Emma Takes New England

Emma Taylor McCallum | Oct. 20, 2026

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The air was chilly in Vermont but the leaves were bright. I flew into Boston for fall break along with a troupe of other Warren Wilson students before I drove back up to my house in Stowe, Vermont. My break was filled with all the things one must do during October in New England: driving up dirt roads to see the foliage, outdoor charcuterie at art openings, sweet reunion dinners with friends, and contra at my home dance— all things that I have so much more appreciation for now that I have spent some time away.

Dancers at the Montpelier Contra Dance, Montpelier Vt. Oct. 18, 2026. (courtesy of Taylor McCallum)

Maple trees lose their brightly colored leaves in front of a white farmhouse in Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

A ladybug rests on the side of an old barn Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

Community members gather around James Payne’s sculpture titled “Opposition” at Art at the Kent’s 2026 exhibition, Throughlines, Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The Vermont apple pie table at Art at the Kent’s 2026 exhibition, Throughlines, Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

Charcuterie at Art at the Kent’s 2026 exhibition, Throughlines, Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The Old West Church against the fall foliage in Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The back of the Old West Church against the fall foliage in Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The view over Lake Elmore, Elmore Vt. on Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

A narrow colorful halfway covered with a college of wallpaper Art at the Kent’s 2026 exhibition, Throughlines, Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

Kathleen Fleming’s painting “Arising” hangs above a fireplace at Art at the Kent’s 2026 exhibition, Throughlines, Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The view through an antique window during Art at the Kent’s 2026 exhibition, Throughlines, Calais Vt. Oct. 11, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

Emma Taylor McCallum on the street in Copley Square Boston, Mass. on Oct. 10, 2026. (Courtesy of Liam Taylor McCallum)

A tea tray at The Courtyard Tea Room Boston Public Library, Boston Mass. on Oct. 10, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The arches of the Boston Public Library courtyard, Boston Mass. on Oct. 10, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

One of the stone lions in the Boston Public Library stairwell, Boston Mass. on Oct. 10, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)

The reflections of Solena Davidson Carroll and Emma Taylor McCallum in the window over a view of the early morning tarmac at the Asheville Regional Airport. Asheville, N.C. on Oct. 10, 2026. (Echo/Emma Taylor McCallum)