the economic recession. In response to the destruction of the financial markets, here she imagines the physical destruction of the monotonous structures that then surrounded her in traffic (the red car brake-lights, the tiled surface of the roadway tunnels). While the structure alludes to heavy metallic and plastic structures, it is made completely from Styrofoam, enamel paint, and actual automotive brake-lights retrieved from the dump.

Peter Miller offered several pieces, playing with light and the effects of the kaleidoscope. Centrally placed within the annex, More Than You and I Will Ever Know beckons the viewer to peer into a triangle-shaped mirror chamber (a large version of a kaleidoscope) that distorts and reflects a video-projection loop of glowing embers.

Another piece, Jewel for David Brewster, consists of a small film projector projecting a loop of 16mm film onto the wall through a kaleidoscope.

A piece entitled There Is a Crack in Everything further explores the ability of mirrors to play with reality. A plinth (a tall white pillar) that appears to be solid is actually two plinths, one on the ground and one hung in the air, so that there is a crack between them. Investigating this crack, there is a mirror "box" without its top placed inside the hollow lower plinth. Inside the mirror box are sixteen tea-candles in a 4x4 configuration. But are there only 16? -- The mirrors give the illusion that the candle flames extend to infinity, evoking the image of a city of lights at night.

Will Walker displayed two pieces. The first, entitled Mansfield (estoy en las nubes), features a meticulously, yet spontaneously crafted cloud. The hollow structure was made from lollipop sticks that were glued onto transparent paper in a repeated triangle pattern. The paper structures were then glued to foam core that helped support the structure. Inside the cloud, fluorescent lights shine with different colored theatrical gels (thin transparent plastic pieces) taped around them. The overall pinkish-purple color of the lit piece gives it an other-worldly feel, far apart from the usual white or grey puffy cloud.

Device for watching the sun (for Clara), his second piece, consists of an arrangement of theatre gels placed inside a cardboard box. An incandescent light shines on the gels through a hole cut into the box's side, and this light bounces off the gels and onto a piece of paper placed over the top opening of the box. The indistinct colors projected onto the paper recall to one's mind photos of the universe, as captured by the Hubble telescope.

The installation of these three independent artists' work was impressively unified in theme. The Memorial Auditorium's Annex was made dark and moody to effectively contrast with a show all about light. Burlington City Arts hopes to stage future shows in the Annex, as this show was a hit.

We wish Mia, Peter, and Will the best of luck on their next projects, and encourage you the reader to come on out to the September Art Hop 2010! (it's never too early to get excited...).

October's First Friday Art Walk -- (Oct. 2nd)

Last Friday was the first Friday of the month, and that means it was time for BCA's First Friday Art Walk.

This free, informal monthly tour, sponsored by Burlington City Arts, offers Burlington-ians and visitors alike a chance to see some of the local, contemporary art that is tucked away in the Church St. area, whether it's within small, traditional gallery spaces or mingling with merchandise in retail or coffee shops. What's on offer changes regularly, so there's always something new to see.

On First Friday Art Walks, tours begin at 5:30, 6:00, 6:30, and 7:00pm, and they run about an hour long. Meet in the main gallery of the Firehouse Gallery (135 Church St.). Rain or shine (and we certainly had rain last week...)!

Free Burlington Art Maps (highlighting the contemporary art being shown in the given month) are available at the Firehouse Gallery during the First Friday Art Walk or can be picked up at any time to serve as a self-guiding tour around Burlington.

Questions? Stop by the Firehouse Gallery or call (802) 865-7166.

Bundle up and get ready to attend November's First Friday Art Walk, Nov. 6th!

Human=Landscape

THE ENERGY PROJECT is a unique partnership between ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center/Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and Burlington City Arts with the support of University of Vermont. With a variety of exhibitions, speakers, school curricula, interactive art and technology, and more, the Energy Project strives to create a community dialogue about renewable energy through the lens of science and the visual arts.

While we are finally beginning to realize the gravity of the global environmental crisis, we have yet to succeed in creating a unified plan of action. Our goal is to educate a broad audience about the potential for energy choices to alter our lifestyles and our landscape, and to explore the role aesthetics play in those choices here in Vermont.

Be a part of the solution. We can get there from here.


Press Releases

Energy Project Vermont Press Release
Human = Landscape Press Release
WIND: Power & Play Press Release
Click here for electronic press kit

Contact

Eric Ford, BCA Marketing Director
P
802.865-5355
E
eford@ci.burlington.vt.us

Steven Leibman, ECHO Director
of Marketing and Communications
P
802.864.1848 x125
E
sleibman@echovermont.org