Kate Gridley is a portrait artist and painter living in Middlebury who’s gotten a lot of scrutiny lately because of one specific commission she’s working on: the official portrait of Governor Jim Douglas that will hang in the halls of the Statehouse in Montpelier after his departure. Gridley will be going over sketches with the Governor and his staff tomorrow to determine the pose of the governor in the portrait and what the painting’s background will look like.
VPR’s Jane Lindholm stopped by Gridley’s airy studio the other day to find out what it’s like to be involved in such high-profile public art. She says public or not, her process includes a contract that she lays out with each painting’s subject.