Board of Directors
It is with regret and good wishes that we accept Megan Helm’s resignation from the Board of Directors here at Seven Stars Arts Center. Megan came on board in February of 2018 and was instrumental in keeping the doors at Seven Stars open, as there had been a major reduction in board personnel at that time. Megan moved us forward with a brand new web site and was instrumental in developing an awesome concert series in 2018-2019. On a board that is by necessity very task oriented, she brought a fresh spirit of big picture thinking. She will be missed and her contributions are deeply appreciated. Thank you Megan!
Taking her place as President of the Board is Michael Barsanti, long time Sharon resident and SSAC board member since March of 2018.
Taking her place as President of the Board is Michael Barsanti, long time Sharon resident and SSAC board member since March of 2018.
Michael Barsanti, President
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“As an artist, teacher and lifelong learner I joined the Seven Stars Arts Center board to help steward and continue the valuable services that Seven Stars brings to east central Vermont and New Hampshire.”
Michael Barsanti is a resident of Sharon VT. He holds an MFA from University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. In addition to being a sculptor, and potter he is Professor of the Practice at the School of The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston, MA. |
Thelma Thompson, Secretary
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Thelma Thompson joined the Seven Stars Board in 2019 after playing in Chris Rua’s coached recorder consort for several years. Chris’ classes are one of the high points of her week. Thelma also enjoys participating in Ina Anderson’s poetry sessions at Seven Stars. Thelma and Peter Thompson moved to Post Mills, VT after she retired from the University of New Hampshire where she was Government Documents and Maps Librarian. Before that they were at a small college in Iowa, where she taught geology labs and worked as a part-time librarian, returning to Vermont each summer to map bedrock geology in the Green Mountains. She is currently in charge of finances for Norwich contra dances and an active English country dancer. In addition, she enjoys Tai Chi, gardening, hiking and other outdoor activities as well as the more sedentary pleasures of reading, sewing and cooking.
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Emerson Gale, Treasurer
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Emerson Gale teaches joy-based music and outdoor education in the Upper Valley including Music Theory & Composition at The Sharon Academy and the Pacem School, violin/fiddle and piano lessons for Upper Valley Waldorf School students, and cello and ukulele instruction through the Seven Stars Arts Center.
Emerson previously served as the Music Director and Camp Director of Camp Greenwoods in Hangzhou, China, which he co-founded as one of the first international youth camps in that country. Emerson’s youth mentoring expertise also includes The Experiment In International Living, City Year London, Bay Area Wilderness Training, Raven’s Wood Outdoor School for Renegades, Bold Paths and the Upper Valley Haven Children’s Program. You can find Emerson speaking Mandarin Chinese or playing cello for the Vermont Fiddle Orchestra and various contra/square dance bands in New England. To learn more visit: www.emersongale.com |
Peter Thompson, Board Member
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Peter Thompson is a retired geology professor and active consulting geologist, mapping bedrock for state surveys in New England. He will be teaching a class at Seven Stars Arts Center called “Geology through Art”. Peter is an avid amateur recorder player and learned of Seven Stars when he signed up for a recorder consort with Chris Rua. His interests outside of geology include early music, contra and English country dancing, foreign languages, films and theater, Tai Chi, gardening, hiking, and botany. He and Thelma have enjoyed visiting the highest point in each state (35 out of 50 so far) and hope someday to have hiked all 4000 footers in New England.
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Anne Mapplebeck, Board Member
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Anne Mapplebeck is a singer, visual artist and earns her living as a Professional Organizer in the Upper Valley and Boston locales. She was a SSAC board member back in 2008-2010 and has re-joined the current board as a transitional board member during this exciting year with a brand new board. For seven years she enjoyed her run as a “rock star” in the cover band Still More Cats, as singer and bass player. Having graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University in 1997, she finds her time in the studio a deeply contemplative and creative experience, working with domestic materials and addressing concerns around home, place in society, war and sometimes just the joy of color and pattern!
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Where we've been and where we're going...
The Mission of Seven Stars Arts Center is to nurture a love and understanding of the arts by providing diverse educational opportunities and performances. Located in rural Sharon, Vermont, the Seven Stars Arts Center (SSAC), formerly Vermont Independent School of the Arts (VTISA), was founded in 2002 in response to widespread budget cuts in public school music education. VTISA changed its name to the Seven Stars Arts Center in 2016. The first Seven Stars board of directors had a vision to provide affordable, accessible music and arts education that would meet the needs of students and families that wanted to pursue the study of instrumental and vocal music. Once established, SSAC quickly grew from a music education resource into a bustling, diverse arts hub for East Central Vermont. Through community partnerships, sponsorships and fundraising, SSAC strives to make the arts accessible.
Curtains without Borders-Operation Stage Renovation
Seven Stars is home to a historic theater curtain or drop from the Nineteenth Century. We are dedicated stewards of these objects that tell the story of our community. Board members Peter Thompson and Thelma Thompson have been diligently researching the history of Seven Stars from Church to Grange to Garage to Arts Center.
The Town of South Royalton also has a historic curtain in need of restoration and preservation. Together our organizations will be writing a grant to bring them back to life. Your support is needed. If you can donate to our Curtain Fund, please see the link above called Donation Drive. All designated curtain fund donations are tax deductible and go toward matching grant money.
The Town of South Royalton also has a historic curtain in need of restoration and preservation. Together our organizations will be writing a grant to bring them back to life. Your support is needed. If you can donate to our Curtain Fund, please see the link above called Donation Drive. All designated curtain fund donations are tax deductible and go toward matching grant money.
Ode To Seven Stars
by Helen Barrett
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Big, old white building, they built you
to be a church up on Beaver Meadow Road. I'll bet you were beautiful up there, with your tall spire in hills. But they picked you up and carried you to the river in Sharon. And then you were The Grange Building, but the Grange faded, And some big wind knocked down your spire. And Old Man Brooksie bought you. And then you became a Garage, a repair place, Where a homeless, beaten boy could make a bed up in your belfry. And then Angels came along and bought you They closed the garage doors, and took care of your old bones, And they opened you up to your new purpose. And then you became Sharon's own Seven Stars Arts Center. Sharon is my home, and so I have been able to spend every Saturday morning for eleven years learning Tai Chi, the art form of my life. For this great gift, I thank you, Old Baptist Church Grange Building Garage and Haven Seven Stars Arts Center |
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