Tuesdays, October 14 - November 18, 2025

6:30-8:30pm

Catamount Arts Center, 115 Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury

Instructor: William York Hyde

Would you like to have the poise and confidence that professional performers do?  By utilizing fun improv games, gentle acting exercises and a cross-over model of character development, this 6-week course will help participants to develop new life skills, gain more confidence and reveal, or improve, their latent acting abilities. The final class (hooray!) is an actual Vaudevillian stage revue of short plays and fun skits.  Several former students of this class are now active members of the St. J Players and the comedy troupe "You've Got To Be Kidding." If you’re a local performer or someone who just wants to gain a bit more confidence in public speaking, please come play with us.

Class fee: $150 (10% discount from Catamount Arts members and high school students). Catamount Arts is committed to offering quality arts experiences for all students, regardless of ability to pay; please call Anne at 802-748-2600 ext. 109 for information about scholarship funds.

William York Hyde, SAG-AFTRA member, has performed in movies, TV shows, radio broadcasts, commercials, voice-overs, and more than 130 stage productions.  Since settling in St. Johnsbury, William has taught acting classes for Catamount Arts, coached local high school actors, and founded a Vaudevillian comedy troupe, which performed at St. J Sparkles and First Night North, and is now booking future shows.  From coast to coast, from the Avant-garde to Shakespeare, from Renaissance Fairs to Broadway, William is keen to share his experiences and insights with curious, creative, and adventurous New Englanders.

Tuesdays, October 14 - November 18, 2025

6:30-8:30pm

Catamount Arts Center, 115 Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury

Instructor: William York Hyde

Would you like to have the poise and confidence that professional performers do?  By utilizing fun improv games, gentle acting exercises and a cross-over model of character development, this 6-week course will help participants to develop new life skills, gain more confidence and reveal, or improve, their latent acting abilities. The final class (hooray!) is an actual Vaudevillian stage revue of short plays and fun skits.  Several former students of this class are now active members of the St. J Players and the comedy troupe "You've Got To Be Kidding." If you’re a local performer or someone who just wants to gain a bit more confidence in public speaking, please come play with us.

Class fee: $135 (10% discount from Catamount Arts members and high school students). Catamount Arts is committed to offering quality arts experiences for all students, regardless of ability to pay; please call Anne at 802-748-2600 ext. 109 for information about scholarship funds.

William York Hyde, SAG-AFTRA member, has performed in movies, TV shows, radio broadcasts, commercials, voice-overs, and more than 130 stage productions.  Since settling in St. Johnsbury, William has taught acting classes for Catamount Arts, coached local high school actors, and founded a Vaudevillian comedy troupe, which performed at St. J Sparkles and First Night North, and is now booking future shows.  From coast to coast, from the Avant-garde to Shakespeare, from Renaissance Fairs to Broadway, William is keen to share his experiences and insights with curious, creative, and adventurous New Englanders.

Thursdays, November 6, 13, and 20, 6:30-8:30pm

Catamount Arts Center

Instructor: Rebecca Jacoby

 560 Railroad Community Artist Rebecca Jacoby will lead students in an exploration of abstract art, using a variety of methods and traditional and non-traditional “drawing tools”  and materials to express new perspectives and interpretations of reality. This class is for people with some art-making experience and a desire to discover (or dive deeper into)  the challenge and freedom of abstraction.  

Class fee: $75 (10% discount for Catamount Arts members).

Registration deadline: November 5, 2025

Rebecca Jacoby is a visual artist working in mixed media on paper and canvas. Her work is based on the natural world of woods, rocks, stones, and plant life and the crumbling buildings and sidewalks of the city. Through abstract processes and the use of color, texture, and collage elements she incorporates into each piece, Jacoby creates colorful, tactile worlds that evoke movement and geographic dreamscapes and celebrate process and materials. Jacoby received an MFA from Pratt Institute and lives and works in Philadelphia. Catamount Arts is hosting her for a month as part of the 560 Railroad Community Artist program. 

Thursdays, November 6, 13, and 20, 6:30-8:30pm

Catamount Arts Center

Instructor: Rebecca Jacoby

 560 Railroad Community Artist Rebecca Jacoby will lead students in an exploration of abstract art, using a variety of methods and traditional and non-traditional “drawing tools”  and materials to express new perspectives and interpretations of reality. This class is for people with some art-making experience and a desire to discover (or dive deeper into)  the challenge and freedom of abstraction.  

Class fee: $67.50 (10% discount for Catamount Arts members).

Registration deadline: November 5, 2025

Rebecca Jacoby is a visual artist working in mixed media on paper and canvas. Her work is based on the natural world of woods, rocks, stones, and plant life and the crumbling buildings and sidewalks of the city. Through abstract processes and the use of color, texture, and collage elements she incorporates into each piece, Jacoby creates colorful, tactile worlds that evoke movement and geographic dreamscapes and celebrate process and materials. Jacoby received an MFA from Pratt Institute and lives and works in Philadelphia. Catamount Arts is hosting her for a month as part of the 560 Railroad Community Artist program. 

Saturday, November 29, 1-5pm

Catamount Arts Center, 115 Eastern Avenue, St. Johnsbury

Instructor: Penny Hewitt

Enjoy the simple pleasure of creating a decoration or gift from materials responsibly harvested in Vermont. Utilizing techniques common to the Scandinavian and Russian styles of basketry, you will craft birds and stars using strips of inner bark from the paper birch, and also learn how these materials are harvested and prepared. Penny Hewitt’s workshops sell out quickly, so register early!

Workshop fee: $75 (10% discount for Catamount Arts members.) In addition, please bring a $30 materials fee, in cash or a check payable to the instructor, Penny Hewitt. Scholarship funds are available for high school students; please call Anne at 802-748-2600 ext. 109 for details.

Registration deadline: November 16 

A craftsperson, teacher, homesteader, and homeschooling mom, Penny Hewitt lives with her family on a diversified farm in the Northeast Kingdom. Working with responsibly harvested and hand-processed materials from the forest surrounding her home, Penny seeks to create objects of beauty that are useful in everyday life. She is inspired by traditions of other cultures, and grateful for the opportunities of connection to people, place, nature, and self that her craft cultivates. Her experience with weaving includes teaching workshops, leading homeschool groups, and crafting for income.