Vermont Rocks!
June 20 – November 10

“The importance of developing the sources of mineral wealth has long been appreciated. . . “

So begins Charles Baker Adam’s introduction to the First Annual Report on the Geology of the State of Vermont, published in 1845. Vermont Rocks!, Bennington Museum’s major summer/fall exhibition for the year, will explore the historical and cultural significance of Vermont’s “mineral wealth.” Vermont is the only state in the union with three official state rocks: granite, marble, and slate. From the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s quarrying and mining was the state’s leading non-agricultural industry. In addition to our state rocks, often referred to as dimensional stones, which have been used to build monuments and buildings throughout the world, Vermont has also been a leading producer of asbestos and talc (the state mineral) during the mid-1900s and Bennington had a significant iron industry from the late 1700s through the mid-1800s. Topics explored in the exhibition will range from the economic and cultural significance of mining and minerals in our state’s identity to the environmental and human health impacts that the mining has had and continues to have on our state’s landscape and people. These stories will be told through historic and contemporary works of art, by artists including James Hope, Edward Burtynsky, and Jenny Holzer, photographs, archival materials, and material culture. The exhibition will also feature a section of aesthetically and geologically exceptional mineral specimens from throughout the state, including world-class examples of Vermont’s state gem, fire orange grossular garnet from the Belvidere Mountain Quarries in Lowell and Eden Vermont.

*Schorsch-Grossular-on-Diopside featured image