Central Vermont Medical Center

Art Gallery

Transformative Moves II: Works by Ray Brown

On display at the CVMC Art Gallery: May 17 – July 18, 2026

Exhibition Opening: June 4, 2026 from 4:30pm to 6pm

Curatorial Statement:

Drawing of two men standing side by side by Ray Brown

Ray Brown in many ways exemplifies the idea of ‘life as art.’ He was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1940, and from an early age, he was much more predisposed to sports and arts activities than academics. Nonetheless, Ray went on to attend the Massachusetts College of Art (subsequently re-named the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and now known as MassArt) in Boston from 1959-1963, earning a BFA in Painting and Printmaking. In 1971-72, he did some graduate work at the renowned Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

He had great facility in drawing, painting, printmaking (mostly etching and monoprints), as well as ceramics and wooden sculptural reliefs and objects. Ray is most well-known and associated with his paintings of the rural Vermont landscape, particularly barns and other iconic buildings that comprise this environment.

In 1983, Ray and his wife Jody purchased The Drawing Board, an art supply and framing business in Montpelier, Vermont. It has become a focal point to the artist community in Central Vermont, and provided goods and services to many who are willing to travel great distances to avail themselves of the extraordinary consulting and staff expertise offered there. The popularity of this business flourished under Ray’s customer service orientation and inter-personal skills. To say that Ray was very popular, would be a dramatic understatement.

By the 1990s, Ray’s paintings had achieved an extremely loyal following, and much of what he produced sold fairly readily. Often, these paintings were very meticulous, almost jewel-like in their execution, however, Ray found himself doing this work to satisfy its local demand. More and more, Ray quietly wished that he was able to loosen up his style; to do more work for his own satisfaction, and to develop works that were not so straightforward or realistic.

In 2006, Ray had a massive stroke. It was the type of condition that left him largely unable to work with his dominant side. Always one to paint nearly every day, Ray never allowed himself to give up his painting discipline. Through sheer force of will, he made himself use his non-dominant side, taught himself to paint with his left hand, and essentially embarked on a new career arc at the age of 66. Instead of viewing his new situation as a disability, Ray saw it as an opportunity to do what he had been trying unsuccessfully to do for about 15 years. He painted primarily from his memory (particularly in the first few years after the stroke), painted more abstractly and more loosely, and due to the influence of several visits to Italy, began to see color and landscape differently, as almost interlocking elements. Before the stroke, Ray did a great deal of plein air painting, and afterwards, much of the landscape work was from memory, and in the last few years, Ray worked from his sketchbooks and small still lifes set-up in his studio. He passed away in 2020, just prior to his 80th birthday.

This exhibition is a career survey retrospective for Ray Brown, the beloved local artist who created art nearly every day of his adult life. This is a celebration of his creative legacy, as well as an enduring testimony to his perseverance and adaptation in the face of life’s challenges. These works represent his triumphs over these travails and act as lasting documents to the strength of the human spirit.

- Mark S. Waskow, President, Northern New England Museum of Contemporary Art

If you are interested in purchasing one of Ray’s works, please contact Mark Waskow directly: (802) 793-8482 / waskowmark@gmail.com