Burklyn Holiday Market Supports Arts in Schools
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- Created on Wednesday, 09 December 2015 18:21
- Written by Tim Laroche
Lyndon - The end of the year is fast approaching, and holiday events are being hosted with increasing frequency and scale.
In Lyndon, for example, the North Pole Express made a stop at The Freighthouse on December 5 and 6, where boarders were treated to cookies and hot cocoa, caroling and even a visit from Santa Claus himself. And one does not have to search for too long to find myriad holiday lights, decorations and even the occasional inflatable snowman – which has been necessitated by the unseasonable lack of the real thing, thus far -- springing up around the Northeast Kingdom.
In Lyndon, however, another holiday tradition made its annual recurrence this weekend when craftspeople, shoppers and vendors for the 46th annual Burklyn Holiday Market convened in the Lyndon Town School for two days of food, entertainment and local wares.
Proceeds from the event went to the Burklyn Arts Council, which will distribute the funds through grants to area schools to help support their art programs.
Burklyn Arts Council President Sue Gallagher says the group, which consists of 15 trustees and a number of volunteers, has made a mission to support the arts in an area where, she says, "it doesn't get the support that it should."
"Whenever budgets get tight in schools, it seems, the first things to go are the arts," Gallagher said. "They are considered – very often, not so much any more, but in the old days – extras, and still they get pinched first."
And in the years since the No Child Left Behind act established a system in which schools were to meet federally established educational standards, -- most noticeably resulting in the proliferation of high-stakes testing -- many schools have been forced to cut educational budgets for extracurricular activities and non-core subject areas, including the arts. But many educators have pushed back against the cuts to the arts, and some researchers have even found a correlation between arts education and higher test scores in reading and math.
However, still, a growing movement also supports a reestablishment and increased funding for arts education due to the subject's intrinsic value -- that is: artistic expression for its own sake.
"Some kids learn much better in the performing arts than perhaps they do in math and some things like that," Cara Berryman, a Burklyn Arts Council Trustee, said, "but it is truly an academic subject and it is art education and if we don't offer this I don't feel we're educating the whole child."
The Council funds a number of projects, equipment, materials, visiting artists and programs each year for the seven surrounding school districts – Lyndon, Sutton, East Haven, Sheffield, Wheelock, Burke and Newark – that Gallagher says are usually pressed for funding.
"Especially in the smaller schools," she says, "where you don't get the economy of scale – like Burke, for example... uses a lot of Burklyn support for many projects which require materials which per pupil don't cost much, but you add it up, and its quite a bit of money. And that's just one project. You add it up and five bucks per pupil, that's a lot of money."
As of December 1, Burklyn Arts has announced that it will contribute money to the following projects aimed at improving arts education in local schools: The Riverside School will receive $300 to attend schooltime shows at the Catamount Arts Center in St. Johnsbury; Millers Run School will also receive $460 to attend shows at the Catamount Arts Center; the Sutton School will receive $144 to attend the Catamount Arts Center's schooltime show, Slapstick Science; and the Stevens School will receive $300 for a production of the musical "1787 – Alive!"
However, Gallagher says, schools often apply for specific grants throughout the school year, and the Council generally budgets between 15,000 and 20,000 dollars per year for local schools.
In 2015, for example, the Council contributed $1,500 for annual events, $500 through a discretionary fund, $2954.81 in incentive grants, $1,130.88 in performance grants, $1,800 for visiting artists and $916.91 through James P. Doyle 8th Grade Scholarships.
The need for such an organization, Gallagher says, is due to the reality that rural school districts -- such as those that the Burklyn Arts Council supports – are sometimes forced to cut spending on arts education.
However, the overarching goal of the Burklyn Arts Council is to fund programs and visiting artists that, Gallagher says, will help students experience the arts in their formative years, a time when the lessons they impart will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives.
The Burklyn Arts Council supports its own registry of artists and also is a member of the Vermont Arts Council. However, members of the Burklyn Arts Council can also be found at other local collectives, such as the Northeast Kingdom Artisan's Guild.
For the 46th iteration of the Burklyn Holiday market, 42 vendors came out to exhibit their work at the Lyndon Town School.
"The exhibitors come from all around Vermont for now," Gallagher said. "We've recently had some discussion to include New Hampshire artists. We're right, however, on the border so there is talk that we might want to include New Hampshire artists."
However, organizing such a large and diverse group of exhibitors is no easy feat, and Gallagher says, the fair would not be able to run without an army of volunteers.
"We can't do this without volunteers," she said. "I bet we have 50 for this weekend alone."
And as a juried arts and crafts show, the judging process also makes matters more complicated. This year, in the Lyndon Town School's library, a panel of judges -- which is a panel of trustees and other artists in the area including Burklyn member Norma St. Germaine, for example -- deliberated on the works from the crafters and artists.
"In the past we've had up to 30 [judges] back in the 80's when it was the heyday for the handmade crafts movement," Gallagher said. "We'd be all day jurying. But there aren't as many new people going into the field."
Throughout the year, leading up the Holiday Market, artists around the state submitted pieces for jurying. According to Gallagher, there has been some talk within the council to navigate the process online, but, she says, the council still requests that exhibitioners submit up to three physical products for jurying.
"There has been a push to move towards the web," she said. "But you can't see the quality of the fabric if it's a textile, you can't check out the kind of details that we like to check out, online."
With all said and done, Gallagher says, the Holiday Market has followed a successful formula since its inception, and she does not expect many changes for next year.
And although the era of crafters and local artisans, Gallagher says, may have passed its peak, she expects that the Burklyn Arts Council will continue to support their efforts.
"The "back to the earth" movement slacked off from the 60's and 70's, but there's still some great artists around," she said. "And our artists are some of the best."
The Burklyn Arts Council also holds another one-day craft fair each summer to raise money for the arts. The 2016 Summer Craft Fair will be held July 2 at Bandstand Park in Lyndonville.
