A gallery on Main Street

Near the Castleton campus, right on Main Street, there is an old yellow Church. As you walk toward the back of the church, your eyes are drawn to a polished bronze face on top of a stone pillar, and you realize you aren’t in a church at all.

This old yellow building is the gallery and studio of Patrick V. Farrow.

Farrow has operated the gallery for 11 years and he said he gets “a good amount” of visitors annually.

Too many visitors and he wouldn’t get work done, he said.

“I don’t want to have to hire a curator,” he joked.

The whole gallery is bathed in sunlight from the large glass windows of the church.

The figures of Farrow’s work are long and slender, and their body posture radiates a sense of movement.

“The body positions are off balance, which give a sense of movement,” Farrow said.

Other pieces are an amazing blend of organic and inorganic.

Visiting the gallery for the first time, Castleton student Lauren Edge said “the lighting and setting is perfect for all the works.”

While exploring the gallery, Farrow had a funny tale about how he gets the animal skulls that he uses as inspiration for some of his work.

“A local boy knows where they dump the road kill, he said. “He brings them to me and I pay him for them.”

Farrow said he has been sculpting for the past 35 years and is not only a member of the Allied Artists of America, but also a member of the National Sculpture Society.

He says that his inspiration comes from life. He has won numerous national awards for his work and the American Red Cross also commissioned him to design their “Hero” award.

The sculpture entitled “To Catch the Wind” is of a man sprinting. One leg pushing him forward, the other ready to hit the ground and add to his momentum. The homemade wings under his arms are outstretched ready to carry him up, if he can only move quick enough.

When asked if there was anything else he would like to add or talk about, Farrow simply smiled and said “It’s what I do. It’s what I’ve always done.”

The Gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, but is closed on Tuesdays. For more information go to www.vermontel.net/farrogal.

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