The most captivating thing about the arts scene these days is that in all its many ways it centers on that very root word, captive — and its opposite, free. Art, because it is art, does not exist inside boundaries. For artists, there will always be the impulse to create, the need to find a voice and speak, the need to share a vision, the need to engage within a social network. When museums and galleries and coffee houses were closed, art moved to balconies (who can forget the Italian arias?) and became part of protests (who can forget George Floyd’s portrait on boarded up windows)? Art will not be silent.

Burlington City Arts has mounted an exhibition called “Stay Home/Stay Safe [Executive Order 01-20],” inspired by and sharing the title of the Executive Order signed by Governor Phil Scott that defined Vermont’s quarantine restrictions. The show, installed in the gallery’s second floor, is fully viewable online with 360 degree technology. Thirty Vermont artists, most from the Burlington area, were engaged in this project. Each were given a 24-inch by 36-inch canvas to work on and those canvases are now mounted in edge-to-edge grid on the wall…