About Melanie
Melanie Brotz is a Burlington-based artist, educator, and community organizer. She is also a wild food guide, herbalist, naturalist and environmental artist. Melanie loves to coordinate community arts events; she is the originator and co-founder of the South End Art Hop – now Vermont’s largest Arts event. On a smaller scale, Melanie curates the “Open Air Gallery of Wayward Art” in a pocket park in her neighborhood. As a way to bring more joy to her neighbors, Melanie has been creating Signs of Love and placing them around the greater Burlington area. Over the past three years she has placed over 600!
Melanie is a founding member of ArtRiseVT – a local artists' collective. They have been creating group shows for galleries such as the Flynn Dog Gallery in Burlington and the City Market gallery.
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During a recent month-long art residency at The Open Studio in Englewood, Florida Melanie completed an outdoor mural project and created sculptural environmental art pieces in the gardens and surrounding natural areas. She also facilitated art classes, offered movement workshops, and taught plant medicine classes.
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Much of the inspiration for Melanie’s art comes from the natural world – the forms, shapes, colors, shadows, patterns, and textures of plants, trees, rocks, insects, animals, water, mountains, and clouds.
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Melanie loves losing herself in the flow of creating, experimenting, playing outside, looking, touching, listening, wondering, and discovering. Her favorite materials are found objects, discarded materials, and driftwood, seed pods, birch bark, snow, sand, wool, shells, leaves, and rocks found on walks by the lake or in the woods.
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Recent Exhibitions – Solo and Group shows:
Flynn Dog Gallery, Penny Cluse Cafe, RL Photo Gallery, Montpelier City Hall Gallery, Vermont State Visitors Center Gallery, Artists Mediums Gallery, City Market Gallery, Railyard Herbal Apothecary, and Space Gallery.