Week ahead promises a lively arts scene in Waterbury
August 19, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti
Now in its 21st year, Waterbury Arts Fest sets up at Pilgrim Park Friday and Saturday, Aug. 25-26. Photo by Gordon Miller
The week ahead is a busy one for the arts in Waterbury – live musical performances along with art to see, art to buy, plus visits from multiple Vermont authors.
Here’s a collection of happenings starting with a TURNMusic performance on Monday. Friday night promises lively sounds from Music in the Alley on Stowe Street and the rescheduled Waterbury Arts Fest block party. The two-day Arts Fest event has more live entertainment throughout the day on Saturday along with over 100 vendors and an array of food trucks both Friday night and Saturday.
Also on Friday evening, the Phoenix Gallery and Music Hall holds an exhibit preview, print sale and flood-relief fundraiser raffle ahead of a show that opens on Sept. 8. (Meanwhile across the street at Axel’s Frame Shop and Gallery, Denis Versweyveld’s exhibit remains on view through September.)
Also, at Bridgeside Books Vermont author Stephen P. Kiernan visits on Tuesday for a podcast discussion with local journalist and radio host David Goodman. On Saturday the independent book shop hosts first-time Vermont author Kathy Elkind for a signing of her new memoir.
Finally, for those who knew and loved him and his art, the family of longtime prolific Vermont photographer Peter Miller holds a celebration of his remarkable life on Saturday at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe.
Details and links below.
Monday, Aug. 21
Outer Sounds music series
Drummer Ben Hall performs with Lemuel Marc on trumpet at the Aug. 25 Music in the Alley on Stowe Street. Courtesy photo.
Produced by Greg Davis and TURNmusic, the Outer Sounds music series continues at The Phoenix Art Gallery and Music Hall with performances by Lemuel Marc on trumpet with drummer Ben Hall, and modular synth by Jake Meginsky.
Marc and Hall are touring in support of their forthcoming full-length release, “Using Songs to Communicate Plots.” Marc is a composer and third-year music student at New England Conservatory in Boston. Hall is an essayist and composer from Detroit who was profiled in Fred Moten's book, “Black and Blue.”
Jake Meginsky creates new sounds on modular synthesizer. Courtesy photo
Composer/filmmaker Jake Meginsky, a New Music USA award winner and Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellow in both music and film, has collaborated and performed with a wide range of musicians including Milford Graves, Joan La Barbara, Kim Gordon, Joe McPhee, Thurston Moore, William Parker, and Bill Nace.
The series looks to bring cutting edge musicians to The Phoenix to explore a variety of sounds and styles in the realm of electronic, experimental, avant-garde, improvised, ambient, drone, minimalist, free jazz, modern composition, psychedelic music and more. Doors at 7 p.m., music at 7:30 p.m.; suggested donation $10; 5 Stowe St. See more on the event’s Facebook post here.
Tuesday, Aug. 22
Author Stephen Kiernan visits with David Goodman
Cover of ‘The Glass Chateau,’ courtesy image
Veteran Vermont journalist and writer of both nonfiction and fiction, Stephen P. Kiernan’s latest novel, “The Glass Chateau” was published in June. The Charlotte writer spent time in Normandy working on the story set in post-World War II France and inspired by the life of artist Marc Chagall. He visits Waterbury where David Goodman will lead a discussion about the book for his Vermont Conversation podcast and radio broadcast starting at 6 p.m. at Bridgeside Books. More online at bridgesidebooks.com/events.
Friday, Aug. 25
Friday night block party happens behind the Waterbury Train Station. Photo by Gordon Miller
Waterbury Arts Fest block party
For the 21st year, Waterbury Arts Fest throws a block party with music, dancing, a beer garden and food ahead of the bustling Saturday arts market. Rescheduled from mid-July when Vermont had just been hit by big storms and flooding, the annual two-day event kicks off along Railroad Street (which will be closed off) from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday.
The Arty Lavigne Band gets the party started, followed by four-piece Burlington funk-rock band, Renegade Groove. Admission is free, but a donation gets you entered into a raffle with prizes from local merchants.
More music and entertainment is planned for Saturday. See the full schedule at waterburyartsfest.com.
Music in the Alley
Check out Mal Maïz at Music in the Alley on Friday. Courtesy photo
The third and final Music in the Alley performance is Friday, 6-9 p.m. in the alley between Blackback Pub and The Phoenix Art Gallery and Music Hall. TURNmusic and Blackback this week host Mal Maïz, a Vermont-based band that ventures into the psychedelic side of Latin music, weaving modern and traditional rhythms from Central and South America. Bring cash for food and beverages served in the alley.
Exhibit preview and raffle
Works in mixed media collage on paper by Trystan Bates
The Phoenix Art Gallery and Music Hall hosts a print sale and art show preview 5-9 p.m., for the solo exhibit of work by internationally acclaimed artist Trystan Bates that starts on Sept. 8.
This preview event in conjunction with Music in the Alley will feature framed prints of artwork that will be in the exhibit. Friday’s preview will also include a raffle of a numbered print to benefit flood relief in Waterbury with the winner announced at the exhibit’s opening reception on Friday, Sept. 8, 5-9 p.m.
A graduate of Parsons University and the Gerrit Rietveld Acadamie in Amsterdam, Bates is a graphic illustrator, entrepreneur, mentor and collaborator who has worked in New York City and Buenos Aires and now to Vermont. More information online at thephoenixvt.com.
Saturday, Aug. 26
Waterbury Arts Fest
Kids might not be into shopping, but there’s plenty for them to see and do at Arts Fest. Photo by Gordon Miller
Saturday is day two of Waterbury Arts Fest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with live entertainment on stage starting at 10:30 a.m. More than 100 arts and crafts vendors will be set up on the lawn at Pilgrim Park behind the Waterbury Train Station. Food trucks will be on site all day along with hands-on kids activities from MakerSphere. Now in its 21st year, this free event is the largest annual fundraiser for Waterbury’s economic and community development nonprofit, Revitalizing Waterbury.
Check waterburyartsfest.com for a full entertainment schedule, information about artists, and lists of food vendors and sponsors.
Courtesy image
Author visit at Bridgeside Books
Vermonter Kathy Elkind has written her debut memoir, “To Walk It Is To See It,” about her year literally walking across a vast stretch of Europe.
She visits Bridgeside from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday for a book signing. More about her memoir is online at bridgesidebooks.com/events.
Photographer, writer, Vermonter Peter Miller, 1934-2023
Peter Miller Celebration of Life
Finally, a tribute get-together for Peter Miller, whose iconic black and white photographs held a mirror up to Vermonters for decades.
The famed photographer and journalist passed away in April. His family hosts a celebration of his life at the Trapp Family Lodge on Saturday, 3-5 p.m. in the Mozart Room and on the patio.
“Any and all are invited,” his daughters write in their announcement for the gathering. “This is a celebration of Peter Miller, so no funeral clothes are necessary. Bring yourselves and stories to share with one another.”