CRAFTSBURY COMMON – This spring Craftsbury artist Seth Bond donated a painting depicting buildings along the east side of the Common to the Craftsbury Historical Society. The 12-by-36-inch painting shows the streetscape, from the Craftsbury Academy building down to the Sterling College North House.
courtesy photo
The painting is being raffled off during the historical society’s summer fundraiser, with the drawing scheduled during the last Farmers Market of the season, September 27, on the Common. Raffle tickets are available at the museum on the Common, Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to noon, or at the Craftsbury Farmers Market, every Saturday, 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Tickets may also be obtained by contacting Don Houghton, [email protected].
In 2001 Bond began stitching together photographs of New England town scenes and selling them as greeting cards in 400 retail shops throughout New England. After taking 110,000 photos of 300 New England towns, he looked for an alternative given the amount of work involved and discovered he could paint.
Bond has now embarked on a project to turn those 300 composite photos into paintings. “I want people to see their town in a new way and feel good about it,” he said.
When Bond was looking to move back to Vermont, he and his wife Molly stumbled across the Craftsbury property they now own and are enjoying the sense of community they feel in the town. Donating the painting is a way he can give back to the community for an important community resource, he said. “I hope everyone buys raffle because the historical society needs to raise funds to paint the building.”
The society still has “Craftsbury Old Home Day” canvas totes, decorated with a Mary Azarian woodcut of a photograph from 1975, available along with the raffle tickets.
Good to see Don Houghton up and about at Craftsbury Common!