at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum |
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March 15-April 15: "The Other Collection" Please come visit the new “Upstairs Gallery” featuring paintings that have been given to Athenaeum over many years. These are works by distinguished local artists who have been and still may be friends and neighbors. These paintings are from our circulating collection–paintings that, like our library volumes, could be borrowed. This is another service, albeit little known, the Athenaeum has provided to the community since the 80’s. Now, these works have come home and, for the first time, are exhibited as a group show. The exhibit includes works by McGowan, Golden, Lawrence, Siber, Mattesich, Gilmore, Hoyt, and Marsh and others. Also on display are some original architect’s drawings for the Athenaeum by John Davis Hatch III. March 31: The 2007 Athenaeum Award Ceremony honoring poet & part-time Vermont resident Rachel Hadas for her body of work and efforts in promoting poetry. April 1-30: Life is Short Contest April 15-21: National Library Week. An annual weeklong celebration of libraries. Check our Web site for details. April 20: Janice Weber, Mystery Writer Weber’s third novel was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. The author will be at the Athenaeum for a reading and book signing. April 21: Janice Weber, Piano Recital Internationally acclaimed concert pianist and recording artist will play works by Haydn, Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninoff. Presented in partnership with May 18: The annual Spring Gala featuring "altered" and handmade books. Check our Web site for more information in the spring. First Wednesdays Lecture Series All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. The Athenaeum is fully handicapped accessible. For more information call 748-8291. 2007 Readings in the Gallery Ongoing Events From the Executive Director: Gallery Admission For the past 135 years, citizens of St. Johnsbury, their families, or folks from the area holding library cards, have enjoyed the gallery free of charge and will continue to do so. Unfortunately, because of ever increasing operating expenses, it has become necessary to follow the lead of most similar institutions and initiate an admission fee to the gallery for our out-of-town visitors. On March 15th, we will also enter into a joint ticketing arrangement with the Fairbanks Museum. The admission fee will be quite reasonable and should not keep anyone from enjoying our collection. When Horace Fairbanks gave the Athenaeum to the town there were two stipulations mentioned in the deed of conveyance. One, that the Athenaeum remain free to the citizens of St. Johnsbury, and two, that they take care of it. The town folk have kept their end of the bargain, and we strive to keep ours. We look forward to providing our many visitors from here and abroad the continued joy of a visit to the gallery and the opportunity to help us support this unique treasure. Irwin Gelber In case you have not gotten around to making your contribution this year, we hope you will do so now. You can use this link to download our donation form. Remember, the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum is a non-profit organization under section 501 c (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and your contribution is fully tax-deductible. The Art Gallery is an exciting place to work. Your first impression is one of serenity and calm. The morning light is magical and captures the Hudson River paintings at their best for viewing. As the day progresses the light changes and there are subtle differences which capture your attention. I feel very fortunate to be a part of the Docent Program here at the Athenaeum. When I started out I thought my main duties would be to greet the public, make then feel welcome and answer any questions that they might have. This is still the case, but as the weeks and years have gone by my job has become much more. I found that there were many questions I did not know the answers to, and I became very curious about what this lovely building and Art Gallery means to St. Johnsbury and to me. I’m happy to say that my curiosity has continued, and I am still learning. It is also a great pleasure to greet our visitors and to tell them the wonderful story of how the Athenaeum came to be and why Horace Fairbanks wanted to build it. Elaine Garrison The Board of Trustees of the Athenaeum recently inducted three new members – William Marshall of Passumpsic has been an educator for over four decades. Head of Peacham School for six years and Head of Applewild School for twenty-three years, he currently serves on the Barnet School Board, NEK Audubon and is Chair of the Caledonia Central Supervisory Union. Eileen Boland of Wheelock has management experience in education and government, including a term as Commissioner of Personnel for the State of Vermont. Governor Douglas appointed her to the Vermont Commission on Women, and she was re-elected as a Justice of the Peace for her town. Eileen is currently the Human Resources Director for St. Johnsbury Academy, and we are delighted to know that she will bring her talents to the Athenaeum Board of Trustees. I love this time of year between the rush of fall and craze of the “holidays” and the expectant atmosphere of early spring beginnings. We actually take whole afternoons to read, cook or take a lovely ski in the woods. Now I can take a breath and introduce you to several nearly new people who have appeared at the Athenaeum in the last few months. Tabatha O’Connor has lived in St. Johnsbury since 2003. She is the mother of a beautiful daughter, Cassandra, aged 11; a painting business owner; a volunteer at various organizations and works part-time at both circulation desks. According to Tabatha, “I enjoy the splendid collections and glorious artwork almost as much as the remarkable patrons who frequent our establishment.” Our main circulation desk is covered 90% of the time by Amy Petersen who joined our staff after the resignation of Martha Tack last August. (Martha took a school job much closer to her home in Sutton.) Amy worked at the main desk of the Littleton Public Library for four years, commuting from her home in Danville where she lives with her husband, two cats and a dog. Her interests include reading (“of course!”), playing the piano and gardening. She has a Master’s Degree in Education from Simmons College. After teaching for a while, Amy got a job in a library and now she is hooked! Melissa Bushey joins our staff as the Literacy Outreach Coordinator. She circulates books to area childcare centers, shut-ins and seniors. She literally brings the library out to the community. Early literacy skills are fundamental in a child’s life and we are delighted that Melissa is taking the library beyond our walls. After a career in social work Melissa has now returned to graduate school at UVM to gain licensure as a school library media specialist. Her position is supported by the AmeriCorps program of the NEK. Lisa von Kann Calling All Artists for the Altered Book Project This year at the Athenaeum, we are giving special recognition to the book in its many forms and guises. We now continue with this theme by asking artists to transform existing books into works of art, which will then be displayed at the Athenaeum and auctioned at our annual Gala on May 18th. For more information, please call Irwin Gelber at 748-8291. To see some examples of other altered book projects, visit these sites: Portland Public Library's Altered Book Project Strange Fits of Passion, by Anita Shreve Lisa von Kann Suite Français by Irene Nemirovsky Shara McCaffrey The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards Amy Petersen Jar City by Arnaldur Indriaason Bonnie Dasher-Andersen In the last issue of the newsletter I discussed the importance of paper grain direction in determining how hard or easy a book opens. Another crucial factor is how a book is bound. In the pre-industrial era books were written on large sheets of animal skin and later, paper. The sheets were folded in half and sewn, with gut or strong cord, through the resulting fold. These books relied on the sewing alone to hold the sections together. The spine was very flexible and the book opened flat for easy reading. These simple books were strong and flexible. As demand for books grew in the 19th century, machine production techniques replaced handwork. Books were made from large printed sheets that were folded two or three or more times to form sections. These sections were sewn through the fold and linked to each other. The spine edge was covered with glue and then lined with paper to reinforce the sewing. The books opened fairly flat, though not as flat as a book without any spine linings. Synthetic adhesives came into use in bookbinding in the 1930’s. Cold glue like Elmer’s, and later, hot glue like the kind you use with a hot glue gun, replaced the hide and starch glue. During the 1950’s binders began using these adhesives alone to hold books together. They eliminated the sewing process altogether. Books still began as large folded sheets but either the folds were cut off or notches were ground into the folds and adhesive applied to the back of these modified sections. This can be an effective technique if done carefully. If the paper is thin and flexible individual sheets can be held together well. This technique is cheaper than sewing a book. Many contemporary books are comprised of thick sections of stiff paper with the grain direction running from the spine to the fore edge. These bulky, blocky textblocks are layered with a very thick coating of hot melt glue and lined excessively with paper. The result is a spine that is made intentionally stiff to prevent the book from opening fully because the thick sections want to pull apart at the spine. If the sections were held together with sewing, the spine could be lined more lightly and the book would open more easily. Together with the high cost of paper, resulting in printing runs much closer to the gutter of the book than it used to; these books require a lot of force to open. Oh, for the days of the Model T! Bob Joly Now open at 1222 Main Street, selling used books year-round; operated by the Friends of the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum. Hours are Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 10 AM-2 PM and Wednesday 2:30 -6:30 PM. Mondays & Wednesdays 10 AM to 8 PM at the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum is published quarterly via email.Send your comments & feedback via email to newsletter@stjathenaeum.org. Our mailing address is: St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, 1171 Main Street, St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 |
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