• Luke Awtry
• Luka Mester at ArtsRiot on May 17

In case you missed it, ArtsRiot in Burlington has quietly reopened amid the construction and roadwork on Pine Street. The South End venue known for its "Destroy apathy" tagline has been in limbo for years now, immersed in an odyssey of weirdness that started when the original owners sold the club in 2020.

A couple of months ago in the food section, Melissa Pasanen gave a great rundown of what has transpired at the club in the intervening four years, from ownership mysteries to a rumored vegan chain restaurant moving in ("ArtsRiot in Burlington Reopens With Pizza and a Bar," March 29). In my own interviews, former staff who declined to be named described the live shows in the waning days before the venue closed in December 2022 as "total shit shows." They detailed security issues and one incident in which an ArtsRiot employee was injured, as well as acts not being paid after their performances.

Let's just say local opinions about ArtsRiot have been, um, anything but apathetic.

Though the shadowy nature of the club's ownership persists — it's currently run by the New Hampshire-based Pink Fox Hospitality Group — general manager Kayla Maron and chef Matthew Wagner, both locals, are running the day-to-day operations of the restaurant and bar still named ArtsRiot. And they've returned live music to the menu, alongside pizza and burgers.

"We're really just starting to build this back up," Maron explained by phone. "There is so much history, good and bad, surrounding ArtsRiot. I'm just trying to rebuild a lot of community connections."

One of the first things Maron did was start booking bands again at a venue that, for a time, competed with South Burlington's Higher Ground Showcase Lounge in attracting top-shelf touring acts, particularly of the indie-rock variety. Since the original version of ArtsRiot ended, there's been a hole in the local music scene for that level of touring musician. But don't expect it to be filled just yet.

"We're starting out with more local, smaller-scale bookings," Maron said. "We're not really set up for anything bigger yet, though I hope we get there soon."

Maron acknowledged the venue's recent checkered history as a concert venue, though she wasn't employed at ArtsRiot during that period. She reiterated that she and Wagner are taking it slow with the reintroduction of live music.

"I'm definitely aware of some of the problems there have been in the past," she said. "We want this place to be a hub of creativity like it was when it was started, and we want to be a vital part of the music scene," she went on. "We're just starting to get our team together, because, well, we have maybe two pennies to rub together at the moment, but it's something we're dedicated to doing right."

ArtsRiot hosted a couple of events last month, including at least one that was unexpectedly canceled. But the music calendar picks up in the coming weeks, highlighted by Burlington queer punk band Blossom throwing an album-release show at the club on Saturday, June 8. Fellow punks Burial Woods, Burly Girlies and Durex open.

"We know it's not going to be as simple as saying 'We're back.' We need to reconnect to this community, and we can't wait to do that," Maron said. She added that the current owners have offered to sell the club to her and Wagner, something the duo is "looking at as a real possibility."

There's a lot going on with ArtsRiot — not just the physical space, but the name and the place it holds in Burlington's music scene. And there is more to say about what went down in the past and where the club is — maybe — going. But for now, it's enough to say that live music has returned to the South End and ArtsRiot is back, in one form or another. I've got my fingers crossed that it will be a good thing, but so far that's just a hope. Stay tuned!

• Courtesy Of Brian Jenkins
• Grace Potter

Speaking of connecting with the local music community, few Vermont musicians have put their money where their mouth is on that front more than Grace Potter. The Waitsfield native — who is relaunching her Burlington music festival, Grand Point North, at the end of July — announced this week the creation of the Grand Point Foundation. A nonprofit dedicated to fostering the arts in Potter's home state, the fund is set up to support and expand on existing organizations focused on arts education.

Furthermore, the fund will award one recipient annually with a creation stipend dedicated to helping the artist "keep Vermont weird," according to a press release.

"Finding a place for artistic expression as a kid set me on the path for where I am today," Potter said in the press release. "I witnessed how we showed up for each other as neighbors time and time again, throughout the pandemic and last year with the catastrophic flooding. I want to create that same activation and response for our artists."

The foundation plans to launch artist programs, workshops and an annual film festival in the future.

Listening In

Spotify playlist of Vermont jams