POP!

A one-of-a-kind paint-a-thon fundraiser

A banner graphic with a charcoal brick background. At top corners, there are bubbles. Bottom corners have orange paint splatters. At top, in orange it says, "Let's make magic." Center in teal, "POP." Bottom in teal, "Paint with purpose at this one-of-a-kind paint-a-thon fundraiser benefiting Inclusive Arts Vermont."
A banner graphic with a charcoal brick background. At top corners, there are bubbles. Bottom corners have orange paint splatters. At top, in orange it says, “Let’s make magic.” Center in teal, “POP.” Bottom in teal, “Paint with purpose at this one-of-a-kind paint-a-thon fundraiser benefiting Inclusive Arts Vermont.”

Get ready because here comes POP 2023! 

This summer Inclusive Arts Vermont will host our 2nd annual paint-a-thon fundraiser, and you’re invited to be a part of the creative magic. Join us on Saturday, August 5 from 11am – 2pm at Oakledge Park for a joyous day to celebrate community and support accessibility for people with disabilities.

POP is a paint-a-thon fundraiser for Inclusive Arts Vermont. Formerly VSA Vermont, Inclusive Arts Vermont has been using the magic of the arts to make our state more accessible for people with disabilities since 1986. We do that through arts education, training, and exhibition programs for more than 30,000 Vermonters annually. 

At POP, teams will paint canvases live during the 3-hour time frame. After the event, the canvases will be raffled off in the community. Teams can be anywhere from 1-4 people, and each team needs to raise a minimum of $250 to participate.

And new this year, if you can’t make the event in person, you can create a Remote Team and participate from wherever you are in the world! We’ll work with you to customize a remote team experience, and they’ll be ways to connect to the in-person teams virtually on the event day.

The event will also feature a giant community canvas, where passersby can make their mark and try out our accessible art materials. We’ll have music, snacks, water, and lots of creative fun.

Ways to be part of POP:

  • (POP Sponsor) Be a sponsor! Sponsor the event and align your business with us as we get the word out to our statewide community.
  • (POP Team) Get a Team Together! Grab some friends, colleagues, family members, neighbors, and make a team. Together you’ll fundraise and on the day of you’ll collaborate to paint a canvas using the prompt/theme of “orange.” Teams can take the theme anywhere their imagination wanders – the color, the fruit, a sunset, happiness, autumn, fire, an abstract, and beyond. We’ll provide a canvas, basic acrylic paints, and brushes. Each team member will receive a POP t-shirt. Check out the Team Flier for more info.
  • (POP by) Drop by to paint and explore! Not part of a team? That’s totally ok. Come by during the event and help us paint a giant community canvas. We’ll have accessible art supplies and smocks for all visitors. 
  • (POP Collector) Buy a painting! After the event, we will auction off the art to go back into the community. Buy a piece for your business, home, or for a community organization that you love.

Ready to be a sponsor? Fill out the Sponsor Registration Form and help make this one-of-a-kind event happen.

Ready to be a POP Team? Fill out the In-Person Team Registration Form or the Remote Team Registration Form, gather your team together, start fundraising, and get ready to paint!

Want to volunteer or learn more? Contact Heidi, heidi@inclusiveartsvermont.org or 802-556-3668.

For questions or to sign up using alternate formats, please contact Kat Redniss, kat@inclusiveartsvermont.org or 802-556-3668.

Check out the finished paintings from POP 2022:

This is a 36” tall and 24” wide white canvas filled with a series of cartoon-style doodles. The background has been left so that the bare, white canvas shows through. The doodles fill the entirety of the canvas, with some going off the edge. There is white space left between them. Each of the doodles is made up largely of solid colors, to which thick black outlines and white highlight marks have been added. From top right, clockwise, the featured images are: A red and gold spellbook with a purple bookmark, two ends of an arrow whose feathers are teal, a blue crystal ball, a green severed dragon head with crossed out eyes, a purple snake, a gold crown with red jewels, a purple and brown hourglass, two bones, a green 20-sided die, a blue gemstone amulet, two scrolls with a green seal, a red circular pendant attached to a chain, two red and pink candles, a throwing ax, a round-bottom boiling flask filled with purple liquid, two gold coins, a magic wand surrounded by green smoke, a metal helmet with a horn protruding from one side, a pyramid-shaped dice, a treasure chest with a lock, a large sword in the center of the piece, a gray cauldron with lime-green froth at the top, a red and orange feather, a black bottle, a skull, a purple dice, and a golden ring with red gems. Around each of the items flicks and tiny circles have been added suggesting movement or emphasis.
Hi I’m Steve
“Nat 20”
Stephen Miller
Acrylic and pencil on canvas
A 36” tall and 24” wide canvas depicting a jar of dilly beans against a bright, cobalt blue background. The jar takes up the majority of the canvas, leaving a few inches of blue border on all sides. White highlights suggest glass or a reflective surface. Inside the jar, about a dozen green beans lean against the sides, some upright, and some diagonal. Red pepper flakes, a clove of garlic, and three sprigs of dill also float inside the jar. Gold flecks have been applied to the surface of the painting within the jar as well. At the jar’s opening, on the right hand side, a large bumble bee rests in front of queen anne’s lace. The background of the painting is made up of multiple shades of blue and aqua, and the artists have left the brush strokes visible so that the lighter shades peek through the cobalt.
Brave Little Boardsters
“Magic Beans”
Kaitlyn Barr, Abbey Pratt, and Debbie Krugipudi
Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas
This is a 36” tall and 24” wide painting depicting a landscape scene of a far off mountain range at twilight. The top two-thirds of the painting make up the sky. The sky is vignetted in black, and fades into shakes of bright blue, lavender, and white that form a nebula-like center. Stars dot the sky, make up white paint dripped and flicked onto the canvas. This piece glows in the dark, and under the right conditions the blue portions of the painting glow. At the bottom a mountain range cascades into the background in layers of black, charcoal, and light gray. There is white scripted text over the mountains that reads “The Universe is full of Magic.”
Davis Studio
Acrylic on canvas
This is a 36” tall and 24” wide painting depicting a landscape scene of a far off mountain range at twilight. The top two-thirds of the painting make up the sky. The sky is vignetted in black, and fades into shakes of bright blue, lavender, and white that form a nebula-like center. Stars dot the sky, make up white paint dripped and flicked onto the canvas. This piece glows in the dark, and under the right conditions the blue portions of the painting glow. At the bottom a mountain range cascades into the background in layers of black, charcoal, and light gray. There is white scripted text over the mountains that reads “The Universe is full of Magic.”
Davis Studio
Acrylic on canvas GLOW FEATURE
This 36” tall and 24” wide canvas features an abstract, mixed media scene. The background is made up of combinations of paint that appear to blend together in a way reminiscent of tie-dye, or two pages stuck together with paint that have been pulled apart. The splotches of paint cover the white canvas in bright yellow, green, navy blue, and red, and occasionally blend to make purple and orange. Towards the bottom, more black has been applied than at the top. On top of this background, collage cutouts have been applied, all black and white. They are, clockwise from the top right: A naked witch riding a broom with a long scarf trailing behind her, a woman in a veil holding a box in one hand with the other raised holding a string of beads, a wizard with a starry cap, a beaver, a harp with the strings made from gold glitter glue, a woman holding a fan with a hand on her hip, a woman caught mid dance with a bird perched on one of her hands, and two fairies.
Dave and Jess
David Roy and Jess Ranae
Acrylic, paper, and glitter glue on canvas
This is a horizontal, 36” wide and 24” tall painting in acrylic on canvas. It features a landscape and night sky in shades of purple, blue, black, and fluorescent green. A row of black, triangular mountains bisects the canvas in the bottom half. Below, water is painted in shades of royal and navy blue. Feathery black brushstrokes suggest reflections of the mountains in the water. Above the mountain range is a sky, which is lavender and purple nearest to the mountains, and fades into a deep, dark blue at the top of the canvas. The sky is speckled with white dots, and in the top left corner of the image blue glitter reflects light. The right half of the painting features fluorescent green and yellow streaks of paint, radiating from the mountain range and reflected in the water below.
Magical Mystery Tourists
“Northern Lights”
Jim Barr, Trevor Barr, Erica Burke, and Cyndy Barr 
Acrylic and glitter on canvas
This is a 24” tall and 36” wide abstract painting depicting a book with colors and shapes radiating from it. The background of the piece is made up of arches of swirling brush strokes in the colors of the Inclusive Arts Vermont logo: blue, violet, lavender, aqua, and orange. At the bottom of the painting, a square sticker with the Inclusive Arts Vermont logo forms the spine of the book, and brown lines come from the top to the left and right of the canvas, indicating the front and back covers. White, wild strokes and gold squiggles come from the center, along with feathery marks of blue, purple, aqua and orange. On top of the background ad book, in the top half of the painting, are four gatherings of three abstract shapes. The shapes are pink with an orange center, reminiscent of flowers. They are combined with triangular, iridescent pieces and black teardrop shapes.
Painting by Numbers
Kassandra Kohler, March Smith, and Holly Biracree
Acrylic, stickers, and glitter on canvas

 Thanks to the incredible POP sponsors:

A logo for the Davis Studio. A blue soft rectangle, with a paintbrush laying across the top. Inside it says, "Davis Studio." Below, in blue playful lettering, it says, "Foster your creativity!"
A logo for Mascoma Bank. At top, a geometric sunburst or abstract floral in oranges, blues, and greens. Below, in grey letters, it says, "Mascoma Bank."