NEWS RELEASE -- THE FRONT
30 April 2015
contact:
Glen Coburn Hutcheson Tel: (802) 839-5349
glen@thefrontvt.com
New Gallery "The Front" Opening in Montpelier May 1
On Friday evening May 1st, The Front will hold an opening reception at 6 Barre Street in Montpelier, showing work by 13 local member-artists. The new organization succeeds gallery SIX in the storefront venue, which had lain vacant for some time before finding new life as art studio and display space. Friday's reception is part of Montpelier Art Walk, a quarterly city-wide event featuring many venues open for art and cultural events, from 4:00-8:00 PM.
Thirteen members will show work at The Front: sculptors Janet Van Fleet, John Matusz, Jesse Cooper, and Clara Kazarov, painters Alana LaPoint, Janet Wormser, Emily Hoffman, James Secor, Hope Sharp, and Melora Kennedy, design/builder Ben Cheney, photographer Maayan Kasimov, and collage artist Ben Peberdy. Many members work in multiple disciplines. The Front's director, Glen Coburn Hutcheson, maintains his own studio in the rear section of the space. Members share staffing duties to keep the gallery open as much as possible; regular hours will be Saturday-Sunday 2-7 PM, Monday 2-6, and by appointment.
The gallery at 6 Barre Street boasts a brief but tangled history. In February 2013, Glen Coburn Hutcheson took over the storefront as a studio and display space open to the public, showing his portrait drawings, sculpture and paintings in front while creating new work in the back. Before long he was joined by partners in the studio, and then by gallery directors Shamus Langlois and Abigail Feldman. Langlois and Feldman took over the display function of the space, naming it gallery SIX. After a series of well-received exhibitions and events, in April 2015 Feldman and Langlois announced their departure and the closure of gallery SIX. Under Hutcheson's direction, a new group of local artists formed to keep 6 Barre Street open as The Front.
The Front occupies the ground floor storefront at 6 Barre Street, just around the corner from Main Street in Montpelier. Following Friday's opening, hours are Saturday and Sunday 2:00-7:00 PM, Monday 2:00-6:00 PM, and by appointment. The Front's director, Glen Coburn Hutcheson, can be reached at 802-839-5349, director@thefrontvt.com, or online at www.thefrontvt.com.