At the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center: Best of “Springs, Sprockets & Pulleys,” March 17 to Sept. 24. Installation by pack-rat extraordinaire, artist, and inventor Steve Gerberich, who transforms everyday objects into elaborate blinking, whirling, humming, buzzing sculptures.
Laumeister Art Center
44 Gypsy Lane, Bennington
10a to 5p, Mon–Sun (Closed Mon)
http://www.artcenter.svc.edu, 802 442-7158
Now: Native American Art and Artifacts. Native American and Southwestern artwork, which is the product of more than three decades of serious collecting more than 300 paintings, 50 bronzes, 50 Hopi Kachinas, 85 hand-woven Navajo rugs, and numerous pieces of pottery, jewelry and baskets. Currently: The Eric Sloane Collection. Sloane’s love of clouds, weather and structures built by settlers gives viewers a look at Americana through the artist’s eyes—the eyes of a traveler of this country from the 1920s into the 1980s. Now: The Wildlife and Natural Collection. This extensive exhibition includes artists such as Manfred Schatz, Carl Brenders, Bob Kuhn, Richard Schmid, Huihan Liu, and Charles Frace. Currently: The Floyd Scholz Carving Collection. Thirteen bird carvings by master carver Floyd Scholz. Currently: Covered Bridge Museum. Self-guided audio tour, complete with collectors’ map, history, and guided exploration of each bridge, trivia, collection of postcards, bookmark and sticker to support the maintenance of covered bridges.
Bennington Museum
75 Main St., Route 9, Bennington
10a to 5p (Closed Wed)
http://www.benningtonmuseum.org, 802 477-1571 ext. 200
Thru June 13: Bennington Collects. The urge to collect is one of human nature’s most natural instincts. Bennington Collects brings together an eclectic selection of collections that have been compiled by residents of the greater Bennington area. This exhibit offers a glimpse into the life and personality of their collectors and, in turn, into a small facet of the local community. Now: Magic and Mystery: Works by Gayleen Aiken and Duane Michals. The pairing of these two artists seeks to draw out parallels and resonances between their works who both forged their distinctive artistic voices during the second half of the 20th century. Thru May 28: Enthusiasms: Personal Paintings by Jessica Park. Park sees the world through high definition rose-colored glasses. A native of Williamstown, Mass., Park is an internationally acclaimed artist on the autism spectrum. Her paintings combine extreme technical proficiency with a transcendent, visionary imagination. June 30–Nov 4: Crash to Creativity: The New Deal in Vermont sheds light on an important, under-studied aspect of our state’s history, focusing on the role of many government sponsored New Deal projects in fostering a culture of creativity and innovation in the Green Mountains, 1933–1943. Opening: July 13, 5:30 to 7:30p. Enjoy speaking with the curators of each exhibition. Food and drink. Call for reservations. Ongoing: The permanent collections of the Bennington Museum include Grandma Moses, Bennington Modernism, Gilded Age Vermont, Grandma Moses Schoolhouse, Early Vermont Gallery, Center Gallery’s fine and decorative art, Church Gallery’s cabinet of curiosities, Sloan Gallery’s Battle of Bennington, and the Bennington Pottery Gallery.
Brattleboro Museum & Art Center
10 Vernon St., Brattleboro
11a to 5p (Closed Tues)
http://www.brattleboromuseum.org, 802 257-0124
Thru Oct 8: Best of Springs, Sprockets & Pulleys. BMAC is delighted to bring to Brattleboro the most recent installation by pack-rat extraordinaire, artist, and inventor Steve Gerberich, who transforms everyday objects into elaborate blinking, whirling, humming, buzzing sculptures. Thru June 17: 3D Color: Gloria Garfinkel. There is something expansive and generous about an artist who is willing to include a place for the viewer in the work. No longer a detached observer, you feel empowered to create alongside the artist. In her “Flip & Turn” and “Seven Circles” wall reliefs, Garfinkel focuses on our changing perception of colors in relationship to one another. Thru June 17: Selections from 100 Views Along the Road, a series of elegant black-and-white watercolors of American scenes that Alfred Leslie made 1981–1983. Thru June 17: Hereandafter: Susan von Glahn Calabria. For more than a decade, Susan von Glahn Calabria created immersive activity spaces as well as art exhibitions at BMAC. Throughout her tenure as the museum’s Education Curator, she maintained a painting studio in her home. She meticulously renders paintings on paper in gouache. Her mastery of this unforgiving medium is astonishing. Thru June 17: Bottle in the River: Richard Klein. Glass is a material intimately connected with the ways in which humans experience the world. Perhaps because it is so common, or because it is usually transparent, we often don’t notice its presence or how it affects our senses. It is a material separating us from, and opening us to, the world—in our homes, cars, and offices, on computers, tablets, and cell phones. Thru June 17: We Walk in the Shadows: Gowri Savoor. Our sense of place is linked to our sense of belonging. Close your eyes for a moment and think about a favorite place from childhood. May 31: Artist Talk: Richard Klein, 7p. June 6: 400 Miles Down the Connecticut River. June 9: Studio Tour and Party: Johnny Swing, 4–6p.
The Clark Art Institute
225 South St., Williamstown, Mass
10a to 5p Tuesday–Sunday
http://www.clarkart.edu, 413 458-2303
June 9–Sept 3: Women Artists in Paris, 1850–1900. Showcasing the remarkable artistic production of women artists working in Paris during the latter half of the 19th century. This exhibit features the breadth and strength of their achievements and features paintings created by women of varied nationalities and fame. From the well known Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt and Rosa Bonheur, to the less recognizable Kitty Kielland, Louise Breslau and Anna Ancher. June 9–Sept 16: The Art of Iron. This exhibit presents 36 unique objects in an installation celebrating the craft and beauty of iron creations. These pieces tell a story of pre-industrial times and highlights the importance of iron in our shared past.
Hall Art Foundation
551 VT Route 106, Reading
http://www.hallartfoundation.org, 802 952 1056
Thru Nov 25: Hope and Hazard: A Comedy of Eros. Featuring the works of 65 artists including more than 80 paintings, photographs, works on paper and sculptures. In this fresh and provocative show, curator Eric Fischl illustrates the absurd extremes associated with romantic and sexual love. Desire, passion, vulnerability, disappointment, pleasure and torment are expressed as a Greek or Shakespearian comedy—epic and tragic, hopeful and hazardous. Opening May: English Sculptors in New England. Including works by world-renowned British artists David Annesley, Richard Deacon, Nigel Hall, Gary Hume, Richard Long and Marc Quinn. May 12–Nov 25: The Solace of Amnesia. Twenty-five artists with more than 30 paintings, photography, works on paper and sculptures. Defined as a craving to forget as a form of comfort and self-medication, this exhibit recognizes that the planet is in an age of profound environmental transformation and we find ourselves estranged and alienated from the ecosystems in which we evolved. Thru Nov 25: Made in Vermont exhibit.
Shelburne Museum
6000 Shelburne Road, Shelburne
http://www.shelburnemuseum.org, 802 985-3346
Thru June 3: Puppets: World on a String. This exhibit provides an introductory survey to the art of puppets, presenting a range of historical to contemporary works in a variety of mediums and forms. This immersive exhibition will transport visitors into a magical realm where animals speak, shadows come alive, and politicians face their harshest critics. Storytelling and the visual arts collide in this exciting exhibition featuring multimedia works of art by local and national artists. Thru Aug 26: In the Garden. Eighty percent of Earth’s plants produce eye-catching, fragrant flowers to attract inspects, which in turn act as pollinators. Featuring fine art, textiles, jewelry and the bodies of actual insects, this exhibition explores the various ways flowers and bugs have captivated artists’ imaginations over the last five centuries. Thru Oct 31: Crystal Cawley. Merging materials and ideas ranging from collections of old greeting cards and puzzle pieces to discarded library books and worn household textiles, drawing our attention to objects that might otherwise be overlooked. Thru Oct 31: Bench Space. A site-specific exhibit celebrating contemporary furniture designers’ and artists’ inspirations and interpretations of the world around them. June 23–Oct 21: Playing Cowboy: America’s Wild West Shows. Before movie legends like John Wayne galloped across the silver screen, real cowboys and cowgirls entertained audiences in live dramatic Wild West shows.
Southern Vermont Arts Center, Yester House Gallery
West Road, Manchester
10a to 5p Tues–Sat, noon to 5p Sun
http://www.svac.org, 802 362-2522, 362-1405
Thru May 28: Art from the Schools. Thru June 24: Timothy Greenfield Sanders “Identity,” with opening reception May 3, 5 to 7p. Established in 1922, the Southern Vermont Arts Center provides cultural, educational, and creative opportunities for all ages. With a rotating calendar of member and guest exhibitions, the largest sculpture park in Vermont, and a busy schedule of dynamic classes for all ages, the Southern Vermont Arts Center has something for everyone. Visitors can explore the 28-room Yester House Gallery, built in 1917, home to diverse exhibitions featuring many mediums by our member artists. Across the courtyard, the contemporary Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum offers one of the East Coast’s finest exhibition spaces outside a major city and boasts more than 800 pieces of 19th- and 20th-century art, including the world’s largest collection of works by Luigi Lucioni. A wide range of workshops and ongoing programs are offered year-round on campus in the Hay Madeira Education Center Studios. Programming is created for all ages and all skill levels.
Burlington Gothic, (Pie in the Sky) c. 1937
Ronald Slayton (1910–1992)
Oil on canvas 27.5 x 19.5 inches
Crash to Creativity: The New Deal in Vermont
Bennington Museum
75 Main St., Bennington, Vt.
benningtonmuseum.org, 802 447-1571
June 30–Nov 4
Shedding light on an important, under-studied aspect of our state’s history, this exhibit focuses on the role of many government sponsored New Deal projects in fostering a culture of creativity and innovation in the Green Mountains, 1933–1943. The many artists, writers, and civil workers whose products were funded through the New Deal helped to document our state’s history, record its conditions during the Depression and attendant recovery, and built infrastructure that continues to benefit us today. The exhibition features paintings by Ronald Slayton, Francis Colburn, and Wallace Weir Fahnestock; photographs and furniture from Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) cabins; and archival documentation—letters, transcriptions, and audio recordings—of New Deal projects created in Vermont by the Federal Writers Project.
