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.  Visible in Vermont: Our Stories Our Voices is presented by The Root Social Justice Center’s project “I Am Vermont Too” and the Vermont Council on the Humanities.

10:00 – 11:30 Reception and Panel Discussion for Visible in Vermont: Our Stories, Our Voices
View the exhibit from 10:00 – 10:30, 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 some of the participants whose work is in the exhibition.

2:00 – 4:00 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. Appropriate for high school and adult audiences.

Visible in Vermont: Our Stories, Our Voices is supported by a grant from   

Vermont Art Exchange Art Bus will be on site offering art-making activities.

AND THERE IS MORE!

In the Regional Artists Gallery is the meticulous work of print maker Asa Cheffetz. His wood engravings served as printing plates and from those came beautiful prints, many of them on view in Asa Cheffetz: Vermont Wood Engravings, September 21 through December 30. Born in Buffalo, NY in 1896, he lived most of his life in Massachusetts, and produced most of his highly detailed wood engravings in the 1930’s and 40’s. 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.

In the Works on Paper Gallery from September 14 through December 30, we are pleased to present Visible in Vermont: Our Stories, Our Voices.  This multi-generational photo and story exhibit highlights the experiences of people of color living and going to school in Vermont. The project is a medium for People of Color (POC) to tell our own stories and convey the impact of racism on our lives.  The photos in this exhibit represent self-identified individuals of color living and going to school in Vermont. They highlight the intersectionality of the communities of color and their many stories. The quotes in the pictures are terms that have been conveyed 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. The project was unveiled at the Vermont State House on Black Lives Matter Day February 9th, 2017, and exhibited during the month of February.

In the Early Vermont Gallery explore the installation of Miniatures and Small Portraits from the Museum’s collection dating back to the American Revolution. Featured in this display is a framed tintype of a painting of Lt. Jonathan Holton, a soldier in the Battle of Bennington. A Lieutenant of the Nichols Regiment, Holton was wounded at Bennington on August 16, 1777. His wound is visible in the portrait also on view.

Stepping into the Museum, art and history are all around, and “creative collisions” can be found around almost every corner. Explore the permanent exhibitions such as Grandma Moses, now featuring paintings never before on view, Gilded Age Vermont, the Battle of Bennington Gallery, Bennington Modernism, and one of the newer galleries Early Vermont. This gallery showcases over 85 major pieces and smaller items from the Museum’s extensive historical collection of over 30,000 objects.

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.

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.