All that Glitters . . . Vermont’s Mineral Wealth
Grossular garnet (Vermont State gem), 9 mm, on diopside, collected by Roger Jones in the 1950s in the Lowell Quarry, Orleans County, Vermont. Collection of Kenneth Carlsen. Photograph by Jeff Scovil
Participating Artists:
Ashley Eliza Williams, Colin Brant, Daniel Richmond, David Epstein, Jackie Sage Longe-Global Pathways Jewelry, Gregory Scheckler, Heather Milne Ritchie, Ilana Halperin, Karin Stack, Katie Cleaver, Ken Rush, Kerry O. Furlani, Kirsten Hoving, Lauren Levato Coyne, Nicholas Schneider, Paul Katz, Peter Hoffmeister, Rhonda Ratray, Ross Sheehan, Stanton Sears, Stephan Fowlkes, Tom Leytham, Virginia Bryant, Weston Lambert
Exhibition and Closed Bid Auction benefiting Bennington Museum and Regional Artists
November 24 through December 31 (bidding ends on December 19)
Parmelee and Limric Galleries
“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. This year’s Festival exhibition will be a prelude to next year’s major summer/fall exhibition Vermont Rocks!, which 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, and quarrying/mining was long one of the state’s leading non-agricultural industries. For this year’s Festival exhibit, I am inviting contemporary artists from our region to contribute work that uses Vermont rocks and minerals as subject and/or medium. Examples might include, but are not limited to, paintings and photographs of old quarries or visually compelling geologic structures, sculptures made from Vermont rocks, jewelry incorporating Vermont gems or non-precious stones, or more conceptual work that deals with social or abstract issues, such as explorations of geologic time or the health and environmental issues associated with mineral extraction from our landscape.
How does a Closed-Bid Auction work?
The Auction: Bids placed on items in this auction will only be seen by Museum staff on the bid opening date. The opening bid on each piece will be decided by the artist. Each artist will receive 50% of their work’s sale price.
Closed-Bid Auction: The Closed-Bid Auction of exhibited artwork will open at 10 am on November 24, 2023 and close at 4 pm on December 19, 2023. Each bidder must fill out a bid card, which will be dated and sealed in an envelope and placed in the secure receptacle provided at the entrance to the exhibit, or an online bid form. By signing the bid-card or placing a bid online the bidder is entering into a legally binding contract to purchase the work of art should he/she be the winner.
After the bidding closes, the person with the highest bid for each work of art will be declared the winner and be contacted for payment and to arrange a pick-up time by January 15, 2022, at the latest. In the event of a tie the bid placed first will be the winner. To avoid a tie, we urge people to bid an odd amount such as $501.50 rather than $500.00.
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