Mural artist Mary Lacy. Photo courtesy Michael Sipe

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS

The arts, music and theater are staples of community life in the north country. Artists get our first early taste for creativity within a rich ecosystem of schools, community theaters, cafes, local residency programs and outreach programs.

A dense network of institutions, community-based arts organizations, businesses and independently owned venues support artists at all levels along their journey. A growing number of annual events and seasonal festivals bring international collaborators and audiences.

VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS TRAIL GUIDES

SARA KATZ

Painter

Activist artist with a decade of experience in non-profit arts management.

MARY LACY

Mural Artist

Turns monumental flat surfaces into things of eye-popping glory. Loves bucket-loaders and time-lapse.

JIM LOCKRIDGE

Music Activist

Post-punk music activist, archivist and educator. Playing with the civic cloud, VR and LOLA concerts.

ANNI MACKAY

Arts Promoter

Curator, presenter, rabble rouser. Connecting and promoting the Cornerstone Region's vitality.

SARA KATZ

Painter

Activist artist with a decade of experience in non-profit arts management.

MARY LACY

Mural Artist

Turns monumental flat surfaces into things of eye-popping glory. Loves bucket-loaders and time-lapse.

JIM LOCKRIDGE

Music Activist

Post-punk music activist, archivist and educator. Playing with the civic cloud, VR and LOLA concerts.

ANNI MACKAY

Arts Promoter

Curator, presenter, rabble rouser. Connecting and promoting the Cornerstone Region's vitality.

LINDSAY SELIN

Photographer, Jeweler

Active outdoors and an architecture and styling photographer who also designs stunning jewelry.

KURT BUDLINGER

Photographer

Turns monumental flat surfaces into things of eye-popping glory. Loves bucket-loaders and time-lapse.

LAUREN MAZZOTTA

Photographer

Incredible people person with a careful eye for composition and color tones. Photo retoucher.

ERIKA SENFT-MILLER

Multi-media artist

Takes people on adventures where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, senses come alive, perspectives shift.

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS

Rockingham Art and Museum Project | Bellows Falls

DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

Nationally recognized illustrators and designers have made Vermont home, making design one of the highest value-added sectors in the state. We're always spinning out new brands, creating ample opportunity for new entrants and exciting innovation.

With good infrastructure, an active chapter of the AIGA and a diffuse community, Vermont's design and illustration community is a fun and funky place to build a career.

Meet some of the design and illustration influencers.

Illustration courtesy of Rob Donnelly Art

DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION TRAIL GUIDES

ROB DONNELLY

Illustrator, Animator

Illustrator and animator with online and print clients. Using two- and three- dimensional approaches.

MICHELLE HOBBS

Illustrator, Designer

Professional communications designer and chapter president of AIGA Vermont.

STEPHANIE ZUPPO

Cartoon Artist

Artist and entrepreneur with a passion for indie Cons and growing Vermont's cartooning community.

JAMES KOCHALKA

Cartoon Artist

Artist and illustrator, sometimes musician and David Bowie fanboy. Creator of Glorkian Warrior.

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS

Center for Cartoon Studies | White River Junction

Vermont College of Fine Arts | Montpelier

Association of Illustrators and Graphic Designers of Vermont | Burlington

Words and Pictures Print Shop | Essex Junction

Photo courtesy of Kip Steel

INTERACTIVE &
GAME DESIGN

Just south of North America's third largest game design market, Vermont is a lower-cost and competitive environment to create new products and companies. Fueled by talent from Champlain College's Emergent Media Center and Dartmouth CS programs, Vermont's nascent game design community is quirky, savvy and fun.

Our position between Boston, Albany, and Montreal makes it easy to get around - for inspiration, connection, and capital.

INTERACTIVE & GAME DESIGN TRAIL GUIDES

MARGUERITE DIBBLE

Interactive Designer

Marguerite is a local powerhouse of good, as founder of gametheory.co and creative ally to community boards.

EDMAR MENDIZABAL

Game Producer

Edmar is a tireless indie game producer and founder of Vermont's Game Developers' Association.

KIP STEEL

VR Trainer

When not managing IT infrastructure Kip is helping to build Burlington's gig economy, including VR development.

ANN DEMARLE

Emergent Media

Ann is the director of the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College and a tireless supporter of the arts.

ELLIOTT MITCHELL

Game Designer, Artist

Chief fire starter at Vermont Digital Arts. Constantly playing with emergent tech, art forms and Unity keeps it managed.

MYSTERY CAT

Could It Be You?

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS

Game Studio at Champlain College | Burlington

The Vermont Game Developers Association is a networking and information hub for the state's game developers. Membership is free for all.

The video game industry has a strong impact on the USA economy: half the population plays video games (almost half are female), generating over $20 billion revenue annually (over $110 billion globally).

CRAFT
MANUFACTURING

Once a center of precision manufacturing in the United States, Vermont's industrial legacy is experiencing a revival in the hands of a new generation of limited production, high quality makers and fabricators.

Vermont's craft manufacturers produce world-class contemporary and modern furniture, high performance bicycles, table and kitchen ware, leather goods, cafe racers, and much more.

Photo courtesy of Josh Steel, Vintage Steel

CRAFT MANUFACTURING TRAIL GUIDES

JOSH STEEL

Mechanic, Maker

Josh is the owner and motorcycle mechanic in chief at Vintage Steel, maker of café racers in Vermont.

PEGGY FARRABAUGH

Wood Entrepreneur

As owner of Vermont Woods Studios Peggy has both eyes on high quality wood product manufacturing in VT.

ERIK COOOPER

Maker

One half of the Burlington duo Matt // Erik Design and founder of the Alternator maker space.

MYSTERY CAT

Could It Be You?

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS

Photo courtesy of Michael B. Fisher Productions

DIGITAL VIDEO AND FILM

Vermont's motion picture community is a tight-knit, full-production network of professionals spanning art house, commercial and feature work. Nationally known screenwriters, DPs, and production talent have chosen Vermont to life, work and play.

Pillar companies include Kingdom County Productions, Matt Bucci Productions, Mondo Media Works, Urban Rhino Productions, Velocity Media, Hen House Media, Mount Mansfield Productions, and Dreamlike Pictures.

A strong, year-round schedule of festivals and professional development opportunities include the Vermont International Film Festival, the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival, the White River Indie Film Fest, Stowe Story Lab.

DIGITAL VIDEO & FILM TRAIL GUIDES

MICHAEL FISHER

Filmmaker

A director, photographer and educator, Michael has produced a dozen vibrant vignettes of Vermont life.

JENNIFER RUTHERFORD

Writer, Director, Producer

A director, photographer and educator, Michael has produced a dozen vibrant vignettes of Vermont life.

ORLY YADIN

Archivist, Producer

Director of the Vermont International Film Festival and founder of the Vermont Archive Movie Project.

EZLERH ORESTE

Filmmaker, Photographer

Actor. Activist. Comedian.
Filmmaker. Photographer.
Connecting Southern Vermont.

ERIC FORD

Producer, Enthusiast

When he's not watching horror and '80s cinema, Eric is scouting and producing local content for VPBS in Colchester.

NORA JACOBSON

Filmmaker, Producer

Nora is narrative and documentary filmmaker and founder member of the White River Indie Film Festival.

NATHAN BEAMAN

Writer, Director, Producer

Founder and owner of Urban Rhino Productions, Nate brings innovation and vision to digital production.

BRAD SALON

Filmmaker, Educator

Brad is the founder of Roots School and an active aerial photographer and video producer in Bradford.

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS

White River Indie Films | White River Junction

Vermont College of Fine Art | Montpelier

Vermont International Film Festival | Burlington

Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival | Middlebury

FASHION &
LIFESTYLE

Vermont has long been a source of traditional, hearty wear. Today, new production methods and a fashion forward design sensitivity have generated a growing generation of fashion and accessory producers.

Anchor enterprises include Burton, April Cornell, Salaam, the Johnson Woolen Mills, Turtle Fur, and Zutano. A restless group of emerging designers include Dam Fine Pants, A Little Lingerie Company, and Designs by Daria.

Photo of Lucy Leith and BINA-48 by Lars Hasselblad Torres

FASHION & LIFESTYLE TRAIL GUIDES

ANNE LABRUSCIANO

Clothing Designer

Anne is a designer, pattern maker and sewer whose work is distributed by well-known outlets. She makes a wicked bagel too.

SAM TALBOT-KELLY

Costume Designer, Artist

Known as S'Amuse, Sam is a multimedia artist whose costumes explore relationships to materials and, currently, robotics.

TOVE OHLANDER

Designer, Artist

Based in Burlington, Tove designs practical, elegant workwear, proving that fashion can be made without harming people and the environment.

LIZZY WILLIAMS

Stylist

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONS

Photo courtesy of Alice and the Magician

FOOD &
BEVERAGE

Long, dark winters make for the idea conditions to explore culinary and cocktail possibilities - and Vermont has it made. From our rugged bootlegger past to future-facing olfactory experiences, we've got some exciting things cooking.

Anchor companies include Rhino Foods, Birnn Chocolates, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Keurig Green Mountain, Otter Creek Brewing, Cabot Creamery, Magic Hat Brewing, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, Kingdom Creamery and American Flatbread.

Exciting new arrivals include Alice and the Magician, Hill Farmstead Brewery, Caledonia Spirits, Whistle Pig, Nutty Stephs, Bohemian Bakery, Vermont Smoke and Cure, Citizen Cider, and Jasper Hill.