2018 JURIED EXHIBITION: Connections
On view • September 1 – September 28, 2018
Artist Reception and celebration with members of the Travis Roy Foundation:
Friday, September 14th, 5-7pm. The event includes refreshments, prizes, raffles, and a talk by Travis Roy.
C O N N E C T I O N S
Connection is what many strive for in today’s global community – seeking to discover common experience and ideas. Connections are made daily, through relationships, sports, transportation modes, science, mathematical findings, technology, workplace, social gatherings, music, art, religion, or spirituality. By extending beyond what is comfortable and challenging what is possible, connections can bring wonderful surprises. With connection, there can be a sense of harmony and hope.
It is often through the creative process and the profound effect of imagery that common experiences are cultivated. Building a dialogue through color, form, and perspective provides a foundation for new ideas: conversations thrive and narratives are awakened. Through artistic expression, imaginations stretch. What is possible can change. Through creating and viewing art, one often feels safe to question and ponder as we seek meaning and connection. To feel connected is to find links and commonalities with others, feeling free to ignore division, boundaries, and biases. Bridging these gaps make discovering a sense of understanding and empathy possible. How do you connect?
JURORS
Sophie Bréchu-West is director and founder of 571 Projects, a boutique art gallery located in Stowe, VT, with a focus on curated solo exhibitions by emerging and mid-career artists. 571 Projects launched in 2009 in New York City’s vibrant Chelsea gallery district. When the building housing the gallery was slated for demolition in 2012, the program became nomadic. Settled in Stowe since 2015, 571 Projects continues to build community through exhibitions and special projects. A deep, lifelong love of art and a desire to promote the work of significant, and at times overlooked, emerging artists drives Brechu-West’s curatorial and consulting practice. Through her studies and years of experience working in galleries and art fairs in Boston, London, and New York City, she has developed an eye for work by emerging and mid-career artists exhibiting a compelling aesthetic and strong craftsmanship. She received a BA in Art History from The College of William and Mary and an MPhil from Christie’s Education, London (accredited through the University of Glasgow).
571 Projects supports the work of dynamic emerging and mid-career artists by bringing conceptually strong, well-crafted work to the notice of an engaged art going and collecting public, via tightly curated solo exhibitions, independent curatorial practice and an informed art consulting practice. We aim to bridge the gap between dynamic emerging and mid-career artists and engaged collectors, both those beginning to collect and those seeking new voices.
571 Projects online & in Print: www.571projects.com | 571 Projects: The First Three Years, catalogue raisonné (2013)
Dana Heffern is the Director for the Champlain College Art Gallery. She has been working as a fine artist, decorative painter, interior designer, and Broadway scenic artist since 1998. Dana has lead the painting crews for many Tony nominated/awarded scenery on Broadway: shows such as Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Spamalot, The Lion King, The Color Purple, and Mamma Mia. Her interior designed spaces, both public environments and private homes, can be found in New York City, Ohio, Florida, Vermont and New Hampshire. Her paintings and drawings have been shown in galleries in New York, Vermont, as well as internationally in Berlin, Germany. In 2009 Dana moved to the Burlington area where she completed her MFA at Goddard College.
Travis Roy was put on ice skates at just 20 months old. As years passed, his love for the game of hockey became a passion. In the fall of 1995, Travis accomplished one of his goals by earning a scholarship to Boston University to become a member of the reigning NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship team.
At twenty years of age, he entered his first collegiate hockey game. Eleven seconds into his first shift, his life changed forever. Travis crashed into the boards and cracked his fourth and fifth cervical vertebra, paralyzing him from the neck down.
Despite this twist of fate, Travis Roy has continued to persevere and defy the odds. With an intense rehabilitation regime, he has regained some movement in his right arm. While coming to grips with his life as a quadriplegic, Travis returned to Boston University less than a year after his accident; four years later, he graduated with a degree in Communications.
In 1997, Travis wrote his autobiography with Sports Illustrated’s E.M. Swift. Titled Eleven Seconds the book chronicles his accident, his rehabilitation, and his triumph over personal tragedy. On October 30, 1999, Travis Roy’s #24 was hoisted to the rafters of Walter Brown Arena and retired from play.
Travis is now an advocate for spinal cord research and has spoken at a variety of events, including testifying at a Senate Committee hearing for the National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C. In 1997, he established the Travis Roy Foundation that focuses on finding a cure for spinal cord injuries and provides grants to help spinal cord survivors purchase costly adaptive equipment. To date the Travis Roy Foundation has raised over $10 million.
Travis currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts; he spends his summers with his family on Lake Champlain in Vermont. Travis can also be found supporting his Terriers at BU hockey games, or with a paintbrush in his mouth, creating his latest work of art.
