Join Curator of
Bennington Museum
Jamie Franklin
for a Gallery Talk on
Crash to Creativity:
The New Deal In Vermont

Sunday, August 5, 2018
2:00 to 3:30 PM

$5/Bennington Museum Members    $10/Not-Yet-Members
Fee does not include admission to other galleries.

The days were dark as the Stock Market Crash of 1929 took its toll on the country in the early 1930s. It has often been said that the Depression didn’t have much impact in Vermont. “Depression, what Depression?” was the quip. Vermont had always been a hard-scrabble place and the Depression just forced farmers and shop-keepers into a local barter-based economy. But the state of Vermont was not spared. Many of those in the towns, as well as those living by the land, saw their lives crumble before them.

However, 1934-1944 was also a time of immense creativity and innovation in the Green Mountain State. Artists, architects, writers, construction workers, and civil employees, whose work was funded through Federal New Deal programs, helped to document the state’s history, record the conditions of contemporary life during the Depression and recovery, and build infrastructure that continues to benefit us today.

On view at the Bennington Museum from June 30 through November 4, Crash to Creativity: The New Deal in Vermont sheds light on the important, under-studied aspect of Vermont’s history, focusing on the role these many government sponsored New Deal projects.