For Immediate Release: September 13, 2019
Contact: Susan Strano, Marketing Director
sstrano@benningtonmuseum.org
802-447-1571
Images:
Summer Sabbath, c. 1946
Asa Cheffetz (1896-1965)
Wood engraving on paper, 5 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches (image)
Lost Vermont Images Collection at the Vermont Country Store
Paij Wadley-Bailey July 13, 2016
Courtesy of the Root Social Justice Center
Community Day – Free Admission for Everyone!
On Saturday, September 28 from 10 am to 5 pm admission to the Bennington Museum is FREE for all visitors and the lineup for engagement is outstanding. The day’s events focus on issues of Civil Rights and Diversity in Vermont in connection with Fields of Change: 1960s Vermont, Visible in Vermont: Our Stories, Our Voices, and Bennington Museum’s participation in the 2019 Vermont Reads Program.
From 10:00 to 11:30 am, the Museum hosts a reception and panel discussion for Visible in Vermont: Our Stories, Our Voices. View the exhibition from 10:00 – 10:30 am, then proceed to the Ada Paresky Education Center where Sha’an Mouliert, co-coordinator of the project and exhibition, will monitor a panel discussion with participants whose work is in the exhibition.
In the afternoon, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity presents Vermont Vision for a Multicultural Future. Participants discuss building inclusive and equitable communities. Teaching awareness of Vermont’s economic, education, health, and social welfare sheds light on underrepresented residents and the challenges that communities face when attempting to advocate for all. Participants will receive a free copy of March: Book One, the 2019 Vermont Reads book by John Lewis. This discussion is appropriate for high school and adult audiences
Vermont Arts Exchange Art Bus will be on site offering art-making activities from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm.
AND THERE IS MORE!
In the Regional Artists Gallery, is the meticulous work of Asa Cheffetz in Asa Cheffetz: Vermont Wood Engravings. Born in Buffalo, NY in 1886, he lived most of his life in Massachusetts, and produced most of his highly detailed wood engravings in the 1930s and 40s. Inspired by the Vermont countryside, his landscapes portray his strong affection for the land and his simple yet detailed blends of the hills, sky and water. Expressed in rich blacks and stark whites, negative and positive spaces, he blended the strength, and starkness, of Vermont’s countryside with his own affection for the land. This exhibition is on view through December 30.
In the Works on Paper Gallery, Bennington Museum is pleased to present Visible in Vermont: Our Stories, Our Voices. (September 14 – December 30) This multi-generational photo and story exhibition highlights the experiences of people of color living and going to school in Vermont. The project is a medium for people of color to tell their own stories and convey the impact of racism on their lives. The photos highlight the intersectionality of the communities of color and their many stories. The quotes in the pictures are terms that have been conveyed to the individuals since living in Vermont or are responses to terms, questions or statements made towards People of Color that undermine them as a people and perpetuate racial stereotypes. This exhibition is presented by The Root Social Justice Center’s project “I Am Vermont Too” and the Vermont Council on the Humanities.
Located in the Sloane Gallery at Bennington Museum is the original bronze cannon that was captured by American forces in the Battle of Bennington. Weighing only 213 pounds, it was well-suited for mobile campaigns as it could be transported on a carriage hitched to a single horse across rugged terrain. While the cannon is amazing to look at, local woodworker Charles Dewey, a descendant of the Dewey family who fought at the Battle of Bennington in 1777, thought it would be great to provide visitors the ability to get up close and engage with an historically accurate reproduction of both the cannon and the carriage which carried it. History You Can Touch! Now in the gallery.
And finally, don’t forget to get your deep discounts in the Museum Store. Museum members receive 25% discount and Not-Yet-Members, a 15% discount on their entire purchase. So much to do. Plan to spend the day with a picnic lunch on the hillside and a walk on the George Aiken Wildflower Trail.
About the Museum
Bennington Museum is located at 75 Main Street (Route 9), Bennington, in The Shires of Vermont. The Museum is open 10 am to 5 pm daily through October. It is wheelchair accessible. Regular admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and students over 18. Admission is never charged for younger students, museum members, or to visit the museum shop. Visit the museum’s website www.benningtonmuseum.org or call 802-447-1571 for more information.
Bennington Museum is a member of ArtCountry, a consortium of notable art and performance destinations in the scenic northern Berkshires of Massachusetts and southern Green Mountains of Vermont, including The Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art , Williamstown Theatre Festival (20 minutes away); and MASS MoCA (25minutes away). Visit ArtCountry.org for more information on these five great cultural centers.