Sarah Jayne Kennelly of Burlington dreamed of being a scientist as a young girl, fascinated by the examination of life and the desire to explore.

Now an adult, she keeps that desire alive in a different kind of lab — the photo lab.

Kennelly draws on the same curiosity of her youth as a local artist specializing in photography, darkroom photographic processes and printmaking.

“I love the experimental nature of alternative photo processes. There’s a lot of control you can have over certain processes, and there’s a lot of experimentation in it,” she said.

Now, she brings that spirit of exploration and experimentation to the city of South Burlington.

Kennelly was appointed curator by the South Burlington Public Art Committee in the spring. She creates showcases in the city’s Public Art Gallery, placing the work and connecting each piece through written descriptions.

The Gallery, at 180 Market St., sits alongside city hall, senior center and public library. It was created to make art accessible to both artists and residents of South Burlington.

The gallery’s home in the center of the community provides unique challenges in terms of the wide variety of people who will view it, Kennelly said.

“It’s not just putting the art up on the wall, but thinking through how the different work will live with one another, and how it will communicate,” she said.

“Interwoven” is the first exhibit she organized as curator in August. It featured a collection of fiber-based works from four regional artists in contemporary craft practice, including Karen Cygnarowicz, Janet Fredericks, Bradie Hansen and Trista Ringer.

“Art challenges us when we’re looking at art made by others, to think through different perspectives and experience viewpoints outside of our own,” Kennelly said.

The creation of spaces where others can experience the world through art drives Kennelly.

Visual language

“Art is a visual language. It’s how we learn and interpret the world through making our own art or viewing art,” Kennelly said.

Her own work focuses on memory, relationships and time — all of which influenced her decision to become an artist.

She grew up alongside her mother and artist grandmother who encouraged her creativity by enrolling her in art camps. High school teachers, passionate about art themselves, pushed her to pursue advanced classes, while classmates guided her to the path of art education.

Kennelly came to Burlington to work with Reformed University Fellowship, a campus ministry organization at the University of Vermont. In her work, she focused on supporting students and building community.

Although her move coincided with the start of the pandemic, Kennelly noticed Burlington’s vibrant art scene and looked to be a part of it.

“I started getting involved in the local community by volunteering as a studio monitor at Burlington City Arts for the dark room,” she said. “That kind of grew into meeting other artists and getting some work there.”

Alongside her curation work, Kennelly works for Burlington City Arts in various roles: drawing, painting and print studio manager, public programs assistant, gallery educator and teaching artist.

Now that she’s established, Kennelly takes pride in helping other artists find their way.

“For one student in my class, it was one of the first non-work-related things she had done for herself in years, so that was really exciting to see her step out and do something more creative,” she said.

In South Burlington’s Public Art Gallery, Kennelly continues to encourage artists to follow their dreams.

The current exhibit features the recent works of illustrator and comic artist, Julianna Brazill, whose work is inspired and imagined by the beauty of the Vermont landscape and the natural world. It will be on display until Jan. 24.

Curating “Recent Works” was an exciting mark in the career for both Kennelly and Brazill, as its display coincided with Brazill’s decision to pursue art full-time.

“It’s really inspiring to see someone take that leap. It was cool to create this exhibition in tangent with that shift for her,” Kennelly said.

Kennelly’s biggest advice for artists and community members is to get involved.

“There are so many volunteer opportunities to get experience and build community. That’s something I wish I had known earlier,” she said. “I was really glad to have people encouraging me to get involved.”

The South Burlington Public Art Gallery is open Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Burlington City Arts on Church and Pine streets in Burlington.

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, on assignment for the Other Paper.