The Vermont Festival of the Arts brings art and artists of all stripes to the Mad River Valley throughout the month of August. But this weekend, hoo boy, it will be a veritable invasion. More than 45 artists are expected to be sprawled along Main Street, or ensconced in gardens, fields, by rivers and God knows where else.

You'd think they owned the place.

The species is pretty harmless, though: They're plein-air painters. You know, guys and gals who tote their easels and paint sets wherever a pretty landscape beckons, set up shop and get down to the business of creating nature's little doppelgängers on canvas or paper. It's a challenging job, but someone's got to do it.

I've always wondered what outdoor painters do if a bug flies into the paint. Or when, you know, they have to pee. But I digress.

This weekend at the Plein Air Paint Out, artists will be in a bit of a rush. After painting all day Friday and Saturday, they are required to gather at the Paint-Out headquarters on Bridge Street at 3 p.m. for a sidewalk art show and sale. So that paint had better be dry!

White River Junction's cabinet-of-curiosity-style Main Street Museum is known for its unusual offerings — taxidermied animals, bizarre toys, frankly unrecognizable "material culture," that sort of thing.

The place also has frequent entertainments such as the upcoming 6th Annual Russian Avant-Garde exhibit with potluck dinner. (Think beet-basil-infused vodka!)

What the MSM is not noted for is HIV testing. That all changes today. From 4 to 7, all comers can get an anonymous, confidential test in the museum's Reading Room. Why? Perhaps because, according to a recent MSM newsletter, a million people in the U.S. have the virus, and one in five is unaware of it.

"Even if you're sure you're negative, get tested. I do!" chirps museum proprietor David Fairbanks Ford. But don't just take his word for it. Apparently Pope Francis has sanctioned it.

"It's now official," vows the newsletter. "The Pope says that you should all get tested at the Main Street Museum."

Who's gonna argue with that?

Image courtesy of the Main Street Museum.

It was in the news earlier this week that Rachel Feldman had taken a position as chief of staff at Lt. Gov. Phil Scott's office. What was not talked about was the job she's leaving behind. Or, more to the point, the organization: the Vermont Arts Council.

Feldman has been VAC's "social and broadcast media queen," as executive director Alex Aldrich puts it on his blog, for just about a year. But in that short time she made her mark, and then some. Aldrich calls her loss "a whopper of a hole in our staff."

I can attest to her efficiency. Rachel has always been responsive, sensitive to the needs of media and quick to keep Seven Days apprised of shifting arts news. She also has a swell sense of humor.

I don't doubt Rachel has upped the ante at VAC, probably leaving behind an altered job description — one that tacitly says "must fill Rachel's shoes."

Meanwhile, Aldrich has this to say regarding Scott's office:

[I]f our experience with the “Rachel Feldman phenomenon” is any indicator, Phil Scott will soon be trending on Twitter, hashtagging his public appearances, learning to keep his soundbites to under 140 characters, (re)connecting daily with all of his Vermont voters on Facebook, and yes, ignoring the Oxford comma. 

It may be a step up the career ladder, Rachel, but we'll miss you in the arts world. And we'll be keeping an eye on Phil Scott's Twitter feed.

Photo of Rachel Feldman shamelessly borrowed from her Facebook page.