Praise for Great Hall arts space

The praise for the Great Hall, the new public arts space located at One Hundred River Street in Springfield, was, in a word, great.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120724/NEWS02/707249868

Published July 24, 2012 in the Rutland Herald Praise for Great Hall arts space By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD – The praise for the Great Hall, the new public arts space located at One Hundred River Street in Springfield, was, in a word, great. “This is an extraordinary display,” said Alexander Aldrich, the executive director of the Vermont Council on the Arts. “How can I put this delicately? I’m astonished at the beauty of the place,” said Aldrich, who came, along with hundreds of others, to the grand opening of the gallery and its first show, “Emergence.” “There’s an energy here that is hard to suppress,” said Aldrich, looking around the former Fellows Gear Shaper machine tool factory. The exhibit, which includes the work of about a dozen artists – most of them Vermonters – ranged from interactive sculptures to oil paintings to sculptural pottery and abstract tapestries. Aldrich said that while the Vermont Council on the Arts had not helped to fund the large gallery, which is expected to host other arts events and not just art shows, his organization has helped to fund several of the artists in the show. Aldrich said he walked into the building from the back, and he said his surprise at the transformation was the same he experienced as a 13-year-old walking into his first European cathedral. He said he was first taken by the space itself, since very large galleries able to handle large-scale art are unusual in Vermont. “Then I was taken by the generosity of the people who created this,” said Aldrich. Often, galleries and show places in Vermont can only deal with small-scale pieces of art, he said. Not in Springfield, he said, pointing to a large (six feet by nine feet) enamel on linen painting by Brattleboro artist Scot Borofsky and a wire and paper sculpture by Carolyn Enz Hack of Thetford. The only other gallery in Vermont that has the same vibe, he said, is the Vermont Institute for Contemporary Art, or VTICA, in Chester, the new contemporary art museum. “It comes in here and it pops out at you,” he said, drawing another comparison to Mass MOCA, another art museum in Adams, Mass., created in an old mill building. “To see all those happy faces, some amazed, but happy, was wonderful,” said Nina Jamison, who is coordinating the art shows for the owners of One Hundred River Street. “Alex said ‘the place is “just jaw-dropping!’ Sabra was thrilled and can’t wait to have her work there in November,” Jamison said, referring to famed Vermont artist Sabra Field. “It’s very good for my soul and my smile and most of all for the town’s spirit,” said Jamison. Jamison said she wanted to thank John Meekin and Rick Genderson, the developers and owners of One Hundred River Street. “They trusted a perfect stranger’s ability to bring their vision to life. In fact it was their passion for this entire development project that ignited my own,” she said. “History and art together has the potential to inform, excite and heal,” she said. Rep. Cynthia Martin, D-Springfield, was equally effusive. “Is this fantastic or is this fantastic?” said Martin.