BRATTLEBORO — Strolling of the Heifers presents “Love Local,” a week of community valentine-making at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, a project that kicks off at Gallery Walk on Feb. 7 from 5 to 8 p.m.
According to Stroll intern Kristen Fledderjohn, who is organizing the event, participants can stop in, make valentines, “and share some love, particularly with local farms and farmers.”
Fledderjohn said the aim is to develop the River Garden as a space “where the community can come together around projects like this and to create connections. So this is our first big effort around that idea.”
She added that the project also aims to revive the spirit of Dalia Shevin's popular “One Thousand Love Letters” participatory art installation of last year.
A wide variety of crafts supplies for making valentines - such as paper, doilies, stickers, cow pictures, crayons, markers, tape, glue, and ribbons - will be available.
Music during the Gallery Walk event will be provided by Blue Moon a Cappella, a southern Vermont-based quintet with a repertoire focused on its special love for jazz standards but which makes occasional forays into other genres.
After Gallery Walk, the valentine-making project will be open to visitors during all regular River Garden hours (10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday) through Valentine's Day on Feb. 14.
On that day, the Brattleboro Women's Chorus will perform as part of the River Garden's daily noon-hour Brown Bag Lunch series.
The valentine-making project is funded by a Kickstarter campaign that exceeded its goal, with total contributions of $550, Fledderjohn said.