Q&A: A Tour of Artist Meta Strick's Gallery and Home

For more than five decades, Meta Strick has been making mixed-media art in the backwoods of Fairfield. The turquoise-haired 82-year-old invites visitors to open houses and workshops at her gallery next to her log cabin home. Both spaces are chockablock with art and eclectic collections. Strick’s color-coded gallery is filled with paintings and cards, as well as dolls representing Santas, witches and mystical creatures.

In the latest episode of “Stuck in Vermont,” Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger spent a lighthearted afternoon with Strick and participated in a collage workshop. Strick’s next open house dates are Friday, December 20, through Sunday, December 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; email metastrick@gmail.com for details. Snow tires are recommended if you want to make it up her steep driveway.

“Nobody says that it has to just be X, Y or Z. It can be X and Y and Z.” Meta Strick

Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.

How did you hear about Strick?

In 2013 I filmed an episode at the Vermont Hand Crafters show, and one of the artists gave me Strick’s card. She was the president of the organization for many years, though it dissolved last year, sadly. I added Strick to my list of possible subjects and finally got around to calling her!

How did you connect?

Strick and I hit it off immediately. We had an epic phone chat and made a date to meet up at her home in Fairfield. It was snowing that day, and I was driving a borrowed car that struggled on the unplowed back roads. When I reached the turnoff for Strick’s road, I gulped — it is long and treacherous in winter. Her driveway is steep, and I got stuck halfway up. Yes, I was literally stuck in Vermont.

What were your first impressions of the property?

It reminds me of a psychedelic fairyland. A band saw spray-painted fluorescent green sat next to a rusted tractor in Strick’s garden. The gently falling snow was the perfect backdrop to her cozy home nestled in the woods. A colorful porch peeked out from a layer of powder, and a trio of life-size painted characters greeted me on the front door. Kola, a neighbor’s dog, was the first creature I met, and I almost expected him to start speaking English. I also enjoyed meeting Strick’s tuxedo cat, Dot, who tried to steal the show.

Strick is a collector, and her house is a treasure trove of buttons, baskets, art, dolls, metal bits, glass bottles and ephemera. There is a woodshop in her basement that she calls “sawdust hell.” It’s also full of wood pieces that she uses to create her dolls. As a fellow collector of stuff, I could have spent hours just admiring her doodads. Everywhere you look there is a story.

How did Strick end up in Vermont?

Befitting the fairyland setting, Strick’s life is a bit like a fairy tale. First off, her unique name is what she was born with, and you pronounce it “Mee-ta.” She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and started making art at a young age. She came to Vermont in the late 1960s and bought a 95-acre parcel of land in Fairfield with “five other hippies.” There was no running water or electricity and she lived in a tent at first. By 1971 she was in her log cabin home, which was built from a kit. Years later, she built a garage that became her gallery. It was 20 years before she had electricity, which gives you an idea of how tough she is.

Her life seems very full.

Strick loves people, which is probably why it is so nice spending time with her. She worked full time for the State of Vermont in the human services programs. She was also an art teacher at the Community College of Vermont, and she raised three boys, two of whom live on the property. In addition to all of that, she has been making art most of her life.

Strick makes you feel like anything is possible. She has a fearless and playful approach to life.

How was the collage workshop?

Strick invited her friend Jo Kinney from Colchester to do some collaging with us. Kinney says she has a mini Meta Museum in her home with many of her friend’s works of art. The two women have known each other for almost 42 years and used to work together, as well.

It had been ages since I cut up paper and glued it together again. Strick does not use scissors and instead tears the images by hand. She also added blue paint, which took her collage to the next level. I forgot what a pleasure it is to hang out with cool people and make art.

How would you define Strick’s work?

It’s hard to classify Strick’s art because she works in so many different mediums and is so prolific. She draws; paints; sculpts; works with wood, metal and fabric; collages; collects; writes; and does calligraphy — she does it all! Flipping through her dozens of sketchbooks is like a window into her feverish, creative mind. She even wrote a collection of poem-drawings in 1972. Strick proclaimed, “Nobody says that it has to just be X, Y or Z. It can be X and Y and Z.” It’s worth a trip to her gallery to see her wide-ranging creations for yourself.

The original print version of this article was headlined “In the Meta-verse | A tour of mixed-media artist Meta Strick’s gallery and home in Fairfield”