Picturing Shelburne Museum

With our walking paths, gardens, and historic buildings all set on 45 acres, Shelburne Museum is an ideal backdrop for the amateur--or more experienced--photographer.



Museum guide Roseann Petrie meets visitors everyday who come from far and wide, many of them with a camera in tow. She has a special connection to photography as an art form.
"Ten years ago," she explains, "I quit smoking and started walking."
She began taking hours-long hikes that inspired her to see the world in a different way. Natural light, textures, and colors jumped out at her, and she took up photography to capture these beautiful new discoveries. Eventually she went professional, founding a self-titled studio that specializes in portraiture and fine art photography.



Working at Shelburne Museum has influenced and inspired Roseann's art. She loves photographing historic buildings because of the reflection of light on the glass and the lines of the old architecture. Shelburne Museum buildings, then, often inspire her artistic work, and last year she participated in exhibition of local artists that took place on the grounds. Roseann encourages everyone to give photography a try.

"Anyone can take a picture," she says, "but it takes practice...to tell a story without words." What better place to practice than Shelburne Museum?  

Roseann's Top 5 Places to Photograph at Shelburne Museum:

#1: Settler's House and Barn, for the atmosphere and lighting.

#2: Dutton House for the same reasons as above, as well as the distorted panes of glass in the window, which create an impressionistic effect when you look through them.

#3: Kalkin House for its wonderful shadows and refections. There is also an interesting point of view from the second floor looking down.

#4: The Ticonderoga--there is a great point of view from the upper deck, warm light, great textures, mirrored reflections and amazing architectural design.

#5: The Blacksmith Shop. The light from the fire and filtered light from the smoke sets a dramatic atmosphere, the blacksmith at work makes a great human study.

Roseann also recommends the floral and vegetable gardens, fruit trees, the duck pond, and, of course, the covered bridge. 

"The museum," she emphasizes,  "kicks a photographer's senses into overdrive."

All images courtesy of Roseann Petrie

Blacksmiths of Yesterday and Today

60.6-5; Historical Photograph of Blacksmith

I was busy combing through the records the other day when I stumbled upon this interesting historical photograph! It depicts a nineteenth century blacksmith in his shop. This guy caught my eye because to me, he looked quite familiar. It didn't take me long to figure out who he reminded me of either...we've got live blacksmiths here at the museum all the time!

The blacksmith shop is one of our live demonstration exhibits; sometimes on my midday strolls I like to pop in and see what they're making. You can even buy some of their amazing works at the Museum Store (hooks and scrolls, etc.).

Beautiful day in the neighborhood...

When I went to the Blacksmith Shop the other day, I found just whom I was looking for--longtime visitor guide and blacksmith, Lyn Lang!

Lyn explains a bit about blacksmithing to some visitors (including me!)

I told Lyn about the photograph I found in the collection, because I think the resemblance is quite uncanny. I do have to say that Lyn is much friendlier than the guy in the historical photograph!

See what I mean? Shelburne Museum, past and present!

That afternoon, Lyn was busy working on some small scrolls. Here's a glimpse at some of the tools and supplies he was working with:

Throughout the rest of this summer, Lyn will work on a beautiful and intricate scroll design that will go in the Settler's Cabin--that's another one of our demonstration exhibits. He showed me the plans as well...it's going to be fantastic! I'll be making some more posts in the coming weeks about his progress and also some interesting facts and tips about blacksmithing.

The Blacksmith Shop here at the museum is open every day, starting at noon. We have many other very talented blacksmiths who work here also--be sure to stop in and say hello!

With a little help from my friends

At the recent American Institute for Conservation's annual meeting, I participated in a panel discussion, specifically to talk about how I, as an objects conservator, care for Shelburne's textile collections while two other conservators, a paintings conservator and an objects conservator who works primarily on African art and artifacts made of many different materials, both in private practice, discussed their approaches to the conservation of textiles.

Backing up a bit, my title is "objects conservator" which means that I work on three-dimensional works of art and artifacts. In my graduate school work at the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum program in art conservation, I cycled through courses focused on the science, history, and conservation of the world of object and material types: paper, photographs, textiles, paintings, wood and furniture, metals, leather and other organic materials, ceramics, stone, glass....and at Shelburne the collections demand that I draw on the full range of what I was taught. But really, there's more to all of this than anyone could learn in just three years of graduate school, and so I continually build on that body of knowledge by reading, going to conferences, attending workshops, and talking to colleagues so that I can do my job in the most responsible manner possible.

The panel discussion is summarized on the American Institute for Conservation's blog, and mostly I talked about the various kinds of collaborations I enter into with conservators who specialize in textiles, as well as volunteers, in order to care for the museum's quilts, hooked rugs, clothing, and upholstered furniture collections.

Recently, though, I entered into a new kind of collaboration, one with an artist/designer, the results of which are on view in In Fashion.

The hats in In Fashion were a whole lot of fun to work with. The pieces in the show from Shelburne's collection run the gammut of materials: straw, glass, plastic, ostrich feathers, reed, silk...even pipe cleaners. I mended broken feathers and made replica gems to replace missing ones. And as fabulous as the pieces from our own collection are, the pieces made by Don Marshall on loan from designer Susan van der Linde are fantastic, in that mythical Pan's Labyrinth kind of way. How were designer/preparator Doug Oaks and I going to show off these amazing but incredibly fragile works of art off to their best advantage?

Hat by Don Marshall being test fit to the mount in the conservation lab

Fortunately Susan van der Linde had already come up with a marvelously elegant solution for her own hats. Designed by the architecture firm Bade Stageberg Cox, the mounts that Susan uses in her own showroom were exactly the kind of solution we were looking for. Described as a surrealist twist on the milliner's head mold, the mounts are made of intersecting pieces of painted plywood. Although these "heads" are smaller than a human head, their design offered opportunities.

Susan van der Linde's mounts with polyethylene foam wedges covered in surgical stockinette support this hat by François on a jaunty tilt

I saw that, when necessary, I could slot in supporting fabric covered wedges into her mount's design for Shelburne's 19th and early 20th century hats in the exhibition. The green silk and reed calash was especially fun. For this mount I built a variation of a storage mount used for this kind of hat at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston that would slot on to Susan van der Linde's mount.

The modified wedge for the calash as it was being developed

So, thanks, Susan, for allowing us to use your mounts for the show. And thanks also to my colleagues for their willingness to help me think through some of the issues posed by the collections at Shelburne Museum.

Passport to Learning: Lessons Learned

Here in the Education Department we just finished the spring session of Passport to Learning, Shelburne Museum’s school program. Over 4,000 children explored the Museum over the course of five weeks. In fact we just placed an order for 12,000 more of the Passport students from kindergarten to eighth grade carry as they journey around the grounds, collecting stamps and stories along the way. Angela and I (Paige) are brand new education fellows at the Museum and we wanted to get the inside scoop on what it’s like to be a Passport to Learning instructor.


Angela Visits a Veteran Passport Educator

Last week I interviewed some of our veteran Passport educators who have been working with the program for several sessions. Just like most of the schoolkids who visit the museum, I made a beeline for one of our most popular workshops: “You Be the Judge” at the Castleton Jail. The two-cell jail was only used for one-night stays before inhabitants were transported to Rutland to stand trial for their crime. I spoke with Fran Carlson, a Passport guide who was leading the workshop there.

“As an educator,” she described, “the need for flexibility is very, very high.” Her lesson plans vary according to the age of participants—kindergarteners crowd into the jail and use visual cues to discover, for example, that it was not used for long-term sentences. Just that day, she told me, a six year-old had astutely noticed that the ceilings were lower in the cells than outside them, where a guard might have sat. Older students participate in a workshop in which they role-play being the prosecution and defense in a small trial. Their classmates are the jury, deciding whether the defendant will “GO TO RUTLAND TO STAND TRIAL” or “BE RELEASED FROM JAIL.”



Fran explained that she enjoys responding to the students’ needs, whether that involves “slowing them down and giving them a nugget of historical knowledge” or “doing a complete, fun, and interactive activity.” She was about to tell me more, but just then three second grade girls ran past us. “It’s a jaaaaaaaaaaaaail!,” one of them yelped, and I knew that it was time for Fran to go.


The New Generation of Passport Guides with Paige

While seasoned Passport to Learning guides reflected on another successful session, there were several new guides who took this opportunity to grow as teachers – and as people. Caroline Woodward quickly jumped into active life of the museum shortly after moving to Shelburne this past year. When asked how she felt about her time teaching in the program she quickly replied, “It’s a dream job. We do it for the love of teaching and learning.”

Over the last couple of weeks, Woodward has taken a shine to the Pleissner gallery workshop, as it allows children to look closer at the work of Ogden Pleissner and then write a postcard as if they were visiting the places depicted in the paintings. To Woodward the activity is so important in getting the children to slow down and look long enough to start asking questions. “[Children] look for what emotions are trying to be evoked; and they now have a chance to become engaged with the artwork – I never got to get that as a kid.”



While Woodward has enjoyed her time teaching the large population of schoolchildren in these past few months, she also commented on how the world of the museum has changed her life. During one of the rare slow days, Woodward started a conversation with Pat Alvarez, one of the museum’s tour guides. Woodward lent Alvarez a book of poetry, and a couple of days later Alvarez returned the favor by bringing in a brand new edition of the poet’s works. Woodward was so touched by Alvarez’s kindness. Alvarez also showed Woodward a quote that she held dear – a quote by Louisine Havemeyer to her daughter Electra Havemeyer Webb, who founded Shelburne Museum. Woodward loved it so much she keeps a laminated copy as a reminder of her mission as a Passport to Learning Guide and as a lover of life: “Children, remember how blessed you are and if the opportunity ever offers, equalize the sum of human happiness and share the sunshine that you have inherited.”

Passport to Learning will resume its programming for the fall beginning September 26^th and will run until October 14^th.


Did you know?

During the Passport to Learning program, the Museum Store sees a curious influx in sales for rock candy, giant Pixie Sticks, and stuffed animals.

What's In Fashion at Shelburne Museum?

With the opening of In Fashion just around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to explore the varied fashion sensibilities of the Shelburne Museum staff. We all admire haute couture and celebrate the high styles of 1690-2011 in the upcoming Webb Gallery exhibit, but what goes on behind the scenes? Here's your inside look at the fashions of the people who keep the museum running.

Curator of Design Arts, Kory Rogers, loves his plaid and gingham. He tries to maintain a balance between comfort and class during his busy days at the office.

Education fellow Angela Pratt is queen of all things "clean and classic." Alice, one of our trusty guides, likes adding a little pizazz to her guide uniform with fashionable, bold eyeglasses. She purchased these frames with a little help from her friends and opthamologist.

Ben Phelps's work fashion is inspired by all of the delicious food in Shelburne Museum's Cafe. He has to wear his uniform when preparing and serving food, but always accessorizes his look with a smile.

Narda Carlson, our technology administrator, likes to wear bold colors that reflect her bubbling personality. This particular ensemble was picked up at a thrift store!

Practicality and safety dictate Building Care Technician Rob Zimmerman's wardrobe. Steel-toed boots and t-shirts from the museum store are staples in his everyday wear. If you're lucky, you can catch him wearing a large-brim straw hat that protects his fair skin from Vermont's hot sun.

Collections Management fellow Kelsey Adams likes to create fun fashion combinations by pairing different colors and patterns. She is a bargain diva and finds most of her wardrobe wonders at discount and thrift stores.

Keep your eyes peeled for Shelburne Museum's very own fashionistas during your next visit!

The Covered Bridge Circus Saga: Part II

...I hope you haven't forgotten where I left off...

...because it's about time I finish the story of the covered bridge circus! I think you can tell why I was so fascinated by this photograph in the first place; it's a unique view that highlights two important areas of our collection--covered bridges and circus posters. As I analyzed this photo last month, I began to look more closely at the posters pasted on the inner left-hand side of the bridge. Thanks to a little careful zooming and cleaning, here's what I was able to extract:

Can you read what the posters say?

I studied these for awhile, and finally I was able to make out what they advertise! The poster on the left, closest to the viewer, advertises the Walter L. Main Circus. The one on the right announces a specific occurrence of the Walter L. Main Circus in Bellows Falls, Vermont on Wednesday, July 20th. Bellows Falls is just one of the many communities where the Walter L. Main circus performed--their route extensively covered much of New England and the mid-Atlantic.

As I continued to think about this discovery, I decided to look farther into our circus poster collection to see what I could find about Walter L. Main. Turns out, we have some Walter L. Main circus posters here at the museum! (Of course, not the ones you see in the photo but still...) Here are some examples:

3-Ring shows of "Beauty and the Beasts"

The "Main" man himself!

High-Wire artists and trained animal shows!

Speaking of circus posters, however, we've also got a lot of other great examples on display this season. The circus building is just one of our 39 exhibition buildings and it houses posters, figurines, sculptures and even a special exhibit on the circus photography of Elliot Fenander. Come check it out!

I'll leave you with one last perk about the circus building: the working Herschell-Spillman carousel!

During installation week, Monica and I were able to catch Randy, Paul and Greg setting up the carousel one morning. It's certainly a popular attraction! Maybe one of these days I'll have to take a spin...

Welcome to the 2011 Season!

Shelburne Museum welcomes you to come visit during the 2011 season! Fran and I thought we would share with you some of the museum's most hospitable objects --those featuring pineapples. Pineapples have long been a symbol of hospitality and friendship in the Western hemisphere. To welcome you to the 2011 season, here are just a few of the pineapples in our collection!

This Amasa Parker target rifle is featured in Lock, Stock and Barrel: The Terry Tyler Collection of Vermont Firearms. Pay special attention to the patch box of this rifle --there's a pineapple detail on top!

This folk art sculpture features grapes, leaves, pears, apples, cherries, plums, peaches, a melon, and a PINEAPPLE!

Before the museum acquired this pineapple decoration, it welcomed visitors to a private home. Set on a wooden post at the corner of the home's exterior, this pineapple served as a warm welcome to all of the guests.

Created in New England during the late 19th century, this quilt displays 25 red pineapples with green leaves arranged on a diagonal pattern.

We encourage you to visit during the 2011 season. All are welcome!