photo and story by Cat Cutillo

“Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.” –James Russell Lowell

One of the questions we’ve been getting asked a lot is, “Why did you name it Outerlands?”

There’s a short answer to this, but I’d rather give you the long answer.

We moved to Vermont after living in the Outer Sunset of San Francisco–or The Outerlands as people call it. Its next to the ocean but its not a “popular” neighborhood. We never understood why. Sure, it got foggy sometimes and there was often a thin cloud mist, but that just gave it a mystical bright glow that was perfect for growing succulents. We had endless free fun collecting sea glass along miles of ocean, or walking through the eucalyptus grove just 1 block from our house and we never struggled with finding parking. We felt like our unhip, sidelined neighborhood was San Francisco’s best kept secret.

When we opened the gallery, we wanted our name to embrace a little of that ‘found treasure’ feeling, and we wanted to show art that was outside of the margins. Not to mention our space itself is located a little off-center, 1 block from Main Street in Vergennes. We hope we have created something that people have the opportunity to not only visit–but discover.