Daniel Chiaccio
33 | Owner and Director, First Proof
Residence: Windham
Career highlights you are most proud of.
Being able to work with so many amazing nonprofits and local schools. Opening up two weeks before COVID shutdowns was also a trip, but we made it through.
Community involvement.
Includes working directly with at-risk youth through the youth services program; setting up workshops and programming for the local Boys and Girls Club; painting a 300-foot mural in the heart of downtown; printing services for small local businesses; joint workshops with other makerspaces; and opening up the studio for free to the public for printmaking events.
Motivation for living and working in Vermont.
The abundance of creative energy around Brattleboro.
Favorite part of your job.
Being able to work with artists all day and seeing how excited they are when they make their first print.
Most inspiring mentors.
Bill Cass, a professor at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, and and Liz Chalfin, founding director of Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence, Massachusetts. They were both paramount in my success as an artist and businessman.
Best career advice you have received.
It just takes time.
Favorite Vermont escape.
Sunset Lake or Mount Snow.
Favorite social media.
Instagram. It may be flawed, but its the best way to see all the things my friends are making.
Favorite smell.
Balsam fir.
Person you would most like to share a Vermont beverage with.
Any of my friends.
Causes you would support if you had unlimited access to funds.
Groundworks collective in Brattleboro and cancer research.
Career goals you would like to accomplish in the next five to 10 years.
To have at least 30 full-time members, expand the offerings in terms of youth workshops, and get grant funding to create a scholarship program aimed at helping| those with financial needs.
