Integrated Art-Science Residencies at Local Schools

March Thru May 2018

co-produced by Vermont Performance Lab and the Windham Regional Commission

As part of The Confluence Project, teaching artists Judy Dow, Lida Winfield, and Gowri Savoor along with stream scientists and conservationists will work with students and teachers to delve into the science, history, and culture of our local watersheds. The residencies will culminate in student art projects, presentations, performances and community celebrations with students and teachers from the Guilford Central School, Hilltop Montessori School and the Marlboro Elementary School

Vernal Pool Identification Training and Field Visit

hosted by the Green River Watershed Alliance

Saturday
April 14 @ 1pm – 4pm

@ Broad Brook Community Center
3940 Guilford Center Road, Guilford, VT

Join Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center’s Patti Smith as she trains attendees how to identify a vernal pool and document them on the Vermont Vernal Pool Mapping Project. The workshop will include a field visit to a nearby vernal pool to explore its features.

Click here to register

Beavers, Floods, and Climate Change Workshop and Field Visit

hosted by the Green River Watershed Alliance

Saturday
April 29 @ 3pm – dusk

@ Rice-Aron Library, Marlboro College
Marlboro, VT

Join Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center’s Patti Smith for a tour of how beaver retention ponds provide for watershed biodiversity and climate change resilience. Start at Marlboro College with a stream table demonstration, followed by an in-field visit to beaver ponds and meadows near Harrisville Brook in Marlboro.
*Bring a picnic to enjoy alongside a beaver pond at dusk*

Click here to register

Panel Discussion: Finding Meaning in our Shared Watersheds

co-presented by the Green River Watershed Alliance and
the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

Thursday
May 3 @ 7pm

@ Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
10 Vernon St., Brattleboro, VT

During this panel discussion we’ll ask: Why do watersheds matter in our communities? How do watershed dynamics affect our lives, and vice versa? How can we promote place-based meaning and awareness within our shared watersheds, and how would that impact flood resilience, ecological integrity, or community development? Finally, what does it mean to be a water protector in your own community? Moderated by Gaye Symington of the High Meadows Fund with speakers Steve Libby Executive Director of Vermont River Conservancy, Peter Forbes Writer, Conservationist, and Co-Founder of Center for Whole Communities, and Rhonda Anderson Indigenous and Water Rights Activist.

Reading and Community Dialogue: Salmon is Everything

directed by Jean O’hara
presented by Marlboro College

Friday
May 11 @ 7pm

@ Whittemore Theater, Marlboro College
Marlboro, VT

The Klamath Theatre Project is a collaborative community-university endeavor that created the play, Salmon is Everything, based upon the 2002 unprecedented fish kill along the Klamath River. Based on interviews with Indigenous people, biologists, ranchers and farmers, the play tackles the complexity of how to share and take care of river that is divided by geo-political lines, dams and a painful history. Since the first production of the play many coalitions have been formed among the Klamath River communities and together they have committed to the removal of all six dams by 2020. Shaunna McCovey, who is a member of the Yurok Nation will lead a post-performance discussion.

Community Lantern-Making Workshop Series for the Confluence Project, led by Gowri Savoor

co-organized by the Connecticut River Conservancy, the River Gallery School and Vermont Performance Lab

Come to a hands-on workshop to make a beautiful luminary for a night-walk along the Broad Brook on May 23rd, or a lantern-lit paddle on the West River on May 25th! All workshops will be led by Gowri Savoor and are open to families and community members.

Gowri Savoor is a visual teaching-artist whose practice includes sculpture, drawing and the Indian art of Rangoli. She is the founder of A River of Light, an organization committed to bringing art to the community through participatory art events, parades and installations. Gowri has been a teaching artist for over 18 years with experience in arts integration and community building, and continues to exhibit both nationally and internationally.

Community Lantern-Making Workshop 1

Tuesday, May 15 @ 6:30 - 8pm

During this workshop participants will create globe lanterns for an illuminated walk through the forest, with Guilford’s 6th grade class on May 23rd. Guilford school families and community members encouraged to participate in the workshop and the May 23rd community event.

@ Broad Brook Community Center 
3940 Guilford Center Road, Guilford, VT

Limited to 20 participants. FREE for Guilford residents. Pre-registration required. Families welcome.

Click here to register

Community Lantern-Making Workshop 2

Thursday, May 17 @ 4 - 6pm

During this 2-hour workshop participants will create paper lanterns for the moonlit Confluence Lantern Paddle on May 25th. Participants are encouraged to join the paddle on land or water. Participants can take their lanterns home after the paddle event.

@ River Gallery School
32 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT

Limited to 20 participants. Pre-registration required. Families welcome. $10 per person / $20 per family.
Click here to register

Community Lantern-Making Workshop 3

Saturday, May 19 @ 1 - 4pm

During this 3-hour workshop participants will create lanterns from willow and tissue paper, designed to be mounted on boats and used during the moonlit Confluence Lantern Paddle on May 25th. Participants are encouraged to join the paddle on land or water. Participants can take their lanterns home after the paddle event.

@ River Gallery School
32 South Main Street, Brattleboro, VT

Limited to 20 participants. Pre-registration required. Families welcome. $10 per person / $20 per family.
Click here to register

Artist Talk: Gowri Savoor

hosted by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

Thursday
May 17 @ 7pm

@ Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
10 Vernon St., Brattleboro, VT

Artist and educator Gowri Savoor, whose installation We Walk in Their Shadows is on view at the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, discusses her work.