An active artist/student, Heather Bischoff also works at Bromley Mountain as a ski and snowboard instructor. Her paintings and murals have won awards and have been exhibited in galleries and museums. She continues to create, by her own means, to fulfill her passion for artistic expression.

Vicki Lynn Bowden is a self-taught artist. She paints freehand and direct, in a primitive folk art style. Her medium is acrylic on canvas. Bowden has exhibited in a number of shows and her paintings are in private collections from Vermont and New York to London.

"I love to paint simple country scenes where you can go into the painting and forget everything else around you. Somehow I feel I have captured something peaceful and satisfying in my work, it makes me happy and gives me great joy to share it."

The students selected their favorite masterpieces of art history and are exhibiting them on the "Galloping Gallery". Since the horse is sponsored by the Southern Vermont Art Center Outreach Program we decided it would be fun for visitors to check out timeless favorites as well as the exhibits of contemporary Vermont Artists.

Participating students are: Alex Gray (Project Leader), Aubrey Edson, Meagan McKeever, Danielle LaBerge, Niki Crocco, Adi Bishop, Willy Appelman, Kyle Komline, Lydia Jenks, Lily Calfee, Gabby Brabazon, Hayley Wulfman, Kita Mendolia, Rachel Ax, Caroline Donnavan, Haley Swinburn, Jeff Seibring, Kirsten Harvey, Shaun Mitchell & Ali Tron

Technical Advisors: Art Teachers, Betsy Hubner & Dawne Polis

Jean Chau has been working since 1985 leading and specializing in high quality murals, trompe l'oiel and various painted designs and finishes for both residential and commercial settings. Her staff of 20 painters include specialists in both European and Far Eastern painting styles. Their works of artistry, ranging from simple to elaborate grand panoramas adorn the homes, offices, restaurants and museums of their many satisfied clients. She can undertake any decorative painting project, however has claimed that painting the horse has been the most unusual. She is located in New York City.

Susan J. Coons crayoned her way along Route 66 from Chicago to the San Fernando Valley in California when she was eight years old. She has painted her way back and forth across the United States many times since.

Although an accomplished illustrator, designer and painter, Susan has found restoring and paint-decorating furniture challenging and rewarding. The furniture she paints is sometimes unusual, always different. She saves special pieces from the doom of the dump, giving them new life and shine. Her murals can be seen in Powers Market, North Bennington, VT, the Ice Cream Parlor of Mother Myrick's Confectionery, Manchester, VT, and private residences in Bennington and Shaftsbury, VT.

Having been a graphic artist, illustrator and Art Director for most of her career (with time out teaching elementary school for two years in California) Susan is now editor of The Vermont News Guide, Manchester, VT. She resides in Hoosick Falls, NY.

Anharad Llewelyn Edson grew up in a family of professional artists, and has been drawing and painting most of her life. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Communications, with a Minor in Fine Art, before moving to Vermont and opening a bed and breakfast inn in 1984. Edson now owns Flying Cow Signs with her husband, which is well known for its custom made artistic paintings created by Edson.

Edson illustrated her first children's book in 2004, and has had numerous murals commissioned in commercial and private spaces, including the Rutland Regional Medical Center. She lives in Manchester with her husband, three children, two dogs, and lots of paint brushes.

Natalee Everett began summering in Vermont in the early 50's. By 1974 she had made Vermont her permanent home. Everett began showing her work in 1976, and by the late 70's, her primitive two dimensional style paintings had become well known and in demand by area patrons and collectors worldwide. For over two decades, Everett has exhibited in solo shows at the Southern Vermont Art Center, and her work has been featured in the Manchester Journal, Woman's Day, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping and The New York Times. Ms. Everett currently resides in Peru where she continues to paint her most popular works on commission.

June Dolce Heffernan of Rye, NY and White Creek, NY, has been exploring her artistic inclinations all of her life. She works mostly in oils, subjects including: landscapes, portraits, seascapes, and animals. June has had four, one-man shows and exhibited her work widely. She has won prizes in juried shows and hung her work in civic centers and many private collections. Charity auctions are June's favorite venues.

June has been married to Jack for 41 years, has seven children and 12 grandchildren, and one dog. Their farm in White Creek is where June finds herself most creative, inspired by her horses, cows, and goats. The hilltop views of fields, barns, rivers, and mountains compel her to record their beauty on canvas.

Dave Herzfeld has been combining his skills as a painter and furniture maker for 15 years. Although Dave works in both of these mediums, he also has been combining them for the same amount of time. ?I began mixing art and furniture to help make my artwork more functional. These days the artwork and the furniture can both stand alone.

?I primarily work in oils and enjoy painting landscapes and similar regionalistic type work. I try to stay local and paint local. Vermont's hillsides have so much to offer, different colors and subjects to enjoy in each season.?

Dave owns and operates Bottum Hill Studios, a former sheep farm dating back to the 1700s in Shaftsbury, Vermont from 1987 to present.

Dave's work has been featured in Vermont Magazine, several times in America's Best Log Homes Magazine, Custom Woodworking Business Magazine, The New York Times as well as several local newspapers.

Susan Houghton-Debus nurtured her interest in art from a very early age. After obtaining her degree in Fine Arts, Houghton-Debus began to paint "primitives" in the mid nineties. It was with that style that she found her passion - each of her paintings began to tell a story all their own. The paintings reflect things she loves: disappearing countrysides, old towns, beautiful houses and barns. Houghton-Debus is constantly inspired by her surroundings and is often found with her camera taking pictures as the paintings already begin to form themselves in her mind.

After earning her BFA in Painting and Drawing, Betsy Byrne Hubner went on to become a highly celebrated art teacher. With certifications in four different states, Hubner currently teaches locally at Manchester's Burr and Burton Academy. She has received numerous fellowships, awards, and grants, including a Fulbright Program Scholar fellowship in Japan. Her work has been shown in many group and private exhibitions.

"My work to date has a vocabulary of representational imagery that depicts my everyday surroundings in Vermont. The desire to investigate, represent and share a sense of myself and places with which I connect, has led me to explore a new body of mixed media work and paintings. In this work, I continue to struggle with the notion of 'home' and with the preciousness of artifacts and images I have collected. By combining personal photos and mementos with more abstract shapes and imagery, I am attempting to trade the protected preciousness of materials for more cerebral, complex compositions that are rich with personal metaphors."

Ian Jamieson is an illustrator/designer living in Manchester. He spent his college years primarily focusing on sculpture, working with neon and casting metals. Currently, he is finishing a website to sell and showcase his work.

Ian was listed in Print's Regional Design Annual and has sold numerous works to strangers, friends, his parents, and himself.

With an upbringing of walks in the woods and his father's love for custom cars and hot rods, Scott Lenhardt learned to appreciate the workings of nature's creations along with the importance of craftsmanship. Since earning his degree in printmaking in 2000, he has been working as a freelance artist. His clients include Barneys New York, Burton Snowboards, and Trey Anastasio of Phish.

Lenhardt currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is working on the follow-up to his successful first solo show at the Taxter & Spengemann Gallery.

Suzanne is a native of Berkshire County, MA whose first endeavors in landscape oil painting began at the young age of 13. From that time on, her interest in painting and the arts has been never-ending. With an Associates degree in the Visual Arts, she's held positions in various graphic art departments over the years.

Presently, she works freelance from her home-based studio and her line of folk and decorative designs adorn handcrafted lamps and chandeliers that are marketed nationwide by CountryTraditions, Clarksburg, MA. Each piece is designed, hand-painted and signed by Suzanne. Much of her experience includes designing greeting cards for various companies and illustrating children's books including a series of Disney. She continues to do custom work for both private and commercial interests varying from murals to signs to hand-painted designs.

A member of the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters, she has taught painting at all levels. Her pieces continue to win awards at exhibits and recognition throughout New England. Suzanne resides in Adams, MA with her husband, Thomas, and two sons, Michael and Christopher.

Pamela Marron is known many for her large oil paintings, which evoke a sense of calm and wonder. A graduate of Parsons School of Design and recipient of the Max Beckman Scholarship at the Brooklyn Museum, Marron's earlier work was influenced by Richard Diebenkorn and other California artists. Developing an individual style by blending broad planes of subtle hues onto her canvases, Marron combines mood and mystery - subject matter is generally solitary and prominent - to her stoic Expressionist landscapes. Either brilliantly lit or quietly shaded, Marron's environments stand firmly planted while strong lines and sparse detail portray an atmosphere of permanence.

Jinna McHugh began her art education in Seoul, Korea, at the age of four. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in textile design and silk screen printing from Parson?s School of Design.

McHugh practiced as a freelance textile artist creating fabric and wallpaper designs for the home furnishing industry. She was also engaged as a muralist, and soon found she preferred designing and painting murals, which she felt to be the more challenging and rewarding work. In what turned out to be a great complement to her mural work, she began painting detailed botanicals. She continues to be inspired by the varied texture and intricate detail she finds in foliage and flowers.

McHugh has painted murals in private and commercial spaces in New York, New Jersey, and Vermont. Her botanical work is distributed internationally.

After receiving a Masters in Education and working with children for 14 years, Kate Miskovsky decided it was time to make painting more than a hobby in her life. Having grown-up with art all around her (her father is a sculptor and retired art professor) the love of art was always there and she took many courses and workshops throughout the years. Painting in oils and watercolor has been her focus and her work, including commissions, can be found in many private collections across the United States.

Kate has participated in many solo and group shows, and received numerous awards. She has organized a volunteer- run art program at the local elementary school, and was on the board of directors of an art league in Texas. After living in several locations across the U.S., Kate is thrilled to be living in Manchester, Vermont with her husband and three children. Kate's work is currently on display at the Artists Guild of Manchester.

With an extensive art background, Kimberley Ray is a full-time mural painter as well as a Vermont certified art educator. Ray's murals and decorative works of art have been commissioned throughout New England, and she has taught art classes and mural residencies at many local schools.

Cynthia Rosen (previously "Marion") moved to Dorset over 20 years ago. She has shown throughout the U.S. and has work in both private and corporate collections. Cindy graduated from the Museum School in Boston and received a traveling fellowship form the Museum of Fine Arts. In the 70's while in Boston she founded a non-profit organization which ran art programs in halfway houses, jails and education establishments until she moved to NYC to paint. Upon moving to Vt. Cindy took a respite from full time painting to raise her family, get her Masters in Education and teach in local schools. To keep her creative juices flowing she worked with the Dorset Players in the production of numerous plays.

"I recently retired from teaching to return to my own work and am presently starting a small family arts business with our children, M&M Art (Marion and Malter). My passion for my own painting lies with the study of light and movement, bridging realism and abstraction in the process."

Elizabeth Marion, my daughter, a graduate from BBA and an art and education major at Castleton will be helping me paint this horse.

Artist, weaver, colorist, free spirit - Susan Sargent is all these and more. Susan's design path took her from a Boston art school to a textile degree in Sweden, where she absorbed vibrant folk traditions and skills. She spent a fifteen-year period as a studio artist, doing one-of-a-kind tapestries for collectors and galleries. Hands-on experience as an artist, dyer, and weaver laid the groundwork for the quality of her collections today, which include rugs, bedding, fabrics, ceramics, and furniture.

She has become the leader in marrying unique contemporary colors and manufacturing processes with old-world traditions and quality and has established valuable licensing partnerships with Robert Allen (fabrics), Fine Paints of Europe (paints), Bomar (trims), and Present Tense (dinnerware), among others.

Susan Sargent's philosophy is expressed via the tagline The Comfort of Color?. This ideal permeates every element of her business. Extending far beyond products, it includes a combination of books, tools, workshops, design services, and destination stores that embody her core belief: Color = Inspiration = Liberation = Transformation, in the life of a home and those who inhabit it.