The Amy E. Tarrant Gallery–-an extension of the Flynn Lobby-–is open to the public on Saturdays from 11 am-4 pm. Performance attendees may also view exhibits pre-show and during intermission. To receive information about upcoming gallery exhibits and artist receptions, please send your email address to nabbott@flynncenter.org.

“Celebrating 25 Years of Jazz”
Works by Joel Beckwith, Frank Federico,
and Felix Sockwell

Friday, April 4 to Saturday, June 28

Artists Joel Beckwith, Frank Federico, and Felix Sockwell share the walls of the Flynn Center’s Amy E. Tarrant Gallery in celebration of Burlington Discover Jazz Festival’s 25th anniversary. All three artists have special connections to the jazz genre, and the Flynn is thrilled to present their works during this particularly exhilarating and special time of the year.

Boston-born Joel Beckwith studied drawing with renowned artist Thomas Cornell at Bowdoin College. His professional career has been distinguished by the inclusion of his work in numerous national exhibitions, including the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibition American Drawings III, The Society of American Graphic Artists exhibit, and the Boston Printmaker’s National Exhibition. His work is also included in many public collections, such as the Boston Public Library, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Purdue University, and Rutgers University. Beckwith maintains his studio at his home in Jamaica, Vermont, where he is the official artist-in-residence at the Elaine Beckwith Gallery.

Painter Frank Federico, a friend and colleague of Beckwith, began his art career as a youth in New Orleans, setting up exhibitions on city street corners, selling his paintings of vibrant Louisiana bayou landscapes and sketches of jazz musicians who played the clubs along Bourbon Street. He later drew artistic inspiration from the city’s annual Jazz Fest. Federico studied at the John McCrady Art School in New Orleans and the Southwest Louisiana Institute before moving to New York City to further his artistic career and later travelling abroad during his service in the U.S. Army. His works have earned awards from the Watercolor Society, the Pastel Society of America, and the International Association of Pastels. Now a resident of Litchfield, Connecticut, Federico has continued to build his reputation as a master painter of figures, landscapes, murals, and portraits. "Jazz has been the single most significant influence on my art," he says. "Jazz has always inspired me—it has influenced the style, timing, rhythm, and improvisation in my art."

Felix Sockwell, perhaps best known for his signature "one line" drawings, is an editorial illustrator and identity consultant who services firms, agencies and companies worldwide. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wired magazine, Advertising Age magazine, and on the 39-cent Love stamp, as well as in ad campaigns for the 2004 Ford International Jazz Festival, AARP, Aramark, and the cover of the Blue Note Records’ 2005 landmark album release of Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane Live at Carnegie Hall (recorded in 1957). A self-described "ornery Texan," he honed his skill as a promotional and advertising art director before moving from Texas to San Francisco in 1997. He co-founded B.I.G., Ogilvy’s Brand Integration Group in New York City in 1998, and then left the following year to build his own practice and concentrate solely on the art and science of identity design and illustration. Now living with his family in Maplewood, New Jersey, he holds the record in PRINT and Communication Arts for the most awards in the category of identity design in the United States. The Burlington Discover Jazz Festival and The Flynn Center are proud to have this partnership with the artist in celebration of the Festival’s 25th anniversary, and to present selected Sockwell images.

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Special Talk in the
Amy E. Tarrant Gallery

Mark Estrin:
"The Sustainable Energy of the Bread and Puppet Theater"

Thursday, May 8 at 7:30 pm; $5 suggested donation

Author, photographer, and Bread and Puppet alumnus Marc Estrin will discuss how the world-famous, Vermontbased political puppet company has survived more than four decades, and ways in which it serves as a model for other artistic and political groups. Estrin will provide background information on the company and show his own photographs in a slide show introducing the puppets, construction techniques, spaces, and performance formats for those unfamiliar with Bread and Puppet’s work.

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