Kipling's Dummerston home featured in national magazine

Brattleboro Reformer by Bob Audette / Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- "Nobody comes to interrupt; nobody wants to see me and I can work as long as ever I please," wrote Rudyard Kipling about his time at Naulakha, his home for four years in Dummerston. Due to its proximity to Naulakha, Brattleboro is usually mentioned in any story about the Kipling house. He, like other visitors to town, was very impressed by the fact that there are five independent bookstores in Brattleboro.

"There is such a concentration of really lovely bookstores on the same street where you can buy a chain saw and a wheelbarrow," he said. "Brattleboro ... what a great town."

Brattleboro was also mentioned in an article on Naulakha in the March 19, 2010, issue of the New York Times, "Where Kipling Reared Mowgli (in Vermont)." Anne Lawrence Guyton wrote Brattleboro is "An epicenter of local culture, Main Street ... retains the architectural patina of Kipling's time while offering engaging contemporary diversions. Dragonfly Dry Goods, in the old Brooks House, the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, the Latchis Art Deco cinema, and innovative boutiques, bookstores and restaurants make for fine excursions."

Kipling himself was very fond of the town. During a trip away from Naulakha, Kipling told a friend about his desire "to be back on Main Street, Brattleboro Vt. U.S.A. and hear the sody water fizzing in the drugstore ... and get a bottle of lager in the basement of Brooks House and hear the doctor tell fish yarns."

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8 reasons to visit town

Brattleboro Reformer by Bob Audette / Reformer Staff

BRATTLEBORO -- Can you think of eight good reasons to visit Brattleboro?

Well, Country Living magazine did, and they are: Mocha Joe's, Grafton Village Cheese, McNeill's Brewery, Brattleboro Books, Twice Upon a Time, the Latchis Theatre, T.J. Buckley's and Harris Hill Ski Jump.

"How wonderful," said Gail Nunziata, the managing director of the Brattleboro Arts Initiative and the Latchis. "We couldn't be more delighted than to be included." The Latchis Theatre has a "gorgeous constellation mural on the main auditorium's ceiling," wrote Dan Fierman, the author of the article. "It may not be cuddling under the stars per se, but in the middle of a cold Vermont winter, it'll more than do."

Nunziata said the Latchis Theatre is in good company with the rest of those noted in the magazine. "It bolsters my belief that Brattleboro is the center of the universe and that the Latchis Theatre is an essential part of the fabric of Main Street and downtown Brattleboro."

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Old Movie Palaces, Trying on the New

 For 15 years, a plastic likeness of Humphrey Bogart has been turning heads in the lobby of the Garde Arts Center in New London. Standing in the lavishly restored faux-Moroccan interior, the statue brings to mind the classic Bogart film “Casablanca” — recalling in the process a bygone era when moviegoers regularly filled the Garde’s 1,472-seat auditorium.

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8 Reasons to Visit Brattleboro

from Country Living Magazine

Latchis Theatre

You'll absolutely want to take in a flick at the 1938 Latchis Theatre, an Art Deco masterpiece on Main Street. It doesn't really matter what's playing (although they do screen four first-run films a week). The featured attraction here is the gorgeous constellation mural on the main auditorium's ceiling. It may not be cuddling under the stars per se, but in the middle of a cold Vermont winter, it'll more than do.

Economic Impact of the Non-Profit Arts Sector of Greater Brattleboro

This report November 2007 is presented by Brattleboro Arts Initiative, Alliance for the Arts, Arts Council of Windham Count, in conjunction with Americans for the Arts 

Right now, cities around the world are competing to attract new businesses and young professionals. Studies show that the winners will be communities that offer an abundance of arts and culture opportunities. As the arts flourish, so will creativity and innovation—the fuel that drives our global economy.

A PDF copy of the report can be downloaded here.

Vermont Arts Economy

In November 2010, Main Street Landing, a development company in Burlington, VT, commissioned a study by policy analyst Doug Hoffer, to assess the size and shape of the arts economy, and its impact on the state. Doug’s research revealed that the State of Vermont is well over 443 million dollars richer annually as a result of Art as Industry.  

A PDF copy of the report can be downloaded here.