The Phoenix Gallery and Music Hall

/////// NON SEQUITUR Ben Finer Tara Wray Lucy Mink APRIL 2nd-June 26th, 2026 The Phoenix 5 Stowe Street Waterbury, Vt Opening party Thursday, April 2nd, 6-8pm with drinks and live improvised music. FREE TO THE PUBLIC, please mark your calendars for the perfect pre-dinner date night social or quiet solo art-scapade. Up to you. Our guest curator and featured artist for NON SEQUITUR is Ben Finer @exteriormonologue , co-director of Kishka Gallery & Library @kishka.vt in White River Junction, Vt. Joseph has worked with Ben to bring Kishka artist @denverfergusonstudio to TREEHOUSE in Waterbury (Denver’s work is currently taking a trip to the Outsider Art Fair in NYC March 19th-22nd). Ben has shown work by @minkja99 and @tara_wray at Kishka and is thrilled to exhibit his own work alongside these two trenchant artists. We are truly honored to welcome all three artists to this special exhibit at The Phoenix. BEN FINER lives and works in Hartford, Vermont. He studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design (BFA ‘02) and received an MFA from Parsons School of Design in 2009. Finer has been included in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally including group and solo exhibitions in New York City. Finer has worked in various fields of fabrication. As a puppet technician, his work appeared in productions on and off Broadway, including “The Addams Family” as well as the Centennial Celebration of the San Diego Zoo. He also worked for many years as a miniaturist. He worked as the head fabricator of custom terrariums for Twig, a boutique terrarium company in Brooklyn, New York. He also built miniatures for Gulliver’s Gate, a sprawling miniature museum in Times Square, New York City. Most recently, Finer worked as the director of the Aidron Duckworth Art Museum and is currently the co-director of Kishka Gallery & Library, a non-profit art space in White River Junction, Vermont. Poster image: Ben Finer, celestial event, 2025, oil on panel (10 1/2 x 8 in) $1800 Slide two: Ben Finer, sanserif, 2025, oil on panel (12 x 10 in) $900 Posts featuring work and bios of Lucy Mink @minkja99 and Tara Wray @tara_wray coming soon.

NON SEQUITUR glowing :))) Open today 12-6pm. Come experience this brilliant show, spotlighted this week in @sevendaysvt Tara Wray >> Lucy Mink >> Ben Finer @tara_wray @minkja99 @exteriormonologue

BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE PHOENIX’s legal defense BORROW THE BONES live SATURDAY MAY 16th 7pm doors, 7:30pm music Sliding scale $15-$35 suggested, tickets through Seven Days Tix Link in bio to purchase tix This show is a benefit to help AMPS, LLC (the Vermont owner operated business that runs @thephoenix______ , @waterbury.studios and @treehouse________ ) in its legal defense of its leases at 5 and 7 Stowe Street. You can read all the details your heart desires at the link in bio, but we started this space as a commonplace for contemporary art and music in central Vermont. There are already few and far between venues that are shooting as high as The Phoenix and Paul and Danielle expressed their desire to help promote and raise money for our continued fight to keep these spaces thriving—upstairs at 7 Stowe is Waterbury Studios, home to the Hesterly Black gallery and four studios for local creative small businesses. And downstairs at 5 Stowe is our gallery and music hall that has hosted some of the best art and music in the state for the past three years. Our lease allows for a five year renewal after the two remaining years are up, and we want to see both of these spaces continue for a long time. Thank you in advance for your support. Let’s pack out the space to stand up for art and artists and community in Waterbury! BORROW THE BONES blends collaborative songwriting with themes of growth, love, and lived-in storytelling. Rooted in Folk, Americana, Rhythm & Blues, with subtle Jazz influence, the duo’s dynamic harmonies create a rich, full sound that carries the weight of a larger ensemble.

All three of our family owned and operated AMPS, LLC spaces will be closed Wednesday, April 21st through Friday, April 24th for a much needed spring break. Please send us your warm manifesting energy for next Tuesday’s mediation meeting with Myers Mermel, the new building owner for our two spaces, The Phoenix and Waterbury Studios. If we do not receive a settlement offer commensurate with our significant damages from his (failed) Christmas eviction notice—intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, reputational damage, etc—we will be forced to take him to court and a Washington County jury will decide what we are owed.

@terry_ekasala pieces purchased from The Phoenix’s art annex TREEHOUSE @treehouse________ by a wonderful client in East Harlem (wow right on Central Park). When we say we deliver and install pieces at no extra cost we mean it. Another reason @thephoenix______ is becoming the place in central Vermont to find art at a level you’d find in any gallery in Chelsea. By the way, @terry_ekasala is represented by a gallery in Brussels, Belgium and yet we are lucky enough to have many more pieces right here in Waterbury at TREEHOUSE, just across the street from The Phoenix in downtown Waterbury Village. Also currently showing and available for purchase @treehouse________ Work by: @draw_lucky @miltonrosaortiz @lfpaperworks as well as many works by @denverfergusonstudio via @kishka.vt which you can view in our art catalogue. Just ask for it! Denver was just featured at the Kishka booth at the @outsiderartfair in NYC. And if you haven’t caught our current show NON SEQUITUR, curated and featuring paintings by Kishka’s own Ben Finer, with work by filmmaker @tara_wray and the brilliant @minkja99 , come check it out! Upstairs at the Hesterly Black we have through the end of April SEA TALK, the stunning collection of photographs and video installation by @fionarosesmall . So many people have come through and seen this show, it’s probably been our most visited show we’ve had upstairs! If you’re a fan of Miranda July you will die for this show. And visit our Green Room Gallery (back room at The Phoenix) to find the one of a kind handmade art and furniture of Philly’s own @trriskartist . TR Risk’s furniture and art has been collected for years by clients from California to Maine and notably by the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. TR is not only a stunningly good artist and furniture maker, he also can quite literally build multi-level structures (say a three story barn) almost completely by himself. Ask us about the “goatel” he built in Stowe for one of his clients. Soooo much art to see all within 1000 feet between our three spaces in downtown Waterbury!

/////////// NON SEQUITUR A group show guest curated by Ben Finer @kishka.vt Ben Finer Tara Wray Lucy Mink APRIL 2nd-JUNE 26th Opening party Thursday, April 2nd TARA WRAY has spent more than twenty-five years working in photography, writing, and documentary film, and began painting in 2022. Her work has been presented at Lincoln Center, SXSW, and Kunst Haus Wien (Museum Hundertwasser) in Vienna. A graduate of NYU and a high school dropout, her photobooks blend humor, melancholy, and the absurdities of everyday life. Her recent paintings extend this personal approach through simplified forms and emotionally charged color. She lives off-grid in rural Vermont with her filmmaker husband, their twin sons, and their blue-eyed rescue dog, Hula. More info at tarawray.net (/) and @tara_wray Slide 1 Tara Wray, “Untitled”, 2026, Acrylic on canvas, 16” x 12” Slide 2 Detail from Tara’s Wray, “Friendly robot (for a child’s room)”, 2026, Acrylic on canvas, 8” x 10” Slide 3 Show poster featuring Ben Finer, “celestial event”, 2025, Oil on panel, 10.5” x 8” Gallery guide with prices available upon request and in person at The Phoenix

/////////// NON SEQUITUR A group show guest curated by Ben Finer @kishka.vt Ben Finer Tara Wray Lucy Mink APRIL 2nd-JUNE 26th Opening party Thursday, April 2nd LUCY MINK (b.1968) lives and and works in Contoocook, NH. Mink’s work has been included in numerous group and solo exhibitions including Big Town Gallery, Rochester, VT; McGowan Fine Art in Concord, NH; Jaffe-Freide Gallery at Dartmouth College; Hoffman LaChance Contemporary, St. Louis, MO; Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA; Outlet Fine Art, Brooklyn NY; Barney Savage Gallery in NYC; LABspace Gallery, Hillsdale NY; and Kishka Gallery in White River Junction, VT. She is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and has been an Artist in Residence at Dartmouth College. Mink received her MFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and her BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. Slide 1 Lucy Mink, “This is the best day ever”, 2010, Oil on linen, 19” x 20.5” Slide 2 Lucy Mink, “Untitled”, 2010, oil on linen, 20 by 24” Slide 3 Show poster featuring Ben Finer, “celestial event”, 2025, Oil on panel, 10.5” x 8” Gallery guide with prices available upon request and in person at The Phoenix

Hard to believe but SENUSAL TURNS is entering its final week! If you haven’t encountered these pieces in person they deserve a close look. @lizzy.rebecca.powell @bonniemorano @jenister Our suggestion is to give yourself a solid 15-20 minutes with the show as a whole so you can let each piece do its work on you. Treat it as an exercise in noticing—ask yourself: what shapes are standing out and what do they emotionally convey to my heart right now? What colors do I notice and how are they working together, either in opposition or harmony? What textures do I see? Roughness, smoothness, brittle or glistening? How might that texture speak to or even simply describe/bear witness to how you’re feeling right now? What actions are happening in the painting, if any? Is your attention being pulled in one direction or another or are you feeling tension anywhere? If you allow yourself the time and attention, you can go on the loveliest journeys, right there where you are! Did you know that noticing is the first political act? And that building our skills in noticing is something that abstract artists have been powerfully helping us with for over a century? The Phoenix intentionally keeps our gallery unstaffed so you can have an unbothered sanctuary-esque experience with the artwork. We would love to invite and help you with collecting either your first or latest piece of art, but that happens best when YOU are allowed time to fall in love with a particular work. And a hovering salesperson doesn’t help with that. Security cameras are on (we ain’t dummies) and our curator is just across the street @treehouse________ to help answer any questions you have, and while you’re at it you can explore TREEHOUSE’s highly curated selection of vinyl records, cassettes, used books and over 50 artworks on the walls, all over a freshly brewed BRIO coffee. Settle in with a COWORKS daypass and you can even get some work done while you’re at it! Lastly, we’re thrilled to announce an extension of @fionarosesmall ’s show SEA TALK at the Hesterly Black (gallery above The Phoenix @waterbury.studios through the end of April! Open whenever The Phoenix is open!

FIONA SMALL: SEA TALK @fionarosesmall on exhibit and avail for purchase at the Hesterly Black @waterbury.studios above the Phoenix, now extended through the end of April! Open when the Phoenix is open! DM for prices or check the on site gallery guides.

TR RISK @trriskartist and HANNAH MORRIS @draw_lucky work available for purchase in our Green Room Gallery 😎❤️‍🔥🥰 DM for prices on these and any work from SENSUAL TURNS.

SENSUAL TURNS enters its final month! Drop in to our art sanctuary, filled with ambient music and an unbothered viewing experience and DM us if you’re interested in purchasing a piece! We offer free delivery and installation. @lizzy.rebecca.powell @bonniemorano @jenister Open 12-6 Tue-Friday, 12-6 Sunday, Closed Mondays and Saturdays.

//////// ART AFTER DARK is this Friday! Get your advance tix at the link in bio, $15 gets you entrance to two soundtracked locations—The Phoenix and TREEHOUSE— to work on your favorite hobby with friends, socialize, dance, play ping pong, and shop art and records at our creative hub spaces in Waterbury Village. Really the purpose is to open up our spaces as social halls for you to be inspired and follow wherever your creative juices are leading you while connecting with friends old and new! Each month will feature a guided project at TREEHOUSE if you don’t have your own to bring. The guided project, which is pay-what-you-can, will be organized by teaching artist Rachel Thompson, and will include all the supplies and in person guidance you’ll need! The guided project is an “add-on” to the event and you can save your spot at any of the sessions by sending Rachel a Venmo in advance via the QR code in the last slide (you’ll need to tell her in the Venmo note which time slot you’re choosing) or just show up and pay in person to support our teaching artist’s work!