About Vermont Art Network

Welcome

Successful people don’t sit around waiting to be discovered. They’re constantly on the move, networking, looking for opportunities to promote themselves and their work. Artists and craftspeople need to have their work seen. There are over 130 galleries and shops in Vermont that showcase Vermont artisans, but few of us are fortunate enough to have our work chosen by them for display. Where do we go?

In looking at the web sites for the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Crafts Council and the Vermont Handcrafters we found only 229 people out of 859 (27%) listed who had their own web sites. Some people didn’t even have email addresses! 81% of Crafts Council members’ listings and 56% of the Vermont Handcrafters had no pictures of their work. They’re missing out on a valuable opportunity.

The internet is a powerful marketing tool, of which most of us are not taking full advantage. People can shop all over the world from the comfort of their homes and offices. Whether looking for a gift, an item to decorate their homes or unique one-of-a kind clothing, savvy shoppers are always looking for new and different products. Vermont artisans produce those items.

The other day I watched a friend go online to look for an Adirondack chair at L.L. Bean. When I asked her why she wasn’t buying locally, she told me she would but didn’t know where to look. This must happen all the time. Where do people go to find, view and purchase the work of Vermont artists and craftspeople? There is no one central place to see or buy the varied work of the hundreds of artisans who live and work in Vermont.

Vermont Art Network was created to be that destination. Our goal is to promote, encourage and support our artists and craftspeople, and give them an opportunity to earn a living doing what they love to do. The more people participating, the better. There truly is strength in numbers. By pooling our knowledge, experience, skills and resources we can accomplish more than we could individually to bring attention to our work.

We hope Vermont's creative community will use this web site to communicate with each other – to share ideas and resources. We welcome suggestions and constructive criticism. Please let us know how we can be of help.

This website is run by The Vermont Art Network, a community of artists and craftspeople whose mission is to promote the talents and skills of its members, and bring their work to the attention of the world-wide marketplace.

For information on this site, please contact:

Leslie Cherrington
P.O. Box 274
Lyndon Center VT 05850
leslie@colorjunkie.com

To Potential Members:

This network is based on a similar one founded in the San Francisco Bay Area about ten years ago. It had over 350 members. This was before the internet however, so everything was printed and distributed the old-fashioned way. The group's monthly newsletter was picked up from the printer and delivered all over the Bay Area to coffee shops, art supply stores, book stores, frame shops, galleries, etc.

To see copies of the old East Bay Artnet newsletters, please click here.