Big Heavy World's New Home: Burlington College
Photo by Morgan Laurie-Day.
Big Heavy World, a volunteer-staffed nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Vermont-made music, has relocated to the campus of Burlington College.
Burlington College has begun working with arts presenters and organizations that offer meaningful cultural resources to the Old and New North End. By hosting music and local foods festivals and collaborating with Big Heavy World to provide a home for its cultural preservation and community development mission, the college is opening doors for students to engage with the Burlington community in fun and meaningful ways.
“We recognize that Big Heavy World has been a magnet for involving young adults in Vermont’s arts and culture, and Burlington College recognizes the significance of the arts for our students and community,” says Michael Smith, Interim President of Burlington College. “Our invitation to work with Big Heavy World is an effort to achieve the most inspiring environment possible for our students and the combined Old and New North End communities.”
Big Heavy World maintains a public listening library of thousands of Vermont-made recordings; a record label that releases samplers of Vermont-made music; a web site ‘gateway’ to the state’s music industry; an online shop of Vermont-made music; continual multi-media journalism for the web and radio, and hosts concert and educational events.
As Big Heavy World relocates to the campus, it brings a licensed, low-power community radio station called ‘The Radiator’ with it, broadcasting at 105.9FM and via various Internet-based outlets. An eclectic, free-form format, volunteer-programmed station, it will become an outlet for the creative and technical interests of Burlington College students and academic faculty.
James Lockridge, Executive Director of Big Heavy World, says, “It’s an understatement to say we value and appreciate this new relationship. Our ability to serve the local and statewide community will explode with this transition, and the opportunities for college and high school students to participate in our work will grow tremendously and immediately. Burlington College is fostering a community resource, and their generosity will result in a meaningful cultural legacy for all Vermonters.”
Contact Burlington College at (802)-923-2314 or visit the website at www.burlington.edu.
Information about Big Heavy World can be found at www.bigheavyworld.com/about/ or contact (802) 865-1140 or info@bigheavyworld.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Coralee Holm, Director of Community Relations 802.923.2314 | cholm@burlington.edu