Unfiltered Spirits

A live, online showcase series featuring visual and performing artists of Vermont! Three weeks. Three artists each week. A live broadcast via Zoom and YouTube showcasing the work of Vermont creatives. Featuring signature Vermont cocktails, and hosted by DJ cRAIG mITCHELL.

Unfiltered Spirits is a live, online showcase series featuring the work of visual and performing artists throughout Vermont. Three artists will be featured per episode, for a total of nine artists. Unfiltered Spirits is an opportunity for artists and Vermonters to witness the strength and vitality in our creative sector during this transitional period for artists of all kinds.

Watch via ZOOM and enjoy the pre-show cocktail with our host, and hangout with the artists after the show. For the zoom link (register here).

Or watch on YouTube:

NOV. 5th @ 7:30 PM - https://youtu.be/bheEVxZbkOU

NOV. 12th @ 7:30 PM - https://youtu.be/v-JNsYxt8Lw

NOV. 19th @ 7:30 PM - https://youtu.be/KbvE0YDll10

NOV 5th - FEATURED ARTISTS:

Shirley Reid / The Oxymoronics / Sculpture: My job is to maintain a creative playful pleasure seeking learning and teaching life. Discussing the why of art is not the reason I make art. I am a curious practicing filmmaker, animator, painter, poet, screenwriter. I never cease to be fascinated by my fellow humans and aspire to tell their stories through art.

Namaya The Jazz Poet / Jazz Poet: Namaya is an internationally renowned Jazz poet, storyteller, humorist and sublime improvisational artist. He has performed throughout the US and has toured in Europe, New Zealand, Japan, Asia, the Americas and Palmyra Syria. Both as a solo artist, with his band the Jazz Beat Blues Poetry Ensemble, and with jazz musicians around the world, Namaya performs an astonishing blend of jazz word, story and improvisation. www.thejazzpoet.com

Lauren Larken Scuderi / 365 Songbird: Larken is a singer, educator and environmental justice activist. As one of the co-founding teaching artists of Waterway Stage with the Echo Center and Very Merry Theatre she has helped to reach school classrooms and community groups over the past five years to share the love of scientific inquiry with creative self expression. She has directed, choreographed, costumed, led crew, musically directed and creatively consulted on numerous productions in schools and camp settings with Very Merry Theatre with many school groups and camps both in person and virtually. She earned an MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Arts, from Brooklyn College and a BA in Theatre from The University of Southern California. Larken is working through the not for profit organization she founded, “Artistic Evolucion, Inc” to bring about multiple creative Artnerships (partnerships with arts and artists) which bridge opportunities for multi-generational groups of creative people to access health and wellness practices. http://www.ArtEvolve.org

Sponsored by: Ceres Natural Remedies (https://ceresremedies.com)

Hosted by: Waterworks Food + Drink (https://www.waterworksvt.com/)

NOV. 12th - FEATURED ARTISTS:

Joanne Greenberg / Green Room Productions: Joanne Greenberg directs plays, leads an improvisation troupe, and teaches drama workshops around Vermont. Recent productions include Marjorie Prime, The Whale, Bad Jews, True West, Proof, and The Understudy (Vermont Actors’ Repertory Theatre), and Raggedy And (Chandler Theater Pride Festival). At Phantom Theater her directing credits include Collected Stories, Constellations (also at The Grange, Artistree, Off Center, and Highland Arts), Gruesome Playground Injuries (also at Lost Nation Theater) Authorial Intent, The Dirty Talk, and Sure Thing. Greenberg has also taught acting classes professionally and at Community College of Vermont. Earlier in her career, Greenberg taught English and advanced acting classes at U-32 High School. In addition, she directed more than 50 major productions at the school, many of which won awards. https://theaterengine.com/artists/3

Kyle Woolard / Glorious Leader: Glorious Leader is the solo project of American musician, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Woolard. Written and recorded in his home in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, the music is an attempt at uncompromising honesty. It is a quest for simplicity. It is a celebration of humanity, of the far north, of the infinite shades between joy and sorrow, of wood stoves and whiteouts. The music is a reflection of the Northeast Kingdom — an aural representation of its slender dirt roads, sparkling lakes, peeling wooden farmsteads, maple sugaring houses, cold wilderness, warm people, and 6 to 8 months of snowfall. Woolard is also the leader of orchestral post-rock band The Anatomy of Frank, which seeks to record an album for and on every continent. He has toured over 2 dozen times in Europe and North America and has released 3 full-length albums. His debut EP as Glorious Leader was released on January 14, 2020 and is called 'My Kingdom.' “…an astonishing breath of fresh air within today’s global folk and indie scene.” - The Vinyl District “[Makes] music like no one else in the world.” - Impose Magazine www.ohgloriousleader.bandcamp.com/releases

Cyndal Ellis / Sobo Studio: Cyndal Ellis is Co-Founder and Co-Director of SoBo Studio. She teaches fusion belly dance, modern dance, and Dunham Technique. Cyndal grew up dancing in Houston, Texas, but has since found her home in New England. In 2017, Cyndal received a teacher certification through the Institute for Dunham Technique Certification. She holds a B.A. in anthropology and dance from Smith College. She has taught at Jacob’s Pillow, Smith College, Landmark College, and grade schools throughout New England. She helped found Al Amal Belly Dance Company and she was a member of The Sovereign Collective with which she performed and taught nationally. She was also one of the co-directors of Firekeeper Productions and toured the multimedia production “The Mabel Story” throughout New England. www.sobodance.com/instructors

NOV. 19th - FEATURED ARTISTS

Bronwyn Sims / Devised Theatre: Bronwyn Sims is a creator, performer, choreographer, and educator. She has appeared in film and on television including a role in the Emmy award winning first season of The Sopranos. Her NYC stage credits include New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, National Black Theatre of Harlem, Dixon Place, BAAD (Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance) multiple appearances at The Kitchen, La Mama, HERE, and The NY Clown Theatre Festival at The Brick Theatre. Bronwyn has performed nationally and internationally with over 30 companies, was a Lecturer in Acting at Yale School of Drama, and was on the faculty at New England Center for Circus Arts. Her directing, choreography and production credits include work with Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale School of Drama, American Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, The Vermont Academy, among others. She holds an MFA in Devised Physical Theatre Performance from The University of The Arts and Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training and a Certificate in Acting from Circle in the Square Theatre School. Bronwyn is a registered teaching artist through the state of Vermont, is a member of NEFA’S Creative Ground, and a member and dance affiliate with The Vermont Dance Alliance. Bronwyn is Co-Founder and Producing Director of Strong Coffee Stage, a Physical Theatre Company based in Vermont. www.bronwynsims.com, www.strongcoffeestage.com

Patty Hudak / Visual Artist, Mokuhanga (Japanese Waterbased Woodblock Printing): Patty Hudak is an artist living in Underhill, VT. She studied painting at Wellesley College, where she was awarded 2 Stecher Scholarships to study abroad in Italy and France. Since 2005, she has practiced art in Hong Kong SAR; Beijing, China; Tokyo, Japan; Sligo, Ireland; and Vermont. She is a recipient of the Vermont Arts Council's 2018-2019 Creation Grant and was recently awarded the Vermont Artists to Watch in 2020. Her exhibitions include There, Through the Broken Branches, Go, Southern Vermont Arts Center (2020); Indigo and Ink, Southern Vermont Arts Center, 2020; Beyond the Three Perfections, Dublin Castle (2017); Patty Hudak in China, Being 3 Gallery, Beijing, China (2015); Patty Hudak, Grace Hotel Gallery, Beijing, China (2014-15); True Colors, US Embassy Beijing American Center, Beijing, China (2013); On the Curve, Viva Now, Beijing, China (2009); and Garden Helices, 5 OPT Gallery, Hong Kong (2008). Group exhibitions include participation in exhibitions with the art collective Art Byte Critique in Tokyo Japan, including the Tokyo Book Arts Fair and with the Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory at 3331 Space, Tokyo, Japan (2016, 2017, 2019). In 2016, 2017, and 2019 Hudak was an Artist in Residence at Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory in Yamanashi, Japan, where she studied traditional woodblock printing with Japanese Masters Printers and Carvers, as well as private study with Carving Master Motoharu Asaka. www.pattyhudak.com

Sarah King / Singer Songwriter: Sarah King’s versatile vocals alternate between coaxing and commanding, tricking the listener into thinking and feeling after being drawn in on the surface by hummable, radio-ready hooks. With songs ranging from blues-influenced murder ballads to fierce female-empowerment anthems, her powerful voice is rooted in Americana and soul. “Sarah King murders the murder ballad. Atmospheric and haunted folk...with touches of soul and gospel.” - Ray Padgett. https://sarahkingsings.com

DJ cRAIG mITCHELL

With over 30 years behind the decks, cRAIG has served as a resident at New York City's legendary Tunnel and Limelight nightclubs and has played many of the country's most celebrated venues and club nights, while also doing his thing for international crowds all over the United States plus in Canada, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. He enjoyed residencies at Rise in Boston and Twist in Miami, but focuses on his more open format weeklies in Burlington, VT, these days as a break from travel and production. He is currently a teacher at Burlington's famed Flynn Theater and has retooled his one man show focused on diversity, DO UNTO OTHERS, featuring music by Jeffrey Gaines and more.

One experience with cRAIG behind the tables, on the air (the now defunct WZXO 96.7 FM), and/or performing live, with his award winning Prince tribute band, Purple, while dancing continuously on stage or in the booth...spreading his ONE LOVE mantra through the music each night, and you'll understand why his shows are so well attended and received.

SMART ARTIST

SMART ARTIST is a collective entity of theater, music, and dance community leaders from the organizations Theater Engine, Big Heavy World, the Vermont Dance Alliance, and Main Street Landing. 

Hosted by: Big Heavy World (bigheavyworld.com), TheaterEngine (theaterengine.com), Vermont Dance Alliance (vermontdance.org), & Main Street Landing (mainstreetlanding.com)

Sponsored by: Vermont Arts Council, Vermont Creative Network Chittenden County, & the Radiator 105.9FM