We hope you have been checking out our redesigned website, which is still being worked on, and perhaps you have noticed that we’re trying to center our coverage around the six Island towns, and as part of that we are prominently featuring our town columns. We want to make sure that in this increasingly digital age, you know that the town columns are all featured in their entirety on the new website, and we hope they are easier to find. There are three ways to find them:
- Under the “Towns” tab, it will appear at the top of each given town’s page.
- On the website’s top menu, under “Opinion,” you will find them under “Columns.”
- On the “Island Life” homepage, the columns will be featured along with all other content from the Community section.
In related news, we are delighted to announce that Tisbury has a new town columnist! Her name is Taylor Stone, and you’ll meet her in these pages next week. But first, to facilitate her leaping in with both feet, I want to tell you a little about her.
Taylor has been a Tisbury resident for 10 years now. She moved to the Vineyard with her family just before fifth grade, and went to the Edgartown School, and then to MVRHS (class of 2009). While at the high school, she was involved in the arts, singing with the Minnesingers and playing Snoopy in the high school play “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” She also taught dance at Rise, in Woodland Center, during its early years.
But she was chiefly a visual artist, and after graduating, she went to the Savannah College of Art and Design, majoring in illustration, before returning home to the Vineyard. During that time she also worked at Educomp for more than 10 years, under the aegis of the beloved and much-missed Pat Gregory.
As an artist, Taylor has been an integral part of the Vineyard arts community. She was a featured artist in Featherstone’s group show, “30 Under 30” — as well as a “40 Under 40” Chamber of Commerce honoree. She’s been a member of Vineyard Artisans for 10 years, and a member of Night Heron Gallery from 2020 until it closed. You can find her this summer selling at the Chilmark Flea, and she has also appeared at Harborfest, Tivoli Day, Martha’s Vineyard Center for Visual Arts (its name before Galaxy Gallery), Saturday Strolls, Christmas in Edgartown, the Ag Fair, and other events and venues. One of her creations you might recognize on Main Street is the giant cauldron that appears on Halloween. Or you may have seen her New Year’s Eve ball, which was “dropped” at the M.V. Playhouse at the turn of the year.
In addition to her own work, Taylor is a champion and facilitator for others, as the coordinator of the First Friday V.H. events. She also helps organize other Visit V.H. annual events, such as Halloween Happenings and ’Tis the Season in Tisbury. She’s also the clerk of the board of the Vineyard Haven Harbor Cultural District.
Taylor’s engagement with Tisbury isn’t limited to the arts, however; she’s also the administrator for the Vineyard Haven Business Association, so many of you might already know her.
In short, Taylor Stone has spent the past decade engaging fully in her Tisbury life, and looks forward to engaging with her fellow residents to hear about how you’re doing likewise.
If you have anything you’d like to share with her in time for her first column, please reach out to her via email, at tisburycolumnist@gmail.com.