Inspiration struck while Natalya Zahn was at Woodbury’s town meeting earlier this month. A professional illustrator and graphic designer, Zahn wanted to capture the annual Vermont tradition in the way she knows best. So, she took some mental notes and photos to use for reference and came home and got to work.
Zahn’s resulting artwork is like a modern-day Norman Rockwell piece, if the famous illustrator had made graphic novels. She drew the Woodbury school and meeting moderator Stephen Murphy, as well as the town fire chief and a member of the selectboard. She captured Rep. Saudia LaMont (D-Morrisville), who stopped by the meeting, and members of the audience — plus, of course, the town meeting snack buffet.
Zahn typically draws plants and animals, she said, and teaches a class about illustrating botanicals at the University of Vermont. That made sketching people in human environments a fun challenge, she said.
It helps that town meeting is so important to her. Zahn grew up in Woodbury, and both her parents were civically engaged. She left for college and spent some years living in Massachusetts, then moved into her childhood home in 2019. One of the biggest draws was returning to small-town life, and Woodbury still gathers on the Saturday before Town Meeting Day for its annual event.
After the pandemic, the town briefly considered going to a system of voting by ballot, but residents decided to keep the in-person gathering.
“You need to actually engage with people in person and actually get into differences and work through challenges in person in order to strengthen those relationships,” Zahn said of town meeting.
“Even though it does get a little uncomfortable at times, I feel like that’s the purpose, that’s why we’re all there. And nothing makes it more clear that we’re all in something together than to sit in a room and hash something out.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Drawn Together”
This article appears in March 11 • 2026.
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