Aleshire Gallery is pleased to present SCRIPTIVE, an exhibition of calligraphic illuminations and works on paper and parchment by artists Candace Jensen (Vermont) and Sarah La Puerta (Hudson River Valley, NY), from July 19 to September 20.

The opening reception is Sunday, July 19, from 5–8 p.m at Aleshire Gallery, 29 Union Street, Brandon, Vermont.

Both artists use calligraphy, letterforms and scriptive marginalia in their visual art to explore and metabolize a broad range of themes and subjects, including music of the spheres, deep ecology, circular time, cyclical, spiralling & circular geometrices, astrologies, old ballads, chthonic poetry, systems of magic, mythic verse, the inherent meaning of material, mundane horrors, news cycles, miracles, and interspecies translation.

In SCRIPTIVE, the two artists will show selections of their work from the last decade alongside new, never-before-seen illuminations, decorated texts, and drawings made with traditional calligraphic materials such as hand-made inks and watercolors from locally gathered materials, gouache, tempera, ink, gold leaf, paper, and parchments processed by hand.

Aleshire Gallery, a fine art venue, cooperative darkroom, digital lab, and event space, opened in the fall of 2025. Located in the historic 19th-century Granary building on Union Street in downtown Brandon, where folk artist Warren Kimble also has his studio, the gallery’s mission is to push Vermont art forward in a contemporary direction while remaining a working studio devoted to traditional craft.

Curator and Creative Director Benjamin Aleshire was born and raised in Rutland County and lives in Shrewsbury, Vermont. A Creation Grant recipient from the Vermont Arts Council, his work has been exhibited at the BCA Center, where he was artist-in-residence in 2012; at the Generator, where he was in residence in 2022, and most recently at Foam Brewery in 2026. In 2020, he was a James Merrill fellow at Vermont Studio Center and received a Goldwater Fellowship from New York University.

In addition to exhibitions, the gallery hosts a monthly film series every first Sunday, and a figure drawing every third Thursday. Open hours for the public are 11 a.m–4 p.m. on Thursdays and by appointment.

For more information, contact Benjamin Aleshire at [email protected], or call 802-353-6169.

Candace Jensen is a multidisciplinary visual artist, writer, calligrapher, curator, and organizer. Jensen’s work is grounded in aspirational animism, deep ecology, and building creative community. Cofounder and Creative Director of the arts residency and eco-cultural catalyst, In Situ Polyculture Commons, she also serves as occasional Letterpress and Book Arts Director at Ruth Stone House in Goshen, Vermont, and Art Editor for its poetry and art quarterly, Iterant Magazine. Candace lives and works on unceded Abenaki land in Southern Vermont, Turtle Island. She loves canid and ophidian creatures most of all, including her rescue dog, Skyebear, and the milksnake that lives in her walls (Amelia). See Candace Jenson’s Instagram.

Sarah La Puerta, née Sarah Gautier, is a musician, calligrapher, and writer working in different dimensions. Her recent artworks focus on comparing theoretical concepts, past and present, of cosmic musical order. Her favorite tree is the weeping willow and her favorite flowers are water lilies. She lives in rural upstate New York, in a 200-year old dairy barn converted into a music studio. See Sarah La Puerta’s Instagram.