There is an incredible body of artistic talent at Middlebury, but we feel that the community lacks a formal setting for the display of artwork. With this issue in mind, the four of us decided to begin a student-run gallery. There are many amazing, artistic students at Middlebury. Oftentimes, people do not know about these students, because they do not promote or advertise their work. We hope that the gallery will not only serve as a gathering place for all student artists, but will also help establish them as artists and inspire them to take new directions.

We will establish the gallery as a center for the arts at Middlebury in three main ways:

• First, we will support the professional development of student artists by maintaining a constant exhibition series of student artwork. In this capacity, we will help student artists gain public exposure and build their CVs.
• Second, we will encourage and promote the space as a venue for the performing arts such as music, theater, poetry, and dance. We hope this will establish the space as a center for thought-provoking socialization and encourage interdisciplinary artistic collaboration.
• Thirdly, we will organize a lecture and discussion series focusing on current topics of art and culture. For this series, we would try to choose topics which would be relevant to current or upcoming events and that would inspire artists in new creative directions.

The creation of an art gallery in the Old Stone Mill would allow the campus and community to connect through dialogues on and exhibitions of art. By creating a center for dialogue on art, we believe that connections could be formed and deepened between local, student, and faculty artists. We believe that uniting artists of differing disciplines beyond the campus would deepen the sense of community between these various artistic approaches. Your support will help shed light on the many artistic talents at the College and within the community.