BRATTLEBORO — Gayle Weitz and Nick Biddle have opened an unusual gallery and store downtown.
A portmanteau of the words “art,” “rage,” and “us,” Artrageus 1 is all at the same time a gallery, bookstore, and coffee shop. As described on its still in-progress website, it is “a gallery exhibiting art that makes sense (of the madness), art that makes fun (of the madness), and art that tells a story (of the madness).”
But then again, perhaps Artrageus 1 is not so unusual for Brattleboro. Or so think Weitz and Biddle, lifelong educators who recognize the great hurdles facing humanity in the pursuit of peace, justice, and sustainability. They are convinced that Brattleboro is the perfect community for what they are offering.
“Artrageus 1 exhibits whimsical art that pleases the eye and political art that tickles the mind,” the website says. The store sells “a range of literature relating to the causes and consequences of current conditions, and Tiny Footprint Coffee, the first carbon-mitigating coffee in the world.”
Since they opened the doors of 57 Elliot St. in October, Weitz and Biddle have been overwhelmed by the warm embrace of the community.
“To play off the title of our shop, our welcoming was outrageous,” says Weitz with a laugh. “It was beyond good; it was quite wonderful. I have been constantly amazed by the caring and intelligence of the people in this town.”
“When my partner and I were looking around to find places where we could move after we decided to make a change in our life, Brattleboro seemed an ideal choice,” adds Weitz. “We wanted to move to a small town that was politically progressive and had a strong arts community.”
The couple are happy to be joining the Brattleboro community because they believe that Vermont is one of the few places where striving to make the world better actually works.
“With things like the fresh food network and its town-meeting democracy, Vermont is a model for what is possible,” says Biddle.
“Perhaps the reconstruction of society may only work here in a small town, and I am not claiming what can be done here can be achieved in big cities,” he says. “But I firmly believe here it is a place to start.”
Cabinets with a message
When spaces for a shop/studio and a house became simultaneously available in Brattleboro, the couple jumped at the opportunity. “And to top all of that, Vermont is so beautiful,” says Biddle.
Weitz, a visual artist whose work is the centerpiece of the shop, was born in Madison, Wis., where she also earned her master's degree and doctorate.
With a bachelor's degree from James Madison University in psychology/art/philosophy, Weitz has taught art, mostly at Appalachian State University. There, she also founded and directed the Community Art School at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.
Also in those past 25 years, Weitz has created her own art: wooden furniture, mostly cabinets and containers, and usually in a series.
For instance, “Humanimals” is a series of 12 wooden sculptures which examines different relationships among humans and animals. Each humanimal is a carved wooden cabinet depicting an animal idiom (such as “pigheaded” or “harebrained”) on the outside, with text and images describing how humans typically treat that animal on the insides (such as pig factory farming or vivisection).
A dedicated animal-rights activist and environmentalist, Weitz says, “There are two models for making the world better that could not be simpler. Don't eat meat, and don't have too many kids.”
“Social Studies,” another of her cabinet series, is comprised of nine sculptures that, as she puts it, “examines the stereotypes recollected from my perspective when I was an 8-year-old white, middle-class girl growing up in Milwaukee.”
She is just beginning a third series, “Clothesline.” Here, each cabinet depicts clothing such as pants, a shirt, or a jacket hanging on a clothesline, with the various garments opening to reveal information about the exploitative practices of textile industries across the globe.
“My personal aesthetic leans toward the functional, with lots of detail, and a bit of humor,” she explains. “Being a social activist at heart, I often use my artistic skills to confront problematic issues, reveal truths, and penetrate the cultivated ignorance in society.
“I make art to get people to think and to question, and maybe even to change. My activism is in art, about art, and through art. Yet I always hope to have a sense of humor combining wit and humanity with detail and good technique.”
Biddle is a professor of history with an emphasis on Latin America; he received his Ph.D. from Duke University. He also taught at Appalachian State University, where he met Weitz.
The couple is happy to leave their years in the grind of academia in their move to Vermont.
“I really loved teaching, but I was ready to do something else for a while,” Weitz confesses.
Carbon-negative coffee
Artrageus 1 also offers a small number of books focused on three academic disciplines - history, phenomenology, and social theory - and plans are in the works to hold author readings there and to form a book group.
Biddle believes the books that he has chosen to sell are important because they explore why and how we live in the world we do today.
As he writes on his website: “Many of the history titles concentrate on events after World War II, often called the 'post-war world.' Nuclear technology and the bomb anchor history to that moment. Those individuals with access to nuclear weaponry, to manage, develop, protect or use it, have the most power and are wrapped in the most secrecy.
“The cult of secrecy required by nuclear technology has shaped nearly every facet of political and economic life since 1945. Democracy has been eviscerated under these conditions because accountability has become moot.”
Artrageus 1 also sells Tiny Footprint Coffee, from a Minnesota-based roaster who touts it as the world's first carbon-negative brew.
It normally takes four pounds of carbon dioxide to produce and distribute one pound of coffee, but a portion of the proceeds from the coffee sales helps fund reforestation in Ecuador's Mindo Cloudforest. The replanting of trees takes place with the help of the Friends of Mindo Cloudforest, an environmental organization of which Biddle was one of the founders.
“Over time, these trees will remove 54 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere. You see? More CO2 removed than emitted.”
“The more coffee you drink, the more good you are doing in the world,” Nick says.