Art at the Kent

Three Curators, an Historic Building as a Muse, The Lady of the House, and the Wind

To sit amongst Vermont’s dream team of curators in the Kent Museum is a special experience. Art New England met in conversation with curators Nel Emlen, Allyson Evans, and David Schütz (Vermont State Curator) and publicist Mary Admasian. In their sixteenth season of curating Art at the Kent, they finish each other’s sentences, laugh in unison, all while creating magic. They are well known for their delightful and thought-provoking dialogue in pairing artists’ work.

Art at the Kent is a program of Historic Kents’ Corner, Inc., in partnership with the Vermont State Curator’s Office and the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. The Kents’ Corner State Historic Site is administered by the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

Art at the Kent is a phenomenon—an exhibition on view for one fleeting month each year. For the opening evening, people travel from all over Vermont, and quite far afield. Looking at the cars lining the winding dirt roads, passersby might suspect a U2 concert is happening in this remote area, where it can be challenging to hold a cell signal. Visitors living out of state plan their vacations around the exhibition. Artists from former exhibitions return to take in the excitement of the new group of exhibitors. There is a sense of reunion, as music swirls around the installations, indoors and out.

There is a certain “je ne sais quoi” about being chosen to exhibit here. Only Vermont artists are chosen, and the curators have a strict policy about not repeating anyone. It’s rumored that there is a drinking game based on who will be chosen (or not) each year. Over two hundred and fifty artists exhibited onsite. The discipline of this “is a big thing. The discipline of pushing yourself to go beyond your circle all the time,” said Schütz.

This year’s exhibition, TRACES, on view from September 8 through October 8, highlights twenty-three Vermont artists, with works in varied media, including clay, fabric, wax, photography, metal, wood, and more.

“The theme of TRACES is revealed in numerous ways, both subtle and overt. Whether expressed through mark making or directly in subject matter, the viewer might see connections to seasonal change, energetic forces, and the power of memory through familiar objects, story, and the excitement that is revealed through repetition. Meaning can also be found within and between works,” explained Admasian.

The curators are also neighbors in historic Kent’s Corner in Calais, Vermont. Their work together began as members of Kent’s Corner, a private non-profit friends organization. At that time, the Vermont Historical Society essentially gave the museum to the state of Vermont as a historical site. Evans shared, “And true story, Nel Emlen brought their collection gradually to the site in her VW bus in the 1980s and for a time lived in the museum…we are obsessed neighbors, whose sharedness is broadened by each other constantly.” Schütz brags that Kent’s Corner has the highest number per capita of curators in the world.

The desire to liven the site with the yearly exhibition and programming is what the Art at the Kent team does best. Schütz shares with a gleam in his eye, “People who would likely never cross the threshold of an historic site… are being drawn in—a whole new audience that is not necessarily expecting what they’ll find.” Emlen adds, “You find people who are coming to see contemporary art, who would not be coming to see an historic site, and would ask ‘Wow, this is an interesting building, tell me about it.’ That kind of cross-fertilization is interesting.” The site draws the neighborhood in, and the area’s youngest arts patrons grow up participating in all the creative celebrations that happen there. The building is the muse. Artists do site visits, take photos, and create pieces based on the patterns, textures, and writing on the walls. Installations are created specifically for the space and the curators are continually moving artwork around the sprawling layout right up until the opening. The building itself is a strong voice for the making and the curating—it acts as the fourth curator. Evans and Emlen are masters in setting the placement: “A white walled gallery this is not—this is the opposite,” laughs Schütz. “Just taking and riffing off this wonderful space but also understanding how endless this interpretation can be…Art at the Kent can go on forever…”

Emlen describes the journey she and Evans take each year to find artists as “going to a fantastic buffet; it’s like having an ingredient list to make the meal and you can’t hang the show without having together all of those yummy things to make it work.” Each year they visit artists in their homes or studios and so many connections are made that they have a large database to consider for the future. Studio visits are deeply studied, and their knowledge and care is invaluable to the artists.

The buildings onsite share a rich history. One was a stagecoach inn and tavern in the 1830s and then became the Kent family’s home and a general store. “Mrs. Kent is a very important figure in what we were originally doing,” said Emlen, “And she still sort of is, because she was an extremely creative
person. To be using anything creative in contemporary art, she would be so supportive if she were still alive… Her two granddaughters who live locally have still been involved.” Emlen added, “There is a little Mrs. Kent cult going on—she wrote many books, and she created this as a museum in the 1950s and there are people who do pilgrimages here to see where she lived.” Mrs. Kent made miniatures (still on the first floor back room), and the famous wallpaper room was created by her. Pieces are carefully hung, depending on each surface considered, around loose plaster. All agree that her influence on the event makes her the fifth curator.

Sculpture entered the exhibitions in 2012. Permanent pieces that first year included a labyrinth in the barnyard and a cairn built by Thea Alvin as a workshop for international students and interns, using the stones from the old foundation of the barn. The outdoor space has seen knitting in the trees, the presence of a rocket, clothespins, and stained glass. During COVID, sculpture kept the site active and inspired. Emlen and Evans collaborated on a few pieces, including Ode to Christo, in reverence to the artist shortly after his death, with beautiful, yellow-dyed fabric with the help of fiber artist Karen Henderson. “That became a fascinating thread through the pandemic,” Evans shared. “People needing to have things within their control, but when the ‘laundry’ was out of control and tangled it upset people. People constantly knocked at my door needing it to be untangled…the wind became the sixth curator.”

Art at the Kent enjoys strong artwork sales “in part because the artists are wide-ranging, many of whom are more affordable than others. And that intensity of being on exhibit for only thirty days creates an urgency to put that red dot on a piece,” explains Schütz. The store also houses a silent auction with many donated items from artists and community members.

The Kent team wears many hats. Volunteers join in to answer questions, run events, work in the store, play music. Admasian was an exhibiting artist, volunteer, and docent: “It’s an immersive experience—the aesthetic is so mindfully curated because it’s only up for thirty days. It’s incredible how many people make the intention to get here,” she adds. Kate Burnim was an exhibiting artist, volunteer, docent, and webmaster. Mary Elder Jacobsen, poet and editor, orchestrates the Words Out Loud series, which has become a large component of the exhibition and accompanying events. Words Out Loud began in the 2015 Reflections exhibition when Elder Jacobsen was asked to read in the show. The series grew, taking place in the Old West Church and the Meeting House (Calais’ Town Hall). Last year, the series included British-American illustrator David Macaulay. “These are historic buildings in the area that are part of the experience, too, and tie these buildings directly into the events. That’s why it’s the historic Kent’s Corner,” explains Evans and Schütz. Writers in the series read for packed crowds and their books are for sale in the museum. Book signings unite Words Out Loud with the themed exhibition each year.

Other events during the exhibition include Art Café each Friday afternoon, with baked goods and tea in the ballroom, artists talks and demonstrations, a cyanotype workshop, and a photography workshop. These events “are important to us… I want everyone who comes into this building to feel like they are being invited to this beautiful, fun place. It’s deliciousness—whether you are eating, hearing a piano playing…all these things feel like you are hosting folks in your home. And that’s where Mrs. Kent comes in…she guides my hand,” laughs Emlen.

Opening Celebration: Saturday, September 9, 3-5 p.m. Closing Celebration: Sunday, October 8, 3-5 p.m).

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