Notes From Outside the Box | October 2019
We're Surveying the Creative Landscape-- 
With Your Help!

The Vermont Creative Network is undertaking a research and planning project for Vermont's creative sector. The outcome will be a comprehensive action plan to advance the creative economy in the state.

We want to hear from you! A survey focused on artists, creative freelancers, and small creative business owners is underway. If this describes you, take a few minutes now to complete the survey. Then, forward the link to friends, family, and colleagues who work in our state's creative sector. Together, we can support and build Vermont's creative economy!
 
Zone Updates 
We can create.
New Steering Team Member   
 
Monica Callan has joined the Network steering team as zone agent for the Four-County Zone. She reports she is delighted to come on to the VCN team as an arts advocate for the region, noting that "supporting the arts is a critical component of community life as well as the economic sector." 
 
Monica is an actor, director, designer, and educator, teaching theater and visual arts in environments spanning prisons, conservatories, and museums. She is founder of MOXIE Productions; the co-founder and artistic director of the Grange Hall Cultural Center in Waterbury Center; and is on the boards of Across Roads Center for the Arts and NY Madness. She holds a bachelor's degree in theater arts from Emerson College and an arts administration certificate from New York University, is an alumnae of several New York City conservatories, and is a member of Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Actors' Equity Association. Monica is a longtime resident of Waterbury, where she enjoys long walks with her dog, quiet nights with her husband, and visits with her grandchildren.
 
Welcome, Monica!
NEK YPN October Mixer II 
& Creative Sector Talk

All are welcome to attend an NEK Zone event hosted by the Northeast Kingdom Young Professionals Network and Catamount Film and Arts at the Burke Mountain Conference Center October 17.

Amy Cunningham from The Vermont Arts Council and Jody Fried from Catamount Arts will speak about the creative sector on the state and NEK levels. Local entrepreneurs Monique Priestley, Tara Lynn, and John Lenzini will offer creative sector professional anecdotes--touching on successes and challenges.

Inside the Creative Economy 
Luthiers Jong Won Lee, left, and Rachel Currier craft instruments at The Burlington Violin Shop in Burlington on Friday, June 21, 2019. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Making it in Vermont: With child-size violas, new venture goes nationwide  
 
Vermont Violins started as a hobby for Oren Kronick and his wife Kathy Reilly in 1994.

The two, both working full-time in day jobs, started renting violins and violas at a shop in Montpelier that was open for just a couple of hours in the evening. By 1998, both were working full-time at the shop, which by then was providing instrument repairs and sales and selling items like sheet music and cases.


The Vermont Arts Council is funded, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which requires a 1:1 match from the Vermont State Legislature. Council grants, programs, and statewide arts promotion would not be possible without the critical funding provided by these government agencies.