Whether it’s attending a Dorset Theatre Festival performance, enjoying the Manchester Music Festival, the Taconic Music Festival, or seeing an exhibit at Southern Vermont Arts Center, Bob and Mary-Anne Van Degna’s love for both the arts and for Vermont is real and enduring.

For the Van Degnas, Southern Vermont offers a rare combination of natural beauty, artistic energy, and genuine connection. It’s a place where culture and community are intertwined; supporting the arts is part of how they build community and friendship in harmony with their passions. 

A lifelong supporter of theater arts, Mary-Anne serves as president of the Board of Trustees at The Dorset Theatre Festival. She believes in the importance of theater arts to support a thriving community. Mary-Anne explains, “Arts in a community gives citizens a chance to feel better and be better. If you attend the theatre or wander SVAC looking at the art, or grab a ticket for Maxine Linehan’s concert in Arkell, you’re never really alone. Ever. That’s what’s been important to us. We believe the arts foster that sense of community everyone needs. For us, it’s giving the next generation a place where creativity is honored.”

Bob, who is a photographer and filmmaker, is the board president at SVAC. In 2017, Bob saw an institution with so much potential that needed help with its leadership and strategic plan. With a background in private equity, having served on many boards in leadership positions, he quickly became involved. This June 7th, the new addition to Yester House opens and Bob credits the amazing support of the community in raising $14.5 million dollars - an extraordinary accomplishment in just a few years. 

The Van Degnas first came to Dorset in the mid-1990s as students at the Orvis Fly Fishing School and “just really loved it”; now, they split their time between Dorset and Arizona. 

Bob and Mary-Anne have four children and six grandchildren, ranging in ages from 21 to 10; both speak effusively about spending time together and taking regular family vacations. “They [our grandchildren] are the delight of our life, and it’s been fun watching them grow. The oldest two are in college now, so that’s been a real trip,” Mary-Anne says.

While gathering everyone in one place is more difficult as the family has spread across the country, from California to Ohio to New Jersey, their children and grandchildren have spent valuable time in Dorset over the years, exploring the outdoors and enjoying the arts for milestone birthdays and anniversaries. Mary-Anne recalls a game that they used to play with their youngest grandchildren, sitting under the sculptures on the SVAC grounds and composing crazy stories about them - engaging with the arts is what they do and what they share with those around them. 

For Bob and Mary-Anne, Dorset’s appeal lies not only in its natural beauty and cultural life but also in its sense of community. “We love the small-town part of it,” Mary-Anne says. Bob adds that Dorset is “a very social place, and you get to know a lot of people.”

Many of their favorite memories have blended together over the years: introducing friends to Dorset for the first time, gathering with children and grandchildren at the house, or simply sharing everyday moments at H.N. Williams, the Union Store, or the post office. “It’s a given that people fall in love with Dorset when they first visit, and they always want to come back. It’s a special place.”