Brattleboro Words Trail arriving at Amtrak station June 24

BRATTLEBORO - On Wednesday, June 24, the Brattleboro Words Trail, celebrating Vermont’s most-storied small town, will be unveiled at the ribbon cutting for the new Amtrak station, 21 Depot Street. Amtrak officials and local, regional, and federal leaders will preside over a ceremony taking place from 11:30 am to 1 pm. Refreshments will be provided.

The Brooks Memorial Library’s 14-foot, interactive ceramic Brattleboro Words Trail Exhibit links sites from Brattleboro and surrounding towns to audio stories on a free app. The exhibit, designed by Brattleboro artist Cynthia Houghton, will permanently occupy the platform-facing outside wall of the new train station.

The Brattleboro Words Trail features stories about key literary figures from or who chose to settle in Brattleboro and its close environs, including Rudyard Kipling; Robert Frost; Lucy Terry Prince, the nation’s first African-American poet; and others. The exhibit is a culmination of almost 10 years of work connecting community members around shared storytelling. At the opening ceremony, the exhibit will be unveiled by Houghton with comments by Brattleboro Words Project Director and exhibit coordinator Lissa Weinmann. Attendees will be able to interact with the artist, other leaders, and actors depicting characters featured on the Brattleboro Words Trail, as well as get copies of the Brattleboro Words Trail maps, newly designed by Christopher Grotke of MuseArts.

The exhibit will be maintained by Friends of Brooks Memorial Library and Brattleboro’s Sunrise Rotary Club, using a long-term maintenance fund secured by the Words Project.

At around 6 pm that same evening, actors led by the Tiny Theater will perform “From Revolution to Reflection: Live on the Brattleboro Words Trail,” an America 250-inspired performance at the historic downtown waterfront (rain location at Brooks Memorial Library).

The Brattleboro Words Trail is designed to generate interest about the rich history of this “Gateway to Vermont” for those visiting the area as well as residents. From native Abenaki stories, the Estey Organ Company, the Wesselhoeft water-cure, and Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams, to Rudyard Kipling’s best friend Mary Cabot, Robert Frost’s impact on Marlboro College, and Richard Morris Hunt (the architect who designed the Statue of Liberty pedestal), the audio stories present a deep dive into local history, writers, and other people important to the area’s history of ‘words.’ A full video archive of the Words Project is available from Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) at https://www.brattleborotv.org/brattleboro-words-project/.

The project donated digital recording equipment and training to area schools and Brooks Library. Student work, facilitated by Joe Rivers of the Brattleboro Historical Society and other teachers, is included on the Words Trail.

Brattleboro-based Houghton, lead designer at Natalie Blake Studios, has created ceramic murals for public and private installations throughout the United States for the past two decades. The Brattleboro Words Project commissioned tiles that represent downtown Brattleboro and the larger Brattleboro region. The final exhibit combines 10 18-by-18-inch tiles, 12 carved portrait medallions, text, and photos. The murals and maps include some original Sokoki Abenaki place names: Wantastagok is Brattleboro, as they remain an important part of the area’s continued, shared story. A short video of Houghton’s process of creating the clay murals can be found at https://vimeo.com/490543221?fl=pl&fe=sh.

More information about the exhibit and the artist can be found at https://brattleborowords.org.