Best Photos from 2022

Thousands of young people participated in-person at the Flynn in Burlington and virtually from their classrooms around the state to hear best-selling author and former Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds speak about his body of work and his collaborative book with scholar Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You

Author and activist Bill McKibben shares an overview of the climate crisis and what changes need to be made to save the planet to a full First Wednesdays house at Norwich Congregational Church, United Church of Christ.

The Villalobos Brothers played for an intimate office at the Open Door Clinic a day after rocking the house in the Fall Festival partnership with the UVM Lane Series. The band also visited with people Integral to The Most Costly Journey and Vermont Reads programming.

Andrew Liptak, author of Cosplay: A History, presents a First Wednesdays talk in which he describes how cosplay has evolved from a niche activity of convention-goers in the mid-20th century to wide popularity today. A set of Stormtrooper armor like those of the Star Wars films and shows is on display here for attendees to examine.

The internationally-renowned Garifuna Collective performs at the Chandler Center for the Art. The group held a conversation before the performance that was free and open to the public as a part of our Where We Land: Storytelling that Propels Us theme during the Fall Festival. 

Blanchette is a singer-songwriter who brings more than ten thousand years of Abenaki tradition to his contemporary compositions.  Bryan joined us at Elmore State Park for Words in the Woods and brought a small electrified group to perform original and contemporary songs, some sung in the Abenaki language.

James Spooner, author of The High Desert, with Bobby Hackney, Jr. of the punk band Rough Francis engaged in an incredible conversation on comics, music, and art at the Non-Fiction Comics Festival. Comic book artists from across the country presented their work as part of the day-long event held at the Fletcher Free Library in partnership with the Vermont Folklife Center.

Author Eyal Press spoke to students at Middlebury College about his book Dirty Work.

Vermont Reads 2022 The Most Costly Journey (El viaje más caro) launched with a moderated panel discussion at 118 Eliott in Brattleboro with three people central to the creation of the book, including Julia Doucet from the Open Door Clinic. The gallery displayed an installation of images and stories from migrant workers’ journeys here and of their lives on Vermont farms, brought together from four distinct bodies of work: The Golden Cage Project (2007), Invisible Odysseys (2010), El Viaje Más Caro (2015), and a selection of paintings and sculptures by the migrant artist El Emigrante.