Mural artist Mary Lacy. Photo courtesy Michael Sipe
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS
The arts, music and theater are staples of community life in the north country. Artists get our first early taste for creativity within a rich ecosystem of schools, community theaters, cafes, local residency programs and outreach programs.
A dense network of institutions, community-based arts organizations, businesses and independently owned venues support artists at all levels along their journey. A growing number of annual events and seasonal festivals bring international collaborators and audiences.
VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS TRAIL GUIDES
SARA KATZ
Painter
Activist artist with a decade of experience in non-profit arts management.
MARY LACY
Mural Artist
Turns monumental flat surfaces into things of eye-popping glory. Loves bucket-loaders and time-lapse.
JIM LOCKRIDGE
Music Activist
Post-punk music activist, archivist and educator. Playing with the civic cloud, VR and LOLA concerts.
ANNI MACKAY
Arts Promoter
Curator, presenter, rabble rouser. Connecting and promoting the Cornerstone Region's vitality.
SARA KATZ
Painter
Activist artist with a decade of experience in non-profit arts management.
MARY LACY
Mural Artist
Turns monumental flat surfaces into things of eye-popping glory. Loves bucket-loaders and time-lapse.
JIM LOCKRIDGE
Music Activist
Post-punk music activist, archivist and educator. Playing with the civic cloud, VR and LOLA concerts.
ANNI MACKAY
Arts Promoter
Curator, presenter, rabble rouser. Connecting and promoting the Cornerstone Region's vitality.
LINDSAY SELIN
Photographer, Jeweler
Active outdoors and an architecture and styling photographer who also designs stunning jewelry.
KURT BUDLINGER
Photographer
Turns monumental flat surfaces into things of eye-popping glory. Loves bucket-loaders and time-lapse.
LAUREN MAZZOTTA
Photographer
Incredible people person with a careful eye for composition and color tones. Photo retoucher.
ERIKA SENFT-MILLER
Multi-media artist
Takes people on adventures where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, senses come alive, perspectives shift.
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
Nationally recognized illustrators and designers have made Vermont home, making design one of the highest value-added sectors in the state. We're always spinning out new brands, creating ample opportunity for new entrants and exciting innovation.
With good infrastructure, an active chapter of the AIGA and a diffuse community, Vermont's design and illustration community is a fun and funky place to build a career.
Meet some of the design and illustration influencers.
Illustration courtesy of Rob Donnelly Art
DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION TRAIL GUIDES
ROB DONNELLY
Illustrator, Animator
Illustrator and animator with online and print clients. Using two- and three- dimensional approaches.
MICHELLE HOBBS
Illustrator, Designer
Professional communications designer and chapter president of AIGA Vermont.
STEPHANIE ZUPPO
Cartoon Artist
Artist and entrepreneur with a passion for indie Cons and growing Vermont's cartooning community.
JAMES KOCHALKA
Cartoon Artist
Artist and illustrator, sometimes musician and David Bowie fanboy. Creator of Glorkian Warrior.
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
Photo courtesy of Kip Steel
INTERACTIVE &
GAME DESIGN
Just south of North America's third largest game design market, Vermont is a lower-cost and competitive environment to create new products and companies. Fueled by talent from Champlain College's Emergent Media Center and Dartmouth CS programs, Vermont's nascent game design community is quirky, savvy and fun.
Our position between Boston, Albany, and Montreal makes it easy to get around - for inspiration, connection, and capital.
INTERACTIVE & GAME DESIGN TRAIL GUIDES
MARGUERITE DIBBLE
Interactive Designer
Marguerite is a local powerhouse of good, as founder of gametheory.co and creative ally to community boards.
EDMAR MENDIZABAL
Game Producer
Edmar is a tireless indie game producer and founder of Vermont's Game Developers' Association.
KIP STEEL
VR Trainer
When not managing IT infrastructure Kip is helping to build Burlington's gig economy, including VR development.
ANN DEMARLE
Emergent Media
Ann is the director of the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College and a tireless supporter of the arts.
ELLIOTT MITCHELL
Game Designer, Artist
Chief fire starter at Vermont Digital Arts. Constantly playing with emergent tech, art forms and Unity keeps it managed.
MYSTERY CAT
Could It Be You?
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
CRAFT
MANUFACTURING
Once a center of precision manufacturing in the United States, Vermont's industrial legacy is experiencing a revival in the hands of a new generation of limited production, high quality makers and fabricators.
Vermont's craft manufacturers produce world-class contemporary and modern furniture, high performance bicycles, table and kitchen ware, leather goods, cafe racers, and much more.
Photo courtesy of Josh Steel, Vintage Steel
CRAFT MANUFACTURING TRAIL GUIDES
JOSH STEEL
Mechanic, Maker
Josh is the owner and motorcycle mechanic in chief at Vintage Steel, maker of café racers in Vermont.
PEGGY FARRABAUGH
Wood Entrepreneur
As owner of Vermont Woods Studios Peggy has both eyes on high quality wood product manufacturing in VT.
ERIK COOOPER
Maker
One half of the Burlington duo Matt // Erik Design and founder of the Alternator maker space.
MYSTERY CAT
Could It Be You?
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
Photo courtesy of Michael B. Fisher Productions
DIGITAL VIDEO AND FILM
Vermont's motion picture community is a tight-knit, full-production network of professionals spanning art house, commercial and feature work. Nationally known screenwriters, DPs, and production talent have chosen Vermont to life, work and play.
Pillar companies include Kingdom County Productions, Matt Bucci Productions, Mondo Media Works, Urban Rhino Productions, Velocity Media, Hen House Media, Mount Mansfield Productions, and Dreamlike Pictures.
A strong, year-round schedule of festivals and professional development opportunities include the Vermont International Film Festival, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, the White River Indie Film Fest, Stowe Story Lab.
DIGITAL VIDEO & FILM TRAIL GUIDES
MICHAEL FISHER
Filmmaker
A director, photographer and educator, Michael has produced a dozen vibrant vignettes of Vermont life.
JENNIFER RUTHERFORD
Writer, Director, Producer
A director, photographer and educator, Michael has produced a dozen vibrant vignettes of Vermont life.
ORLY YADIN
Archivist, Producer
Director of the Vermont International Film Festival and founder of the Vermont Archive Movie Project.
EZLERH ORESTE
Filmmaker, Photographer
Actor. Activist. Comedian.
Filmmaker. Photographer.
Connecting Southern Vermont.
ERIC FORD
Producer, Enthusiast
When he's not watching horror and '80s cinema, Eric is scouting and producing local content for VPBS in Colchester.
NORA JACOBSON
Filmmaker, Producer
Nora is narrative and documentary filmmaker and founder member of the White River Indie Film Festival.
NATHAN BEAMAN
Writer, Director, Producer
Founder and owner of Urban Rhino Productions, Nate brings innovation and vision to digital production.
BRAD SALON
Filmmaker, Educator
Brad is the founder of Roots School and an active aerial photographer and video producer in Bradford.
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
FASHION &
LIFESTYLE
Vermont has long been a source of traditional, hearty wear. Today, new production methods and a fashion forward design sensitivity have generated a growing generation of fashion and accessory producers.
Anchor enterprises include Burton, April Cornell, Salaam, the Johnson Woolen Mills, Turtle Fur, and Zutano. A restless group of emerging designers include Dam Fine Pants, A Little Lingerie Company, and Designs by Daria.
Photo of Lucy Leith and BINA-48 by Lars Hasselblad Torres
FASHION & LIFESTYLE TRAIL GUIDES
ANNE LABRUSCIANO
Clothing Designer
Anne is a designer, pattern maker and sewer whose work is distributed by well-known outlets. She makes a wicked bagel too.
SAM TALBOT-KELLY
Costume Designer, Artist
Known as S'Amuse, Sam is a multimedia artist whose costumes explore relationships to materials and, currently, robotics.
TOVE OHLANDER
Designer, Artist
Based in Burlington, Tove designs practical, elegant workwear, proving that fashion can be made without harming people and the environment.
LIZZY WILLIAMS
Stylist
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
Photo courtesy of Alice and the Magician
FOOD &
BEVERAGE
Long, dark winters make for the idea conditions to explore culinary and cocktail possibilities - and Vermont has it made. From our rugged bootlegger past to future-facing olfactory experiences, we've got some exciting things cooking.
Anchor companies include Rhino Foods, Birnn Chocolates, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Keurig Green Mountain, Otter Creek Brewing, Cabot Creamery, Magic Hat Brewing, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, Kingdom Creamery and American Flatbread.
Exciting new arrivals include Alice and the Magician, Hill Farmstead Brewery, Caledonia Spirits, Whistle Pig, Nutty Stephs, Bohemian Bakery, Vermont Smoke and Cure, Citizen Cider, and Jasper Hill.
FOOD & BEVERAGE TRAIL GUIDES
AARON WISNIEWSKI
Alice and the Magician
Mixing performance and science, Aaron and the Alice and Magician team produce unforgettable cocktails.
SCOTT KERNER
Three Penney Taproom
Scott is a Central Vermont entrepreneur who has revitalized night life with the Three Penny Taproom and mornings with Carrier Coffee Roasting Co.
JAQUELYN REIKE
Confectioner, Agitator
Jacquelyn is the founder of Nutty Steph's granola and chocolate bars, and a big maker of culture in Vermont.
ROB ROCK
Farmer, Inventor
A hardworking farmer by day who throws a great taco party, Rob is also the inventor of ag tech innovations.
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
ARCHITECTURE &
INTERIOR DESIGN
From private places to public spaces, our rural landscape and compact village centers are platforms for innovation in architecture and design. A national leader in sustainable design/build and LEED certification, Vermont architects, engineers, and interior designers create incredible spaces.
Pillar companies include Black River Design, gbA, Tektonika Studio, TruexCullins, Birdseye, Imhotep, Christine Burdick Design, Prickly Hill, Duncan Wisniewski, and Smith Buckley. Anchor institutions include Yestermorrow Design Build, Norwich University, and Middlebury College.
Emerging efforts include the Tiny House Festival, Studio Neva, Hinge, Ward Joyce Design, and the Stonorov Workshop.
Photo courtesy of Ward Joyce Design
ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN TRAIL GUIDES
MISSA ALOISI
Architect, Designer
Along with an architecture and design practice, Missa is the owner of Blank Slate Coworking in Burlington.
GREG GOSSENS
Architect, Designer
Founding partner of gbA, Gregg uses collaborative creative process and design to transform communities.
WARD JOYCE
Architect, Tactical Urbanist
"Tactical urbanism" defines Ward's approach to enlivening public space through social function and delight.
TOLYA STONOROV
Architect, Educator
Professor at Norwich University, writer and practicing architect, Tolya's spare work creates a harmony in nature.
CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS
Photo courtesy Lars Hasselblad Torres
LITERARY
ARTS
With one of the highest concentrations of writers in the country, Vermont is a powerhouse of words. Drawn to the landscape and the earthly mysteries of our seasons, Vermont has long attracted poets and novelists, essayists, journalists and playwrights. Writers have become as ubiquitous and important to the state as our sugar maple.
Among the anchors of support to writers in Vermont are the Humanities Council, Breadloaf Writers Workshop, When Words Count Writers Retreat, the Stowe Story Lab, the Vermont College of Fine Art, Johnson Studio Center, Bennington College, the League of Vermont Writers, and the Green Mountain Writers Conference.
LITERARY ARTS TRAIL GUIDES
SARAH STEWART TAYLOR/S.S. TAYLOR
Fiction Writer
S.S. Taylor writes adventurous novels for kids as well as articles for numerous publications from her family's farm.
KAREN MCCADDEN
Poet
An accomplished poet and gifted high school teacher, Kerrin is the founder of the youth zine Mandatory Assembly.
STEPHEN D'AGOSTINO
Writer, Copy Editor
An award-winning copywriter, author, and weekly correspondent for his local paper in Reading, Vermont.
DAVID ROCCHIO
Writer, Director, Producer
When not writing a screenplay or producing work, David supports new talent through Stowe Story Lab.
