Via UVM’s Community News Service, in partnership with Vermont State University Castleton, on assignment for the Lakes Region FreePress
POULTNEY — The shoebox-sized room, lined with framed photos of various locations around the town of Poultney was packed with people eager to hear the stories of writer Herb Childress, artist Phil Whitman and musician Silas Hamilton.
Stone Valley Arts held their third WAM! (Writer, Artist, Musician) event on Oct. 3, featuring three local artists who shared a selection of their work with the opportunity to talk about their process.
“This is an opportunity for us to get a glimpse into the lives of three individuals that make this region of Vermont their home,” said Erica Schmidt, organizer of the event.
The Writer
The first presenter of the night was Herb Childress, a writer from Middletown Springs.
“The Middletown mafia is in the back row, don’t mess with them,” Childress said with a chuckle.
Childress explained how to him, stories are like magic tricks. He said he’s a big fan of magicians Penn & Teller, who frequently tell their audience in advance how their tricks work, then perform them well enough where they’re still surprising.
“So that’s what I’m going to try and do tonight,” he said.
Childress shared an interview with three writers. One of them said he had challenged himself, in writing a particular story, to take happiness seriously. The two other writers visibly cringed at his statement, and one responded, “For me as a writer, I will always notice the parts that are not quite happy.”
Childress replied, “That’s not generally where I come from, I aspire to hospitality and kindness, I want the best for the people I write about.”
Next, Childress spoke about something he’d read in, “Why Art Cannot be Taught,” a book authored by an art teacher.
It argued that out of every thousand people, only about five will make their living as artists, and maybe one of them will be known outside of their town.
“It’s not a career that lends itself out of recognition,” Childress said. “If we are going to keep doing it there has to be some other reason, because the fame is most likely not going to happen.”
When the floor opened for thoughts and questions, one audience member said, “I think there is an analogy with almost every field, talking about devastating lives; actors, musicians, always sort of reaching for that pinhole but never finding it.”
Childress commented on the amount of nearby talent that goes under-recognized.
“I know painters in Middletown Springs who are just really remarkable painters, but for whatever reason, that work has not been in the right place at the right time,” he said.
The Artist
Despite the grumbles of audience members’ stomachs throughout the room, they remained engaged with the world of art as the next presenter was introduced.
“I’m really excited to be here, I like these WAM! events because it is about why and how we make things the way that we do,” said artist Phil Whitman.
Whitman was born and raised in upstate New York, attending Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine where he double majored in history and visual arts. He earned his MFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and a master’s in liberal studies soon after. He has been an art professor at Vermont State University Castleton since 2011.
Whitman showed off a few paintings he brought with him to the event, expressing that in some ways he feels in an “extended lull” as an artist.
One he made about a year ago, titled “Pre-enactment,” features 19th century artist James Hope in the Hubbardton Battlefield in Castleton. Whitman incorporated Hope in this painting with a figure on the right side of the piece, carrying a hatchet.
“I have always been attracted to the infrastructure of historical sites and thinking about overlaying personal history on top of them,” he said. “This is an example where there is a good story behind it that excited me, but it stalled out so it’s kind of half-finished and I haven’t had the will to do more with it because I got bored.”
Many of the works he presented put his more recent paintings into context and focused on the ups and downs of his journey. He discussed times where he was really into his work and excited when ideas would come fast, and other times in life when a lot was going on while still trying to make and teach art to students.
“I still made it a point to make art because that’s what my job description says I am supposed to be doing. I am an art teacher who’s trying to teach students about what art is, when sometimes I’m like, ‘Am I even an artist?’” Whitman said, followed by audience laughter.
He showed the audience pictures of his childhood in Saratoga, New York, where he was born. As candid images of him at the Saratoga battlefield as a young kid swiped across the projector, Whitman explained how he has always loved local landscape painting and the ability to make a connection between breathtaking landscapes that exist because of violent national conflict that allowed them to be preserved and marked.
“I have always really liked when there are lines, signs, and little poles to show you where different things happen in the landscapes. I realized that came from family trips to those things, making them feel safe and happy,” Whitman said.
“I think your concept of being a fraud is so important,” said an audience member. “I think it circles back to what Herb was saying with letting others determine what is worthwhile, and so often it’s constructed around money as opposed to doing good work. But if you are doing something that you consider to be of worth, then for the creator I think that is good to carry on.”
The Musician
Next, multi-instrumentalist, singer and performer Silas Hamilton talked about how he grew up in Shrewsbury surrounded by musicians of different genres, helping to mold his music on three interments: the fiddle, guitar, and the up-right bass.
“Well, I only brought two so I was going to leave that part out,” Hamilton said with a big smile.
At 16, Hamilton joined longtime Vermont-based band Gypsy Reel, setting him up for success in his career. Later, he performed with world music choir Northern Harmony, touring throughout Europe in 2019.
Expanding his horizons to bluegrass, he co-founded Tone Dog, a tight bluegrass trio with jazz influences, then joining Mojo Birds, a funky soul sextet out of Durango, Colorado, in 2024.
Hampton’s home-produced solo album “All the Ways” came out in November 2023, leading him to Spotify where he can share his music with all.
“I listen to his music on Spotify,” the event organizer, Schmidt, told the crowd.
“I was wondering who that was,” Hamilton responded, and the crowd laughed.
Hamilton stood in front of the audience, starting his presentation with a fiddle tune called “Soldier’s Joy.” Head bobbing to the music, foot tapping on the hard wood floor, and arms moving naturally to form the tune of the song, Hamilton played “Soldier’s Joy,” receiving a big round of applause when he finished.
As a teenager, Hamilton joined a Thursday night session at The Killarney in Ludlow, where he began his Irish music indulgence that lasted about five years.
While playing a tune that stuck with him from that experience, Hamilton asked the audience to listen to the difference of the melody compared to the old-time tune.
“I got this from the Bothy Band, powerhouse of the ‘70s, and I have been lucky enough to meet a couple of the members and let them buy me ice cream,” he said. “This one is called ‘Music in the Glen.’”
Hamilton finished his fiddle set then dragged a chair across the room to the front of the audience.
“I’m going to take a seat, not because it was a long walk over here, but because I am going to do some French-Canadian foot percussion,” he said.
Sitting fiddle in hand and feet dancing happily, his spunky tune had everyone in the crowd tapping along.
As the night came to an end, Hamilton closed out his section of the event with his piece “Songbird.”
“It’s funny how certain songs start out as something that they are completely…not,” he said.
He said what started out as a love song turned into one about a different kind of love with birds, nature, and what happens when you destroy it.
The tune started with a long, soothing guitar intro followed by his soft singing of the lyrics, ending the night on a relaxing tone.
“I just have one word I want to say: discipline,” an audience member said to the artists. “The discipline behind putting together what you just shared – wow.”