[groens]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

There are county fairs and regional events all over this state:

Vermont Agricultural Events 2009 -Fairs, Festivals and Field Days



Ugh, major bummer. Hope no one was hurt?

noone died thank gawd.

thanks for the link. being in texas, i was finding it odd that there is never any mention of a county fair. confusing!

it will be so nice to get out to a community function without cooking in the heat.

[groens]

Sherylcatmom,
just curious if there is a shop within 40 minutes of Rutland that sells fine art supplies (canvas, oil paint, fine art materials/mediums, etc.)?? We were eventually wanting to open a storefront... although i suppose we could always live in one town & open the store in another if we needed to...
thanks!

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by groens

Sherylcatmom,
just curious if there is a shop within 40 minutes of Rutland that sells fine art supplies (canvas, oil paint, fine art materials/mediums, etc.)?? We were eventually wanting to open a storefront... although i suppose we could always live in one town & open the store in another if we needed to...
thanks!

I don't think so. I'll ask some artist friends of ours today and get back to you. Meanwhile, here's what comes to mind:

There's a business called Quest Frames on Woodstock Avenue/Rte 4 just east of downtown Rutland. I'm pretty sure it's just framing, not an art supplies.

There is a Michael's (big box chain) about 5 minutes south of downtown on Route 7 in Rutland Town.

Downtown Rutland used to have a wonderful art, framing, & office supply store called Eastman's. They closed their downtown shop and are now doing gift baskets from a Route 7 storefront.

[Sherylcatmom]

In the meantime:

Connecting with art & artists in Rutland City:
Chaffee Art Center - Art Gallery and Art Classes

In Brandon, the 2nd most significant downtown in Rutland County about 25 minutes north of Rutland straight up Route 7:
Brandon Artists' Guild, Art Gallery with varied collection of 50-plus Vermont artists belonging to the Brandon Artists Guild in Vermont.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by groens

Sherylcatmom,
just curious if there is a shop within 40 minutes of Rutland that sells fine art supplies (canvas, oil paint, fine art materials/mediums, etc.)?? We were eventually wanting to open a storefront... although i suppose we could always live in one town & open the store in another if we needed to...
thanks!

I just talked with Mary Mitiguy, director of the Chaffee Arts Center in Rutland City. There is apparently NO fine art supply store in Rutland County. Mary said (note sentence in bold type!):

"You can get some supplies at Michael's, but there's really. We have Blick Art Supplies online as a link on our website.

It's funny you should ask about that. We should have some things that people want. Part of me says it might do well. We've thought about serving our artists who ask about it, who might buy stuff here if we carried it.

I'd love to talk with this person if she comes to the area for a visit. If it were something where we might rent out space, we should talk."

If you want to contact Mary Mitiguy, call 802-775-0356.

[vter]

Definitely check out Brandon. Big art community there. Probably it's most famous artist/resident is Warren Kimble. Really good restaurant in town too! (Cafe Provence). It's 20 minutes north of Rutland.

[CAVA1990]

Ludlow is a cool spot, not far from Rutland. Here's the art school located there:

Fletcher Farm School

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Ludlow is a cool spot, not far from Rutland. Here's the art school located there:

Fletcher Farm School

I didn't know there was an art school in Ludlow. Thanks for mentioning that.

I didn't list Ludlow in potential towns for the OP to check out because my experience is that there's not enough year-round community there. But Ludlow might be fine for the life & business the OP wants, so it could be worth considering.

My sense of Ludlow: Our bodywork business and Rutland's professional service providers, groceries, & other businesses get a lot of people who drive from Ludlow to Rutland. Ludlow's grocery store is of minimal use. In fact I've stopped dropping in there when I drive through Ludlow because they've never, ever had anything I needed (seemed more like a big convenience store to me). Black River Produce's market is gone! There's no natural food market that I know of. Ludlow has some cute restaurants, shops, inns, and other businesses that cater to ski visitors & seasonal residents.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Sherylcatmom

Black River Produce's market is gone!

Oh no! What happened to them? That was my favorite place to shop there. They had a great fish counter.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Oh no! What happened to them? That was my favorite place to shop there. They had a great fish counter.

Ugh, sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I don't know what I would have done without that market when I was commuting between Rutland and Keene for grad school. Here's the discussion we had about it on this Forum:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/vermont/587437-what-happened-black-river-produce.html