Juried by John Zaso of Hexum Gallery in Montpelier, Prelude highlights new and evolving voices within SVAC’s membership, showcasing artists whose emerging practices reflect momentum, experimentation, and creative growth.

About the Juror:

John Zaso is a self taught artist, avid art collector, and the owner and director of Hexum Gallery, a contemporary art space in Montpelier, Vermont. The gallery focuses on emerging and mid career artists with an emphasis on meticulously rendered, highly crafted work and LGBTQ+ perspectives. Zaso’s program champions artists whose practices merge technical precision with wit and narrative, often through pattern, repetition, drawing, and graphic detail. Zaso brings a collector’s eye to the gallery’s exhibitions, shaping both his curatorial approach and the relationships he builds with artists and audiences.

His programming includes ambitious thematic group shows such as Dewdrops in the Garden and Family Jewels, as well as solo and two person presentations. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the TW Wood Museum, the oldest art museum in Vermont and home to the largest collection of work by Thomas Waterman Wood, as well as the state repository for WPA era artwork. His work as a gallerist has been featured in Seven Days, The Times Argus, The Rutland Herald, and Boston Spirit Magazine. Zaso splits his time between Montpelier, VT and NYC.

Image credit:
Carl Mitchell Jones
No Title, 2025
Felt, embroidery floss

Enjoy dinner at SVAC’s curATE café. Visit OpenTable for reservations or call 802.362.9100.