Immersive Summer Gatherings
FILM/TALK/FOOD
In collaboration with the Architecture & Design Film Festival
RESTORATION
FILM: Frank Gehry: Building Justice
TALK: Theresa Betancourt - Shadows into Light: A generation of child soldiers comes of age
GALLERY OPENING: MY PLACE Photography Workshop | Project’s Space Gallery
FOOD: Wood-fired pizza in the garden with chef PJ Lauriello
Part of BigTown Gallery’s 25th Anniversary Programming
Join us for a powerful evening of film, conversation, and shared food as part of our Community Building series. This program centers on Restoration—exploring how architecture, research, and storytelling can help repair broken systems, restore justice, and return dignity to those too often marginalized.
Together, we’ll reflect on how vision and action—led by individuals—can create deep and lasting change.
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Minimum ticket price is $50. This is a fundraiser for our 25th Year of Community Programming — if you can pay more (as much as $200), we would greatly appreciate your generous support.
Thank you!
Bring your curiosity. Leave inspired!
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FILM | 3:30 PM
Frank Gehry: Building Justice
Directed by Ultan Guilfoyle
2017 | 70 minutes | US | English
“What if people changed their ways and started treating people like human beings? What would it be like? What would prisons look like?”
In this revealing documentary, legendary architect Frank Gehry joins architecture students from SCI-Arc and Yale to reimagine incarceration through the lens of design, justice, and human dignity. Traveling to prisons in the U.S. and Norway, they learn from those most impacted—incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals—and examine the often-overlooked role prison architecture plays in rehabilitation and reform.
With support from the Art for Justice Fund and Open Society Foundations, this initiative grew from a call to action by philanthropist George Soros, aiming to plant seeds of reform in a new generation of designers.
“A compelling exploration of design as both mirror and catalyst for justice.”
— Ultan Guilfoyle, Director
Q&A to follow with director Ultan Guilfoyle
TALK | 5:00 PM
A Conversation on Resilience, Recovery, and Healing After Conflict
Featuring Dr. Theresa S. Betancourt and Betsy Small
Moderated by Colleen L. Meaney, Program Director at Tremont School
Join us for a moving and insightful conversation with Dr. Theresa S. Betancourt, author of the newly released Shadows into Light: A Generation of Former Child Soldiers Comes of Age, and Betsy Small, educator, counselor, and author of Before Before: A Story of Discovery and Loss in Sierra Leone. This dialogue will be moderated by Colleen L. Meaney, Program Director at Tremont School and a leader in progressive education and educator development.
Dr. Betancourt brings more than 20 years of groundbreaking research on the intergenerational impacts of war and the resilience of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone. Through vivid personal narratives and evidence-based insights, Shadows into Light reveals the psychological and developmental toll of war—and the pathways toward healing through community-based, culturally grounded interventions.
Betsy Small, who served in Sierra Leone with the Peace Corps from 1984 to 1987, draws from her decades of work with divided communities around the world. Her book explores personal and collective memory, cultural connection, and the long shadows cast by conflict.
Colleen L. Meaney, a seasoned progressive educator and administrator, will guide the conversation. With extensive experience in antiracist pedagogy, whole-school redesign, and authentic student engagement, Colleen brings a thoughtful and informed lens to this important discussion.
Together, these voices will explore themes of trauma and recovery, resilience and reconciliation, and how individuals and communities rebuild after war.
GALLERY OPENING | 6:00 PM
MY PLACE Photography Workshop
Participant Opening Reception in The Projects Space 6 PM
Celebrating the voices and visions of workshop participants—reflecting on place and belonging.
FOOD | 6:00 PM
Wood-Fired Pizza by Chef PJ Lauriello
Gather at the gallery for a warm community meal fresh from our outdoor oven, featuring extraordinary seasonal pizzas and good company. Featuring Foley Brothers Brewing (Beer and wine available for purchase on site)
Enjoy great food, lively discussion, and community spirit—keep building your community
EVENT INFORMATION
Parking: Rochester High School
Film: Rochester High School
Talk: BigTown Gallery
Food & Dialogue: BigTown Gallery - 99 North Main Street, Rochester VT
Want to give more?
Tax-deductible donations can be made to:
BigTown Projects, Inc. – a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit