Artist Led Gallery Tours: Wednesday & Fridays at 11AM and 2PM. Limited to 8 per tour. Reserve Here.
The Gallery is also open on Thursdays, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM for self-guided tours. No reservation required.

View the Gallery online by clicking here.

“The greatest flower artists have been those who have found beauty in truth; who have understood plants scientifically, but who have yet seen and described them with the eye and hand of the artist.”

– Professor Peter R. Crane FRS, former Director and CEO of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

June 1 – July 12, 2020

There are hints of Spring! Susan Bull Riley’s watercolors chronicle the emergence and progression of a magical and long-awaited season.

Bull Riley paints in the millennia-long tradition of plant portraiture. Like those before her, she may depict plants for scientific goals, but her evident success suggests a joy in studying a plant closely to reveal their endlessly fascinating form and color.

Susan grew up in Vermont and spent more time outside than in. These paintings suggest she may still. Time indoors is spent painting the observations of her day, so it is no surprise that birds and other creatures make an appearance. She brings to them the same affection and close observation that exemplify her botanical and landscape paintings.

More about Susan Bull Riley

“My surroundings, and careful observation of the natural world, are my constant inspirations. Indeed, there is enough beauty around my East Montpelier home to fuel lifetimes of painting. I am also inspired by the wondrous play of light upon everything I see. I strive to capture that light and to play with broad sweeps of color – with watercolor.

My academic training is entirely in music performance rather than visual art. I received my undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and my graduate degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. Painting has always been a private and deeply personal part of my life, but for 22 years has been the sole focus of my professional energy. 

I live and work in a renovated schoolhouse with my husband, the musician Richard Riley. Our daughters are grown. Life is further celebrated with the presence of two grandchildren.

A reflection by Vermont artists and writers’ on time spent during Covid-19

Created by artist Hasso Ewing
Contributed to by over 100 Vermont artists and writers
Hosted by the Highland Center for the Arts
View the artist notebook here
Proceeds from sales of art benefit the Vermont Foodbank

Early this past winter the Fair Housing Project and the T. W. Wood Gallery & Arts Center collaborated to create a spring exhibition commemorating fair housing. Hasso Ewing submitted a piece for consideration, was accepted, and then traveled to Morocco. Covid-19 abruptly shortened her trip, she returned home to a shut-down and new, shared, unpredictable horizons. Reflecting upon this “new world” and the art she had submitted – of multiple plaster houses, nested in branches, representing fair housing and shelter – to the now cancelled TW Wood show, Ewing realized that this was no longer her OWN project.  Rather, she thought, since all Vermonters were sharing a new experience, her project should reflect that experience. 

So Ewing invited Vermont visual artists and writers to create a reflection of their time spent Sheltering in Place to stand as a memorial to what was lost, and gained, from sheltering in place during the time of Covid-19. 

The visual art submissions had to be no larger than 6 x 6 x 9 inches, weigh no more than 8 ounces, and be made from materials found in and around ones shelter.  Ewing collaborated with poet Geof Hewitt, who invited Vermont writers to create a haiku. 

Over 100 artists and writers responded with originality, insight and enthusiasm that must be witnessed and celebrated.