The Current is excited to announce its 2024 Summer Opening Festival, which will be held on Saturday, June 22, 2024, from 4 to 7 p.m. The event will mark the opening of three indoor exhibitions as well as their annual outdoor exhibition, Exposed. Everyone is invited to attend this free celebration.

Festival Schedule:

• 4 p.m.: Indoor reception with hors d’oeuvres and refreshments.
• 4:30 p.m.: Guided walking tour through town with artist talks in front of the Exposed sculptures.
• 5:30 p.m.: Celebration on the lawn of the Art Center featuring live music by Refrigerator Art and complimentary snacks and beverages, including beer courtesy of von Trapp Brewery, Lake Champlain Chocolates ice cream, and Caja Madera tacos.

Additionally, members of The Current are invited to the annual meeting of the membership and special indoor exhibition preview and reception at 3:15 p.m. The member reception will feature sparkling refreshments and hors d’oeuvres.

Advance RSVPs are welcome but not required.

The Summer Opening Festival will be centered around four exhibitions:

• Taking Time: A solo exhibition by Chakaia Booker. Internationally renowned multidisciplinary artist Chakaia Booker is best known for pioneering the use of recycled rubber tires as a raw material for monumental sculptural works. A fixture of the New York City East Village art scene since the early 1980’s, Booker has exhibited across the US, in Europe, Africa, and Asia, with works included in more than 40 museum and private collections.
• Climate Imprints. From lithographs to embroidered screenprints to woodcuts, The Current presents Climate Imprints, curated by three master printmakers of the highly acclaimed EFA Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, Chakaia Booker, Tara Sabharwal, and Justin Sanz. Artists include John Andrews, Chakaia Booker, Edward Fausty, Anna Flacco, Rie Hasegawa, Essye Klempner, Shervone Neckles, Mohammed Omar Khalil, Tara Sabharwal, Justin Sanz, Sarah Sears, Yasuyo Tanaka, Ethan Tate.
• Exposed. This annual outdoor sculpture exhibition brings public art to the town of Stowe. Sculptures are sited on both public and private land throughout the village and at The Current. Artists featured this year include Chakaia Booker, Christopher Curtis, Clark Derbes, Woody De Othello, Justin Kenney, John Matusz, Oren Pinhassi, Don Porcaro, Jonathan Prince, Jackson Tupper, and Hank Willis Thomas.
• History of the EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. EFA RBPMW is the oldest and longest-running community print shop in the United States. Started by Robert Blackburn in 1947, EFA RBPMW has always been a cooperative printmaking workspace that provides professional-quality printmaking facilities to artists and printmakers of every skill level and is committed to inspiring and fostering its diverse artistic community. Blackburn’s workshop has been called the “Little United Nations” because of its continual support of artists from various ethnicities and backgrounds. Work by Robert Blackburn, Faith Ringgold, and Romare Bearden will be exhibited.

Presented by: Petra Levin