A New Renaissance

Earlier this pandemic year, my mother remarked that perhaps as the restrictions lifted and people began gathering together again, we as a society would have the pleasure of witnessing the next great renaissance of arts and culture. After a year of isolation, this thought brought energy back into my body and so we got started brainstorming how River Arts could be at the helm of that surge of arts in our community. 

This summer, River Arts is doing more to reach out from our historic schoolhouse on Pleasant Street into the community to bring art into the forefront in Morrisville. Join us on July 14th at Wednesday Night Live for a Month Style Story Slam event. Perhaps you’ll feel brave enough to put your name in the hat and tell a story on the theme of community. River Arts is excited to present a brand new music series, Music on Main, in partnership with MACC. Every Friday in July and August this free concert series will bring local musicians to downtown Morrisville to help bring more life to our community center. Celebrate the creativity within our community at our first ever Night to Celebrate the Arts on August 11th as part of the Wednesday Night Live Series. Enjoy our public Community Birdhouse Project installed along the rail trail throughout this summer and start brainstorming your scarecrow design for our second annual scarecrow contest coming this fall. Sign up for one of our in-person classes like our Community Engaged Printmaking Class, a Sip N’ Slurry, or our Drawing 101 Series with Michelle Saffran. We want you to feel like River Arts is your place to connect with your friends and neighbors through fun and engaging arts activities. 

In 2018 when I joined the River Arts community as a clay studio member, and then drop-in class teacher, I immediately recognized how special and important this community arts center was. Vermont is lacking in “third spaces'' where people can gather together and create community ties. It seemed that as someone who didn’t feel comfortable in bars, I couldn’t find a place where I could casually meet my neighbors and have engaging conversations. When I discovered River Arts and began attending events and spending time in the clay studio, I felt I had found my home for the first time since moving from Michigan in 2016. I still get really emotional when I think about how River Arts has changed my life. I have always known that I wanted to work in a nonprofits arts center and so joining the staff this past winter as the Events and Programs Coordinator has really been a dream come true for me. 

As I look ahead to this fall, when most of our ongoing community classes plan to resume, I wanted to encourage folks who haven’t yet spent an evening at one of our drop-in classes to stop by. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to try figure drawing or would find it fun to join an African Drumming circle. Starting in September, I am excited to help launch an open-mic style Musician’s Circle on the first Fridays of every month starting at 6 pm so that local musicians can have a space to share songs, meet other songwriters and non-musical folks can enjoy local music in an intimate setting.

-Lisa Wolfgang, Events and Programs Coordinator