The Civic Standard

The Civic Standard is a mobile cultural center that takes many forms: live performances at local opera houses, karaoke nights at American Legion halls, community-built carnival midways at town fairs, free soup nights organized by high school volunteers, open-call band practices, and more. Founded by Executive Artistic Director Rose Friedman after more than a decade touring with Bread and Puppet Theater, The Civic creates participatory arts experiences that strengthen community life in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

SNOWBOUND is a mythic feature film inspired by the winters, stories, and lived experiences of the Northeast Kingdom. Created by Rose Friedman and writer-director Catherine Eaton, the project invites local residents to shape and inhabit a cinematic world drawn from their own lives and imaginations. Blending the emotional realities of rural life with mythic figures such as the Snow Queen and the Cailleach, SNOWBOUND becomes both a feature film and a community-created portrait of a rural Vermont landscape and the people who call it home.