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Join CAL’s Community of Artists: Memberships are now available

We’ve received many requests for a membership program here at CAL, and have thought through all the benefits we can provide for our artistic community. Our focus will be to develop and maintain a self-organized cohort for artists of all disciplines. Please read on for more details of our program and how to apply. If you don’t consider yourself an artist but want to support CAL’s mission, we welcome donations in any amount.

Jess shows a visitor around CAL’s Holiday Market. CAL members qualify to be in a market at a higher commission rate than non-members. Photo by Emma Norman.

Click here to apply for CAL membership

About Artist Memberships

The CAL artist community consists of all active CAL tenants, active members of the Arts Resource Association, and creative artists (students and professionals) in the community who are current on their annual dues.

Membership Benefits include opportunities to: 

  • Exhibit (and sell) work located in the first floor Members Gallery*
  • Sell work at pop-up Buyer’s Square marketplace during Artwalk*
  • Design and teach classes and workshops (about art, PR, grants, taxes, business)*
  • Participate in classes and workshops at discounted rates **
  • Facilitate and/or participate in art/community meet-ups
  • Facilitate and/or participate in critique/feedback sessions
  • Volunteer to support CAL and earn better commission rates and discounts
  • Make suggestions (and help develop) new programs, outreach, etc. 
  • Explore grant opportunities under CAL’s umbrella for fiscal sponsorship

* Members commission rate (for sales, and teaching) is 65% (35% to CAL). 

Working members (volunteer 3-5 hours a quarter) commission rate is 70% (30% to CAL)

**Class fee discounts for members and working members.

Membership dues 

$36/year as of date of payment.  Applications reviewed on a rolling basis.

An arts patron views an exhibit during a reception. CAL members qualify to show their work in the first floor Members Gallery. They may also participate in the Curation Committee. Photo by Carty.

Membership Eligibility

CAL welcomes creators of any artistic discipline (students, hobbyists and professionals) to apply for membership. Current studio tenants of CAL and current members of ARA are automatically qualified for CAL membership.

At minimum, you must:

  • Be a currently practicing artist (hobbyist, amateur or professional) in one or more disciplines, including fine arts, graphics, crafts, maker-arts, language and performing arts, etc. 
  • Be 16 years old or older
  • Reside in Vermont
  • Support CAL’s Mission
  • Agree to CAL’s Code of Conduct

What is a “Working Member”?

Active members that contribute time towards supporting the membership program, or support CAL through specific projects, will be considered a “working member,” if they contribute 3-5 hours per quarter (every three months). 

While CAL welcomes higher levels of volunteer participation, any hours contributed over 5 per quarter will be considered uncompensated volunteer time and will not accrue into the future. 

Working Member Duties 

To fulfill the required “working member” hours, contribute what you can, when you can! Below are links to some of the current volunteer opportunities at CAL. Please sign up if something here interests you. Please be in touch if you don’t see something listed that you would like to help with. 

A very happy group of painters with their leader Katie O’Rourke. CAL members may offer classes and programs to the membership or the general public under our umbrella. Photo by Phayvanh Luekhamhan.

About The Center for Arts and Learning

The Center for Arts and Learning (CAL) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit located in Montpelier, dedicated to fostering an arts community for everyone. We do this by offering private studios, gallery exhibits, fiscal sponsorship and arts programming. We are located at 46 Barre Street in Montpelier, which serves as the permanent home of CAL’s founding partners, the Monteverdi Music School and the T.W. Wood Gallery and Arts Center. 

CAL Membership Contact

Preya Holland, CAL Membership Coordinator: preya@cal-vt.org

Phayvanh Luekhamhan, CAL Executive Director: director@cal-vt.org 

Apply here

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Exhibit: Separations | Migrations

The summer show in the second floor Community Gallery features works in conversation around forced migration and the emotional trauma of family separation. Centered around Deborah Goudreau’s Separation Series, the exhibit includes visual art from Sarah Ashe, Holly Hauser, Lisa Myers, and Jeremy Vaughn. Additional text and a display of family relics fill out the show, curated by CAL director Phayvanh Luekhamhan.

Migrations 1, Sarah Ashe

Separations | Migrations opens in June and will be on show through mid August, with a closing reception during Montpelier’s August Art Walk. Goudreau is a potter and clay artist based in Hinesburg.

‘Despair’, from the Separation Series, Deborah Goudreau

“This country has a long history of separating children from their families. During the 200 years of slavery, children were sold apart from their parents; Native American children were abducted from their homes and sequestered in residential schools; and more currently, migrant children are being separated from parent(s),” Goudreau writes in her description of the nine water-filled clay vessels on display. The immediacy of the emotions depicted in her work are complemented by the visual elements, which both globalize and localize the issues of forced migration.

Meet the artists during the summer Art Walk receptions. All work is for sale, please contact Phayvanh Luekhamhan to inquire: director@cal-vt.org

Join us

Show Event:
Opening Reception

Closing Reception

Dates:
June 3, 2022, 5-7 PM

August 5, 2022, 5-7 PM

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“Tracking Time Through COVID” with Liz Le Serviget

Middlesex-based painter Liz Le Serviget’s solo exhibit at The Center for Arts and Learning’s Member Gallery, Tracking Time Through COVID, is a colorful visual journal of the artist’s everyday life since shutdown. It features cards, reflections, portraits and a diaorama.

Some of the many painted cards that Liz made during her isolation.

As part of the show, the artist invites viewers to mark their passage through COVID with her. Offering blank books, cards, colorful markers, participants can log the books they’ve read, and or mark a date on their own pandemic timeline.

Le Serviget says of the origins of this show, “Each day since mid March 2020,  I have been creating a 2“ x 3“ watercolor painting along with several words that describe an experience, activity, new event, mood, conversation, observation, appreciation, challenge or anything else that has left its mark on that particular day, setting it apart from other days that seem to be melting into each other.”

Show us what books you read and thoughts or ideas you had during the pandemic.

Since everyone experienced the pandemic differently, the artist  invites the viewer to add to the collective record of our time together. The exhibit and the interactive installation is on display in the first floor Members Gallery at the Center for Arts and Learning.

We are located at 46 Barre Street and are open M-F 8-5, S/S 10-4. For more information: info@cal-vt.org

Join us at CAL

Show Event:
Opening Reception

Closing Reception

Date:
June 3, 2022, 5 -7 PM

August 5, 2022, 5-7 PM

To purchase form this collection, please contact Phayvanh Luekhamhan: directro@cal-vt.org

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We’re #120 on the Vermont Open Studio Map! May 28-29, 2022

Center for Arts and Learning joins Vermont Open Studio Memorial Day Weekend 🎨

TL;DR Visit the Center for Arts and Learning during Open Studio and meet artists Liz Le Serviget and LynaLou Nordstrom. CAL boasts two galleries and curated hallways.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montpelier’s nonprofit community arts hub, the Center for Arts and Learning (CAL), located at 46 Barre St in Montpelier, VT will take part in the Vermont Crafts Council’s 30th Spring Open Studio on Memorial Day weekend. Doors are open to the general public on May 28 and 29 from 10 am to 4 pm.

“Faces”, from Liz Le Serviget’s Tracking Time Through Covid show

Studio artists present will be painter Liz Le Serviget (B1) and printmaker LynaLou Nordstrom (B5) in the lower “Underground Gallery” space. Come see their work, visit with the artists and if inclined, purchase their work. 

A print from LynaLou Nordstrom’s collection

Le Serviget’s exhibit “Tracking Time Through COVID” is displayed upstairs in the Members Gallery on the first floor. It’s a watercolor and oil timeline of her daily life since March 14, 2020, featuring cards, reflections, portraits and an interactive piece. 

“Horror”, from Deborah Goudreau’s Separation Series

The second floor Community Gallery features Separation Series, a meditation on family separation via water-filled clay vessels by Deborah Goudreau. Wall art by Jeremy Vaughn, Lisa Meyers, and Sarah Ashe round out the Separations and Migrations exhibit. 

OTHER ART AT CAL: The first floor hallway and a portion of the Underground Gallery is curated by the Art Resource Association (ARA), a membership group of Central Vermont artists. 

CAL’s partner the T.W. Wood Gallery and Museum will also be part of the Open Studio event.

There’s much to see during Open Studio at CAL. Opening reception for all shows will take place during Montpelier Art Walk, Friday June 3rd from 5-7 pm. 

ABOUT CAL: The Center for Arts and Learning is Montpelier’s nonprofit arts hub, featuring gallery space, private art studios, and is the permanent home of the T.W. Wood Gallery and Museum and the Monteverdi Music School. It is located at 46 Barre Street and is open M-F 8-5, S/S 10-4. For more information: info@cal-vt.org

ABOUT OPEN STUDIO: The 30th Annual Vermont Spring Open Studio Weekend, is held during Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, May 28 & 29 from 10 – 5 each day. It gives shoppers, visitors and collectors the opportunity to plan a tour that brings them through the small towns of Vermont to studios where they can purchase beautiful well-made things and talk with the artist that made them. Open Studio is a project of the Vermont Crafts Council. CAL is stop #120 on the map. 

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Photos: Art Walk April 1, 2022

We had a great time at last Friday’s Art Walk. Here are few pictures from the event, featuring PoemCity, Art Resource Association, Cardboard Teck Instantute, and the T.W. Wood galleries. Thanks to our friend Carty for the photos. 📸

Don’t miss us on the next Art Walk, June 3rd. See you then! 🗓️

Also: for everyone who came by the next day for Liz LeServiget’s art sale benefitting Ukraine, she was able to send off $800 in donations. Thanks to art buyers one and all. 💖

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April Mocks and Smocks with Jess Quinn

Spring inspiration: Poppies

Our next Mocks and Smocks takes place on Friday, April 15 and is taught by Jess Quinn, who will be guiding participants through a mixed media collage on canvas creating images of poppies, and using this flower as inspiration.

Doors open at 5:30, and participants are encouraged to arrive then to sample refreshments and settle into their creative workspace. Class starts promptly at 6 PM.

From 6 til 8, Jess will guide participants in mixed media collage , using paint, paper, glue, and watercolors.

This series is a presentation of the Center for Arts and Learning. Ticket sales help to defray materials costs, pay the teaching artist, and supports overall CAL programming.

COVID Safety:

To ensure safety at this event, the class size is limited, the space has good airflow and we run an air purifier during class. Masks are required (provided if needed). Anyone feeling unwell should stay home and join us in a future class.

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Spring Mocks and Smocks on sale now

We’re very much looking forward to next week’s Mocks and Smocks event with Katie O’Rourke. Doors open at 5:30 PM and class starts at 6 PM. If you haven’t yet reserved your ticket, please do so now!

Katie is a Montpelier-based teaching artist and she is a great guide to help you create a finished painting that you can take with you. This month, we will be making an abstract winter scene.

Learn how to make this painting on March 18th

Great for friend groups. teens, and #TGIF unwinding sessions. Refreshments will be provided. $5 discount for two tickets purchased.

For folks who want to plan ahead, please check out the spring dates here and go ahead and pre-order the canvases for the dates you’re interested in. As always, class size is limited. Paintings for these sessions will be posted later.

If you enjoy this program, please make sure to tell your friends, post about it on Front Porch Forum, or share our Facebook events. See you on Friday the 18th!

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Paint with Katie O’Rourke | Feb 18th Mocks and Smocks

Come #TGIF with us this month on Friday, Feb 18th and unwind with a fun low-stress paint along! Local teacher Katie O’Rourke will lead us through painting an owl face, with feather details. Come as a pair you can each do half a face!

As always, this is a sober family-friendly event and no experience is necessary. Refreshments and supplies provided. Take your painting home with you! For ages 14+

Painting of an owl face that we’ll be working on.

Please note, we’ve changed the ticketing a little bit to make it easier and more fair for everyone. Ticket costs offset supplies, teaching fees, and supports CAL programming.

See you soon!

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Let’s Collage About it: A Community Exhibition Opens February 4, 2022

Center for Arts and Learning presents Let’s Collage About It, a community exhibition of contemporary collage art by 15 Vermont artists. The exhibit includes a variety of collage techniques by artists of different ages and mediums. The exhibit is curated by artist Jess Quinn.

Featured Artists: Kristin Bierfelt, Liz Buchanan, Katherine Coons, Anne Cummings, Elizabeth Dow, Ren Haley, Holly Hauser, Lily Hinrichsen, Jean Kelly, Jess Quinn, Rachel Marie Rodi, Cariah Rosberg, Anne Sarcka, Peggy Watson, Olivia White.

The public is invited to attend the opening reception, to be held as part of Montpelier’s Art Walk on Friday, February 4th, 2022 from 5-7 PM in the 2nd floor Community Gallery. The Gallery is sponsored by National Life Group. 

Are You Made of Stone? by Kristin Beirfelt, Middlesex, VT
Sending An SOS To The World by Anne Cummings, Westford, VT

The show will be on display until April 15th, 2022. Viewing hours are Monday – Friday 8 AM – 5 PM and 10 AM – 4 PM on the weekends. CAL is located at 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT. The elevator accessible entrance is on Monsignor Crosby Ave. For more information about the exhibit and the artists, please visit www.cal-vt.org.

ABOUT THE VENUE: The Center for Arts and Learning (CAL) is the permanent home for the T.W. Wood Gallery and the Monteverdi Music School and serves as an artistic hub for Central Vermont, located in an historic building in Montpelier, Vermont’s capital. CAL is a nonprofit organization created to support the arts by providing studio space for artists, musicians, writers, and nonprofits.

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Paint with Katie O’Rourke Friday, Jan 21st

Mocks and Smocks is back again every third Friday of the month, starting on the 21st with a wintry painting session led by Montpelier artist Katie O’Rourke.

Mocks and Smocks is open to everyone ages 14+, all materials and instruction will be provided. Enjoy mocktails and snacks on us. You take your painting home with you!

Friday, January 21, 2022. Doors open 5:30, class starts at 6 PM.

As seen above, our COVID precautions include masking, limited class size, and use of an air purifier in the space.

Class will be held in the 2nd floor gallery space. Elevator accessible entrance is located on the Msgr Crosby side (purple door).

Tickets available for youth participants, parent-child pairs, and adult pairs. We offer discounts for paired tickets.

Here’s the painting we’ll be working on this month.

Cardinal sitting on a fence in a snowy field with a branchy tree in the background against a blue sky while snowflakes fall. Painting by Katie O’Rourke.

Tickets help us to offset cost of materials, the teaching fee, and supports CAL’s overall programming. We appreciate your support. For more information: info@cal-vt.org.