A sketch of Wishbone Collective: Daniel Schechner & local art in the Onion City
Daniel Schechner, a Vermont-based photographer, opened Wishbone Collective in Winooski to offer a bridge between community and art. Photo courtesy of Daniel Schechner.
This July, in a loft above West Center Street in Winooski, Daniel Schechner sat on a tall wooden stool with a dog at his feet, keeping time for a room of sketch artists.
The 29-year-old photographer was leading a figure-drawing session, calling the 5-, 15- and 30-minute intervals for which the class’ model held their pose. The 20 illustrators flipped the pages in their sketchbooks from couches or pulled-up chairs as the model took a stretch.
This place, the Wishbone Collective, and the artist who runs it, Schechner, could not always be found like this. A year ago, the loft was empty most days, slowly piecing itself back together from the COVID-19 pandemic.
But both Daniel’s career as an artist and the creative space he co-founded are thriving now, each part of the same journey to create.
Schechner grew up in Tel Aviv and moved to Chittenden County in 2005. With a mother who worked in fashion and his father in cinematography, the creative arts imbued his upbringing.
“I always felt embedded in that world,” Schechner said.
In high school, Schechner got a job at a camera repair shop and became interested in the technical process of photography. He attended Green Mountain College, where he graduated with a bachelor's in fine arts. He tried pottery and printmaking, bringing an understanding of these art processes to the work he now creates.
“To me, that feels relevant; the way I make work is kind of with that lens,” Schechner said.
But photography and videography have always been his real passion. In 2017, he left Vermont on a motorcycle trip across the country, shooting landscapes and scenes that would make up his first photobook.
“When I came back, I wanted to keep it going, wanted to get a studio. Wishbone stemmed from a need for a space to create.”
Wishbone Collective offers figure drawing classes for beginner and experienced artists. Photo courtesy of Wishbone Collective.
The hunt for a studio space led Schechner and another local photographer to what felt like a Brooklyn loft above West Center Street in Winooski. The owner had wanted to convert the apartment into an art studio and was enthusiastic about the artists’ vision.
With the new space, Schechner had the tools to deepen his career.
“I decided to offer super, super affordable portrait sessions,” Schechner said. “Had a ton of people reaching out to me, over two years, 100 or 200 people came through. That kickstarted my photo career, having that space and access to it to meet people and shoot with them.”
As this happened, Wishbone came up with different ideas for community events. Before the pandemic, Wishbone established itself as a rentable workspace for artists and a hub of downtown creativity. The collective started hosting a rotation of weekly events.
“Poetry nights, comedy nights, movie nights, anything we can think of,” Schechner said.
But the early frenzy of the Covid-19 pandemic forced Wishbone to close its doors to events. The shift indoors called for artists to find new ways to connect and reach the community. Earlier this year, Schechner collaborated with the Heritage Winooski Mill Museum and Centennial Celebration Committee for a photo project called “100 Faces of Winooski,” shooting portraits of more than 200 residents in an open call.
The collective has also collaborated with the Winooski Artist Walk, an initiative to bring local art into downtown businesses.
“That project was an awesome way to meet the community and people that are a part of it, business and restaurant owners,” Schechner said.
Schechner said that the physical community in which a digital photographer is based could be less involved or integral to their art because of social media.
“Social media has contributed to the success of my career, in a sense, [because] so much of the work lives in a digital environment, and the location becomes almost irrelevant.”
But the Wishbone Collective aims to bridge community and art.
“Wishbone was taking the digital and wanting to make it tangible again,” Schechner said. “Here are people in a real space looking at art together. That felt really important.”
As the world shakes back to in-person gatherings, Wishbone is also stretching its legs. The collective now offers figure-drawing socials every other Wednesday night and rents eight studio spaces. Participants bring their supplies and sketch a rotating cast of live models.
There is a portfolio of artists as well.
“It’s definitely a mix [of artists]. We have regulars at this point, regulars from pre-Covid, always new faces at the sessions,” Schechner said.
Old faces and new, Wishbone is rebuilding on its bones and reconnecting artists in the area.
To learn more about Schechner, visit his website.
To learn more about Wishbone Collective, visit their website.
