Tag Archives: gallery
4th Annual Trunk Show and Sale, July 26 & 27
A New Sign for Grand Isle Art Works – We Need your help!
Grand Isle Art Works is an undiscovered destination! A new artsy sign by gallery artist, Amey Radcliffe will help put us on the map!
Three years ago, Jim and Ellen were determined to have a place to locate their artwork in their island community in Vermont. They set about to purchase a farmhouse that had seen much better times! In fact, it had been left open, literally, to the weather for over two years. For Jim and Ellen, it was love at first sight. They hardly noticed the tumble down cow and wagon barns built in the 1790s or the driveway the ended right AT the porch.
All they saw were the bones of the building with brightly painted walls and a huge restaurant quality stove in the middle! The farmhouse was deemed perfect and they set off to purchase it. The concept – build a gallery and cafe space that would give Vermont artists a unique place to show their art work. Create a commission schedule that favored the artist first – while still hopefully paying the bills. Make the art space a destination that would entice folks from “off-island” on to the island, increasing the economic vibrancy of not only the gallery itself, but also the islands as well.
The dream is almost complete. Grand Isle Art Works now supports over 65 Vermont artisans featuring art work from many different medias. Jim and Ellen are working around the clock to create “the” destination feel for this art space.
And it’s working…except…the gallery sits on a hill on a piece of State highway with a speed limit of 50 mph. Our current sign is old and drab and blends into the background. We have been told over and over again, “We would have stopped but we didn’t know you were there.”
Enter gallery artist, Amey Radcliffe and her new invigorated interpretation of our gallery logo – bright, sunny – impossible to miss if it were to be on a sign. Add Amey’s logo for our Cafe at the Gallery…and now we’ve got something special.
The wooden sign posts are there. But we need Amey’s graphic designs turned into new signs! That’s where you come in…Help us make this gallery a true destination — we need to brand this labor of love!
Want to help? Click on this link to donate today!
Meet Zach!
On June 16, Zach Labelle will officially open the Cafe at the Gallery as its chef supreme. Zach Labelle was born in Hinesburg and went to CVU high school. He started finding his way around a kitchen at 16 and worked as a dishwasher at Mexicali and Wake Robin prior to graduation. He was the Garde Manger or “keeper of the pantry” at Bistro Sauce in Shelburne where he worked under the tutelage of Bill Iliff, currently one of the chefs at the Inn at Shelburne Farms. After taking a break from cooking and traveling to California and Las Vegas Zack found employment at various food related venues in and around Burlington. He ended up at Healthy Living in Burlington where he has worked for the last 4 years. His assignments included head brunch cook and kitchen supervisor. His recent move to South Hero from Burlington was already in the works before he heard about our opening at the gallery. Some things are just meant to be…
New Beginnings…again!
Each year, we learn something new. And each year we are given a challenge that, for a bit of time, seems insurmountable. And, if patterns can be true, we tend to figure out the challenge and end up with something even better than our original plan.
Stay tuned for one of these “better yet” solutions! Our fingers are crossed. The construction is almost complete. Our hearts and souls are committed to solving this one. Watch for signs of our newest addition:
Cafe at the Gallery
Simple cooking using local foods and spirits!
In the mean time, check out our great slate of classes! Our artists are the best at what they do and we are fortunate to have them share their talents here at Grand Isle Art Works! You can register right on the website – or give a call over to the gallery and we will reserve your spot.
New Beginnings…
We are readying ourselves for some new beginnings at Grand Isle Art Works. First we have finally begun construction on our new 3-season room on the deck! We even were able to get it started before the real warm weather arrives – sort of the idea – to extend the dining season for the gallery cafe!
Glen Koski is a magician. He can take my ideas and make them work. Yee ha! The walls will be half solid – half moveable. They will pull back like a barn door on tracks. This way we can keep the room open in warm weather – but pull the doors shut when we need it more snugly!
Second…our cafe will be reopening soon, under new management. We apologize for this inconvenience – but had very short notice to get this new planning in place. We are on it now and are thinking all positive thoughts to get the cafe back on track. Watch for signs of our progress!
Jim makes a mean doughnut puff! 🙂
