Alison Bergman

About

Alison Bergman is an artist, educator, and community arts advocate living in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Her childhood was shaped by frequent moves to new cities and countries, exposing her at an early age to different cultures, ways of living, and social inequities. These experiences fostered an enduring curiosity about people and a belief in the possibility of creating a more generous and equitable world.

In her twenties, Bergman encountered Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which helped give language to ideas that had been developing since childhood—particularly the importance of imagination, agency, and the belief that change is possible. She carried these values through more than twenty years as a K–12 art educator and continues to bring them to her life as an artist and active member of her community.

After leaving classroom teaching, Bergman opened Art & Joy, a small gallery and shop in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The gallery has become another form of creative practice and community engagement, providing a space to support artists and participate in the cultural and economic life of her rural community. Across these different roles, Bergman remains guided by an ethos of curiosity, joy, and possibility.

Bergman holds a BFA in Film, Video, and Animation from the Rhode Island School of Design, an MAAE from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA in Ceramics from UMass Dartmouth. She has received the Graduate Fellowship in Community Engagement at UMass Dartmouth and the Learning in Arts & Culture Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center. She was recently accepted as an Associate Member of Boston Sculptors Gallery.

artandjoyinvermont.com
Instagram: @alisonmbergmanart