2019 Art Rokeby Festival

Art Rokeby Festival
August 24, 2019, 11AM-5PM

Art Rokeby Festival is a day-long event celebrating art at Rokeby, featuring a Film Photography Walk-About, Mail Art-making for Kids, Artist Demonstrations, a tour of the “Structures” exhibition, a presentation of the paintings of Rachael Robinson Elmer, who grew up at Rokeby, and an opportunity to view the exhibition, “Amassed and Up-Ended: Decoding the Legacy of Stuff“, in Rokeby’s Gallery. At the Art Rokeby Art Market, vendors will have art for sale, including cards and prints.

Art Rokeby is also the opening day of the “Structures” exhibition, which temporarily repurposes the historic spaces of Rokeby as platforms for contemporary art and asks the viewer to contemplate the role that structures play in shaping our experience of the world and how structures can inform and shape the experience of others. The exhibition is curated by Ric Kasini Kadour, Curator of Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum, and is the second of two exhibitions this year that are introducing contemporary art to the historic site. Read more about “Structures”.

Schedule of Events

11AM-5PM
Art Market

At the Art Rokeby Art Market, vendors will have work available, including cards and prints.

11AM-1PM
Mail Art for Kids

Artist, educator, and bookmaker Bonnielee Hooper will lead a mail art making activity for kids. Participants will learn gelli printmaking and make postcards that they can mail.

11AM
House Tour

During the House Tour, visitors encounter each of the four generations of Robinsons on their own terms–and in their own spaces. The house tour is an intimate experience, limited to twelve guests, and shepherded by an expert guide, who is ready and able to answer questions. House tours last about 45 minutes to an hour and are offered Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 11:00 and 2:00.

11:30AM
Visual Memoirs: Anne Cummings

Westford artist Anne Cummings’ current work creates visual memoirs from accumulated papers, photos, and mementos. She will show some of her artwork, demonstrate her process, and speak to how this work connects with themes raised in the exhibition, “Amassed and Upended”, on view at Rokeby.

12:30PM
Bumper Stickers: Robert Hitzig

On a road trip in 2013, Montpelier artist Robert Hitzig was struck by the “shouting” taking place on the highway through bumper stickers. To calm the roadway, he has been issuing anti-bumper stickers, small, colorful works of art that “intentionally say nothing, and thereby leave space for the viewer to think for themselves, perhaps even engaging in a dialog (if only mentally) with the image or even the other driver.” He offers one free limited edition sticker to any US resident who promises to put it on their vehicle. Robert Hitzig will speak about his Bumper Sticker project and his installation on the Granary which is part of the exhibition, “Structures.”

1:30PM
Film Photography

Taking pictures with film is a different experience than digital photography and encourages deeper looking and working at a slower pace. Pawlet artist Stephen Schaub will lead a walk-about during which he will give an introduction and some tips to those photographers interested in making the switch to film.

2PM
House Tour

(see 11AM)

2:30PM
Rachael Robinson Elmer: 19th Century Rokeby Painter

In all, four of the Robinson family who lived at Rokeby were accomplished artists. Rokeby Museum Director Catherine Brooks will share a collection of work from the museum’s archives–actual sketches, paintings, and notes – by Rachael Robinson Elmer (1878–1919). Rachael, who died of the Spanish flu in 1919 at age 40, was the most distinguished artist in the family. This is a rare opportunity to see some of her studies on paper, cardboard, and canvas board.

3:30PM
Structures Exhibition Tour

Curator Ric Kasini Kadour will lead a walking tour of the exhibition, “Structures.” The exhibition temporarily repurposes the historic spaces at Rokeby as platforms for contemporary art and asks the viewer to contemplate the role that structures play in shaping our experience of the world and how structures can inform and shape the experience of others.

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ART AT ROKEBY MUSEUM

Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum is an ambitious two-year project designed to engage artists and the public with Rokeby Museum archives, objects, buildings, and land. Project activities will demonstrate how contemporary art can pick up the unfinished work of history and foster civic engagement in social, economic, and environmental justice issues. In 2019, Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum will present two exhibitions, introduce an artist membership program, conduct a symposium about the relationship between art and history, and host an artist lab designed to support the development of an artist’s practice. Artists will be invited to make art at or about Rokeby Museum and their work will be shared online and at a festival in August. Contemporary Art at Rokeby Museum is a collaboration with Kasini House. www.rokeby.org/contemporary