Open Salon: Brattleboro exhibit hosts 68 local artists

Time is running out to catch the Windham Art Gallery’s diverse collection of local artists as the exhibit enters it’s last weekend.

“It’s been incredibly popular,” said gallery coordinator Pamela Mandell. “It’s been a very, very well-received show. We’ve had tons of people.”

This exhibit draws in the greater community of artists as much as possible and has drawn artists from places such as Keene, N.H., and Northampton, Mass., as well as Putney and Brattleboro. The only requisite for the artist was “first come, first served.”

Artists range in age from 20 to 70 and include painters, photographers, collage and multimedia artists.

“It was inspired by a similar event in Burlington and we thought it would be fun to try it out in the Brattleboro area,” co-curator, Lauren Watrous said in a press release announcing the exhibit.

“Since we renovated the gallery,” Watrous said, “we were excited to share it with others and understand how hard it can be for many artists to find a place to show their work.”

Mandell said, based on the success of the exhibit, the gallery is hoping to make it an annual event.

“You just wouldn’t know what would happen with the show when you say, “first come, first served,’ and it’s turned out to be very delightful,” Mandell said. “Because of the success of it, it looks like we’re going to do it again next year.”

The Windham Art Gallery, a nonprofit program of the Arts Council of Windham County, is located at 69 Main St. in Brattleboro. The final week of the exhibit runs from today through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. each day.

The exhibit opened at the start of February and has been running on weekends throughout the month.