A New Visual Art Editor Learns She Has Big Shoes to Fill

Pamela Polston with a portrait of herself as “St. Pamela” by Jesse Azarian at a Seven Days semiretirement party in 2021 Credit: File: James Buck

This “backstory” is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2024.

“So you’re the new Pamela Polston?” That’s how state curator David Schutz posed the question as we discussed the art show he cocurates every year at the Kents Corner State Historic Site. I explained that Polston would still be writing for Seven Days, though stepping back.

“She’s a little like me,” he said. “I kind of want to move into a mode where I don’t have to work quite as hard, but I also don’t want to let go of my babies — and this is one of those babies.”

Polston is one of Seven Days‘ founding mothers. Taking over from her as visual art editor has indeed felt like being handed a precious bundle I’d best not drop. Polston knows everyone in the Vermont art world. Over the past 30 years, she hasn’t just reported on that community; she’s been instrumental in strengthening it. Wherever I’ve gone in the past six months, from White River Junction to Middlebury, I have had some version of the same conversation: I introduce myself, and people respond with, “You’ve got big shoes to fill!”

The topic came up with Joseph Pensak of the Phoenix in Waterbury, when I went to see Ana Koehler’s show upstairs at the Hesterly Black gallery. With Richard Saunders, after Hunter Barnes’ artist talk at the Middlebury Museum of Art, and with Mary Admasian as we walked through her solo show at the T.W. Wood Gallery in Montpelier. With Theresa Harris at Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury. With Doreen Kraft at a sculpture unveiling in Burlington’s Dewey Park.

I have tried to imagine exactly which “big shoes” I’m stepping into: elegant, editorial black suede pumps? Trusty Louvre-worthy hiking boots? Wheelies? Surely, only my colleagues reporting from the Statehouse need hip-high muck waders? The reality is, Polston donned many a pair: We’re talking about an Imelda Marcos-level closetful.

Both as visual art editor and on the team of weekly proofreaders, I keep learning how much of the paper’s style, voice and focus have come from Polston. She started out as the scrappy punk rocker balancing cofounder Paula Routly’s strict ballet background, the two of them doing everything together. Polston was the music editor, managed freelancers, came up with features and themes, envisioned the culture section, and also did the office dishes. Her decisions — as obscure as why we lowercase “the” in “the Phoenix” and as important as why we still write weekly reviews of visual art at all, when so many outlets no longer do — are written in Seven Days‘ subtext, even when her byline is missing.

I am thrilled to be the new visual art editor at Seven Days, but I’m not the new Pamela Polston. Luckily, I don’t need to wear all of her shoes — I’m part of a whole team of folks. I am eager to see and learn and write about art every week; all I’ve got to do is lace up these punk shitkickers and start walking. I’m just glad they’re not toe shoes.

The original print version of this article was headlined “Biggest Shoes to Fill”