Town is a sound exhibit that I produced for the Kent Museum in Calais, Vermont. It weaves together personal stories and memories about growing up in Calais, and natural sounds recorded around town.

There’s no start or finish to these stories. It’s meant to be a kind of sonic wallpaper. In this audio, you hear reference to the former owner of the Kent Museum building, Louise Andrews Kent, and you hear her granddaughters talk about concerts once held upstairs in the ballroom, and her creation of the small dioramas downstairs. You also hear stories about mill fires, walking barefoot in summer, marriage proposals and God…

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/171496420″ params=”color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]

THANKS: I’d like to thank the Calais area residents who shared their time and stories with me. They are: Geraldine Gilman, Don Singleton, Erlene Leonard, Janet Ancel, Olivia Gay, Stanley Fitch, Elaine Fitch and Elliott Morse.

The photos of the Kent you see here are provided by Nel Emlen. Thank you Nel!

And finally, all praise to the People of Kent! Over the past seven years, a team of hugely dedicated folks have brought art to this old, historical tavern and general store in the heart of our town. There’s a magic about that building. Ghosts and brilliant late afternoon light. Exposed lath and old plaster, weird pink closets and teal floors and bowls of plastic grapes in tucked away places, notes to self written on the wall from 1921, ancient wallpaper and lots and lots of clip lamps to light the art. (I’m a special fan of the clip lamps…)

The love these folks at the Kent feel for the building comes through in the way they present the artwork, and it’s palpable…which just makes the whole experience more fun than most art exhibits. So thank you People of Kent. We’ll see you next year.