For years, local artist and Norman Williams Public Library employee, Adrian Tans, has brought beauty and art to the local Woodstock Town Crier bulletin board.
Now the “Town Smiler” — renamed during the COVID-19 pandemic in part because of the chalk murals Tans would create month after month — has been sitting empty. On Oct. 23, Tans finished a drawing of three trick-or-treaters together on a porch, dressed as the Grim Reaper, the devil, and an ICE agent. He said that after objections and calls to Town Hall, the Woodstock History Center, which owns the bulletin, ordered the mural to be taken down on Nov. 1.
Tans spoke to the Standard this week about this recent string of events, and what the future holds for the Town Smiler and his own artistic endeavors. Tans began, “I knew the director of the Woodstock History Center, Matt Powers, from around town. When COVID hit, I went straight to Matt and asked if I could illustrate murals on the chalkboard of the Town Crier. We kept it rolling for years. I never received a commission for my work. The entire process felt like a hands-off collaboration between me and the Woodstock History Center. It was simply a win-win for everyone.”
When asked where Tans stands with the History Center and the Town Smiler today, he said, ‘“Today’ is very much the operative word. It is all still a bit up in the air. I was very surprised by the discourse my mural elicited. After the image was taken down, Matt Powers and I had a great conversation about the future of the chalkboard. While I am not sure if I will continue creating for the Town Smiler — as it is a lot of work and I have many other creative endeavors worth dedicating my time to — the History Center has offered me the same creative freedom as before, with an open invitation for me to continue.”
For more on this story, please see our Nov. 26 edition of the Vermont Standard.
