Burlington’s arts district got a welcome boost last fall when the South End Arts + Business Association moved back to Pine Street. Before renovations were even complete, the nonprofit behind the South End Art Hop began hosting art exhibitions in the old industrial building that previously housed hot-spot restaurant and music venue ArtsRiot.
Since then, the new SEABA Center has been pulsing with activity as administrators work to make it a creative anchor for the city’s South End. The 7,000-square-foot space offers an art gallery with free admission; free music on its porch; pop-up artists’ markets; and a venue that has hosted bands, benefits, a book fair, wedding parties and campaign events. Still to come: a kitchen to better support caterers and an interactive map in the entryway to point visitors to SEABA members and other nearby businesses. The map, which supports SEABA’s mission to promote the creative and economic vitality of the neighborhood, is available online now.
To Burlington painter Katharine Montstream, the SEABA Center is “a perfect blend of everything.” It’s inclusive and community-driven, local artists said, and offers them a low-barrier opportunity to show and sell their work while giving everyone a place to see and appreciate art.
“I try to pop in when I’m just walking by,” said Burlington painter Char Dworshak, one of Montstream’s daughters. She and Montstream held a joint show at the SEABA Center in May.
Montstream recalled exhibiting in the same building, at 400 Pine Street, when SEABA occupied a smaller portion about 15 years ago. In recent years, the venue had sat empty periodically as ArtsRiot closed, reopened and then rebranded for a short run as the District VT. It had been shuttered for about six months when, last fall, SEABA staged its STRUT! fashion show there during Art Hop, its flagship event. That’s when executive director Christy Mitchell recognized a “supercool opportunity” to move the organization from its third-floor office in the nearby Vaults building to a street front with seven times the space.
The nonprofit was already curating art shows in nine area buildings, including Mascoma Bank, Speeder & Earl’s Coffee, the Innovation Center of Vermont, and the Maltex Building. But having its own gallery gives SEABA greater freedom to display art that might not be appropriate for those other settings, Mitchell said. “Also, we can hammer as much as [we want] in the walls,” she added. “We can hang things from the ceiling.” Sculptures too fragile to be exhibited in a shared hallway or coffee shop can safely be displayed there.
Exhibiting artists don’t have to be SEABA members; submissions occasionally come from out of state. February’s “From Vermont, With Love” included work by artists from 24 Vermont towns. “By a Thread,” in March, featured pieces by more than 50 New England fiber artists.
Some shows have themes: July’s “Pièce de Résistance” displayed work exploring freedom of expression and dissent; “Night Shades,” coming in October, will celebrate dark art. Other exhibitions are less restrictive. August’s “Show Off!” invited SEABA members to display any piece of their choosing. “Creative Competition,” presented twice so far, works the same way, except that it’s open to all artists and they vie for people’s choice awards.
Burlington sculptor, painter and muralist Clark Derbes — who has exhibited at SEABA himself — has entered work in that competition from his students at ReSOURCE YouthBuild, a nearby program that awards high school diplomas and trade certifications. The non-juried show offered the teens and young adults the thrill of seeing their work in a gallery.
Shows open on the first Friday of the month and close on the last Saturday. First Fridays feature live music, drawing both music lovers and art aficionados. The opening for Montstream and Dworshak’s show featured Cal Humberto and his band. “They just ripped,” Dworshak said, “and they brought this whole crowd of younger people.”
The music offerings are a welcome addition to the local scene following the closures of several venues in recent years: Nectar’s, Club Metronome, Despacito and, of course, ArtsRiot. “People are elated to be back in that room,” SEABA Center production manager Luke Awtry said. Much of its donated lighting and sound equipment came from those defunct clubs, as well as Burlington’s storied Club Toast, which closed nearly 30 years ago.
SEABA, new to presenting performance arts, christened its space with a New Year’s Eve Spectacular: More than 250 revelers turned out to hear a slate of local artists, including Dwight + Nicole, Bob Wagner, Kat Wright, and Ali McGuirk.
This year has brought acts such as Cuban and Brazilian rhythm band Los Sóngoros and the 22-member Saturn People’s Sound Collective, the latter of which took the stage during the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.
We want to embrace all forms of artistic expression.
Luke Awtry
The SEABA Center presents music almost weekly, Awtry said, and welcomes other performances, from magicians to dance parties. Grace Oedel hosts community sing-alongs on the first Wednesday of every month. “We want to embrace all of it,” Awtry said, “all forms of artistic expression.”
SEABA’s seasonal Porch Sessions coincide with Friday evening’s South End Get Down — a food truck affair across the street at the Pinery — and Saturday’s Burlington Farmers Market. The free music series has presented some 40 artists on the deck so far, including Danny & the Parts; Sean Hood of Eastern Mountain Time; Will Andrews, who performs as Willverine; DJ Big Dog; Matt Hagen; and duo Andrew Richards and Michael Hartigan.
Talk that South Burlington nightclub Higher Ground may open a venue on Pine Street doesn’t concern Awtry. “If nothing else,” he said, “I want to work directly with them.” Already, he noted, SEABA and another arts space and rental venue peacefully coexist: Burlington City Arts’ BCA Studios is located directly across the street. “They come over to us; we go over to them,” Awtry said. “We’re neighbors and friends.”
The SEABA Center has received more than 150 rental inquires since it opened, Mitchell said. The center can be divided into three sections: the art gallery, the performance hall and a room on the north end that Awtry calls the pub. Each can be rented separately.
South Burlington’s Davis Studio staged its annual exhibit of work by adult students, staff and alumni in the pub earlier this summer. SEABA curator Savanah Tebeau-Sherry organized the eclectic mix of works by about 45 artists, including charcoal drawings, painted landscapes and fused-glass sculptures. “She was able to hang a really cohesive, beautiful show,” said Davis Studio’s art programs director, Kat Lawlis, “even though every piece was so different.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amanda Janoo rented the entire SEABA Center to launch her campaign in March and did the same in August for her primary election night party, when some 300 people listened to music, munched on tacos and monitored election returns on screens set up in the space. The venue’s garage doors were open on the warm summer night, and Janoo supporters spilled onto the deck. Around 11 p.m., when Janoo was declared the winner, the party kicked up a notch, and the old venue pulsated with action once again. 
Disclosure: Luke Awtry contributes to Seven Days as a freelance photographer.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Heart of the District: Inside the new SEABA Center, Art Hop’s organizers have ramped up art shows, dance parties and live music”
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