Exhibitions Overview

In May 2015 the Gallery at the River Garden (157 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT) featured the first public display of poetry and art by young people from The Poetry Studio. This month-long show included panels of the students’ poetry and illustrations along with wall boxes containing their beautiful, handcrafted books. The show concluded with a reading by many of the poet/artists represented in the exhibition. The River Garden show became the fulcrum for several exhibitions that followed.

In fall of 2016, with the support of Chief Curator Mara Williams, the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center displayed the students’ work in the Ticket Office Gallery (see above). The students were further privileged to have their poems and art introduced by the Poet Laureate of Vermont, Chard deNiord, who wrote the brochure essay for the show. In October a celebratory reading of the students’ poems was introduced by Mara Williams and featured a number of “guardian poets,” including Chard deNiord, who read the students’ poems and commented on their work. The Center Gallery was packed with friends and families, and the local coverage of the event, which took place during the Brattleboro Literary Festival, ultimately led to more shows: at Amy’s Bakery Arts in the spring of 2017 and finally at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (fall of 2017 – spring 2022 at the 94 Porter Street Gallery).

Another display of the students’ poetry and art is now featured at the Bennington Museum (through June 2022). The Bennington exhibition also includes a panel presentation of Another World: Poetry and Art by Young People from The Poetry Studio (see Events page).

What follows here on the dropdown menu are a number of documented moments from these exhibitions that celebrate the students’ extraordinary poetry and art.

Browse and enjoy.

Ann and Tony Gengarelly