BigTown Gallery

BigTown Gallery BigTown Gallery features exhibitions dedicated to artists educating us about our changing world. Grand Opening Reception Saturday, May 13th, 2017.

Gallery owner, Anni Mackay, has for the past decade devoted her energies to bringing the arts together with community. Each gallery's space and its featured exhibitions, performance art, and reading series are the culmination-to-date of an uncompromising belief in the soundness of that partnership. The BigTown Galleries, offer a full spectrum of visual, literary, and performing arts with their yea

r-round exhibit schedule, Summer Reading Series, and performing arts events. Programming is presented by the Gallery’s non-profit 501c3 tax deductible sister-entity, BigTown Projects, and is generously supported by loyal audience members and partners; all free (unless noted otherwise) and open to the public. The Bigtown Projects events are currently held at BigTown Gallery Rochester, located in the heart of Vermont, on RT 100 at 99 North Main, Rochester. Since 2003, BigTown Gallery ROCHESTER has brought to central Vermont exhibitions by artists deeply dedicated to an exploration of what fine art means: both to create and to experience. In April 2017, BigTown Gallery is expanding to VERGENNES and opening it's doors next to the Vergennes Laundry. We are delighted to unify our commitment to the arts in Vermont with a second brick-and-mortar location in the Champlain Valley. The BigTown Galleries couldn't be more excited to be joining Vergennes' vibrant downtown scene. Come say hello!

10/29/2025

Come check out our new & used sale inventory — now’s your chance to lock in pre-tariff AND discount pricing on any in-stock bike before the season ends. Don’t wait till spring, visit Doon in the shop and get the bike you need now.

10/24/2025

Why wait until spring — and pay more? With new tariffs coming new bike prices are rising. The post-Covid discount craze is coming to an end
so now’s your chance to lock in pre-tariff AND discount pricing on any in-stock bike to save big before the snow flies.

Pre-tariff bikes are limited — when they’re gone, they’re gone.
We have some used rental bikes on sale too so give a call or come on by and treat yourself to some good old cycletherapy to help navigate these interesting times we are living in.

Part of BigTown Gallery’s 25th Anniversary: an evening of film, inspiration, and shared food featuring Bill McKibben, th...
08/09/2025

Part of BigTown Gallery’s 25th Anniversary: an evening of film, inspiration, and shared food featuring Bill McKibben, the award-winning film Beyond Zero, and a seasonal meal by Paula Marcoux.

Join us for the third installment of our FILM / TALK / FOOD summer series at BigTown Gallery, presented in collaboration with the Architecture & Design Film Festival (). This evening focuses on Innovation—and how science, technology, and human ingenuity are driving climate solutions.

3:30 PM — Film: Beyond Zero
At Rochester High School, a powerful documentary on one CEO’s mission to lead his company to carbon neutrality, proving that going beyond zero emissions is not only possible, but profitable.

5:00 PM — Talk: Bill McKibben, Here Comes the Sun
Jito Coleman will introduce acclaimed environmentalist Bill McKibben, who brings a message of urgent optimism. McKibben will discuss his new book Here Comes the Sun, which charts the rise of solar and wind power and the people reshaping our energy future. Discussion and book signing will follow.

6:00 PM — One-Meal-For-All with Paula Marcoux
At BigTown Gallery, food historian Paula Marcoux will prepare a meal that is as celebratory as it is
sustainable. Participants will start with a bowl of protein-filled vegan soup made from nixtamalized corn and an array of the season’s produce, cooked in a giant cauldron over a wood fire. Each will then customize their supper exactly to their liking with garden-fresh or wood-fire-roasted garnishes — a scatter of herbs, some roasted sweet peppers, a dab of searing hot chile paste, a scrap of delectable roast meat? Tapping into bits of cultural brilliance from around the world, we will explore the best of what the season and locale bring us, all cooked with fire.

A fundraiser for our 25th Year of Community Programming. There are limited all-access tickets available for this event, dinner inclusive, for $50. Film/Talk only tickets are available for $25. If you prefer to pay in person, please RSVP to [email protected] to make sure you have a spot for dinner. We greatly appreciate any additional donations.

TICKETS available on Eventive — link in bio.

We are absolutely astounded by the turn out last weekend for our second FILM / TALK / FOOD event. Thank you endlessly fo...
08/08/2025

We are absolutely astounded by the turn out last weekend for our second FILM / TALK / FOOD event. Thank you endlessly for attending, watching, listening, engaging, and gifting us at BigTown Vermont your presence and attention in our little corner of the state. And big thanks to all of our collaborators for making this happen: and the Architecture and Design Film Festival ( ) for screening a spectacular film, Dr. Theresa Betancourt, Betsy Small, Colleen Meaney, and Alusine Kamara for their insightful discussion on community resilience, PJ Lauriello and the team for whipping up those delicious pizzas, Jon Brack () for giving us new experiences through VR, Corey Hendrickson ( ) for these amazing photographs of the event, and the list goes on, and here it does: thank you to our donors, supporters, staff and volunteers for helping make this vision of community building come true. And not to mention, the weekend's coinciding photography workshop MY PLACE with and ran, and four incredible photographers are now exhibiting their work in the Projects Space in the gallery. There is more to come to celebrate their experience, and more about upcoming events later -- this is just to say thank you, see you again soon!

Following a full house and incredible response to our first FILM / TALK / FOOD event, we invite you to join us for the s...
07/19/2025

Following a full house and incredible response to our first FILM / TALK / FOOD event, we invite you to join us for the second installment in this immersive summer series at BigTown Gallery, part of our 25th Anniversary celebration.

This special gathering, presented in collaboration with the Architecture & Design Film Festival (), focuses on Restoration: how design, research, and storytelling can confront injustice and work to repair systems.

3:30 PM — At Rochester High School, we’re screening Frank Gehry: Building Justice, a compelling documentary following architect Frank Gehry and students from SCI-Arc and Yale as they reimagine prison architecture through the lens of humanity and reform. Special guest Ultan Guilfoyle, director of the film, will follow the screening with a 15 minute Q&A.

5:15 PM — Join us at BigTown Gallery for a conversation on resilience and recovery with Dr. Theresa Betancourt and Betsy Small, moderated by educator Colleen L. Meaney. Together, they will reflect on trauma, repair, and the power of community-based work post-conflict.

6:00 PM — We gather in the garden to celebrate the opening of the MY PLACE Photography Workshop exhibition in The Projects Space Gallery—highlighting new work from participants exploring place and belonging. Enjoy wood-fired pizza prepared by chef PJ Lauriello, with beer and wine available for purchase from Foley Brothers Brewing.

We are also pleased to share that Jon Brack, a featured artist in Being Here Now, will join us for the evening. Brack’s work, partial views from 360-degree photospheres of Chernobyl, Ukraine 30 years after nuclear disaster, raises questions about abandonment and aftermath. After dinner, you are welcome to join us in the gallery where Brack will host a brief Q&A and provide access to a virtual reality version of the full photographic panospheres, as well as footage from the Pearl and Hermes Atoll, featured in fellow exhibiting artist April Surgent’s () work.

Enjoy great food, lively discussion, and community spirit—keep building your community.

TICKETS are available on Eventive / link in our bio!

Registration closes today for our second photography workshop running later this month! Secure your spot in this immersi...
07/15/2025

Registration closes today for our second photography workshop running later this month! Secure your spot in this immersive project. Go to our website, or follow the link in our bio, to find the registration form — for more information, or if you have any questions, you can email us at [email protected] or feel free to send us a DM.

Join us in the green mountains of Vermont for MY PLACE, a photography workshop at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, VT, led ...
07/06/2025

Join us in the green mountains of Vermont for MY PLACE, a photography workshop at BigTown Gallery in Rochester, VT, led by acclaimed photographers Jim Dow () and Cassandra Klos ().

This immersive program invites artists to explore their relationship to place—literal, emotional, or imagined—through photographic inquiry. Participants will create an individual or collaborative photography project that is as specifically descriptive or abstract as desired. The core of this process is to think about something, in this case, to think through looking, employing the resulting images to convey the meaning(s) that you intend.

The workshop begins online July 23–30 with guided discussions, support, and independent shooting. From July 31 to August 3, participants will gather in person in Rochester for an intensive, extended weekend of assignments, critique, editing, and preparation for a culminating exhibition, opening August 2 in the Project Space at BigTown Gallery.

Whether you’re looking to deepen your artistic practice, develop new work in a supportive environment, or experience a rural Vermont arts community for the first time, this program offers a unique opportunity for mentorship, connection, and growth.

Open to all experience levels
Sliding scale: $400–$650 (housing not included)
Limited to 8 participants
Register by July 15th!

Address

Rochester, VT
05767

Opening Hours

Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+18023490979

Website

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