“I’m having such a great time. Do I have to leave?” After a recent Juno Orchestra rehearsal, a local artist shared her evening’s work, sketches she’d made while visiting evening sessions at the Brattleboro Music Center’s still-new auditorium. Juno Orchestra completed a two and a half hour rehearsal and doubled as informal models.

About ten area artists participated in a special two-evening sketch/draw offering, a simple yet productive collaboration between Juno Orchestra and the River Gallery School in downtown Brattleboro. Part of the deal for entering the art session is that all sketches were placed in an impromptu exhibition that hung in the auditorium lobby during Juno’s two performances.

How’d this come about?

This winter and spring, the River Gallery School (RGS) offered a course called The Secret Lives of Shopkeepers in which area business owners and organizational leaders served as models for weekly sessions. Zon Eastes, in his role as music director of Juno, was invited to sit for class in late April. As this session moved, conversation with instructor Leigh Niland led to the idea that a group of interested artists might attend Juno rehearsals and sketch.

Here’s just a small sampling of the work. All the artists’ work hung in the halls of the BMC concert hall during Juno’s recent concerts. (Artists’ credits are not attached yet. More research required.)