The lilac buds are beginning to bloom and the birds have started chirping in the apple trees - it is now spring at Shelburne Museum! May
1 has been the traditional opening day for the Museum, even though we are now a
year-round institution thanks to the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education, and
that date has symbolic and enduring appeal.
This year is no exception. Museum staff are busy preparing the grounds, gardens, buildings and galleries for an exciting season, complete with new, energizing exhibitions!
We are pleased to share Shelburne Museum’s plans for the coming year, these exhibitions showcase the strength and depth of the institution’s acclaimed collections, as well as our goal of bringing meaningful projects that explore American art and culture to the community. Each exhibition exemplifies Shelburne Museum’s mission of provoking collective curiosity.
Shelburne Museum’s education staff have developed programs based on the themes of the upcoming exhibitions that engage learners of all ages with interactive activities, thought provoking lectures, and workshops in a variety of media. In addition, for adults, nationally-known speakers will lead symposia on art history, craft, historic preservation, and topics that extend and amplify exhibition themes.
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We are pleased to share Shelburne Museum’s plans for the coming year, these exhibitions showcase the strength and depth of the institution’s acclaimed collections, as well as our goal of bringing meaningful projects that explore American art and culture to the community. Each exhibition exemplifies Shelburne Museum’s mission of provoking collective curiosity.
Shelburne Museum’s education staff have developed programs based on the themes of the upcoming exhibitions that engage learners of all ages with interactive activities, thought provoking lectures, and workshops in a variety of media. In addition, for adults, nationally-known speakers will lead symposia on art history, craft, historic preservation, and topics that extend and amplify exhibition themes.
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32 Degrees: The Art of Winter
January 23–May 30, 2016
32 Degrees:The Art of Winter features winter-inspired works of art in an array of media, from the late nineteenth century to present day. This multifaceted, interactive exhibition explores the complexities of snow and ice. Artworks ranging from Claude Monet’s famous Grainstacks to contemporary photography, sound pieces, digital art, games, and ephemeral sculptures are located both inside the gallery space and on the Museum grounds. Curator Carolyn Bauer actively sought out international and contemporary artists while digging deep into the rich collections of Shelburne Museum to explore themes of aesthetics, ephemerality, nostalgia, and climate change.
32 Degrees:The Art of Winter features winter-inspired works of art in an array of media, from the late nineteenth century to present day. This multifaceted, interactive exhibition explores the complexities of snow and ice. Artworks ranging from Claude Monet’s famous Grainstacks to contemporary photography, sound pieces, digital art, games, and ephemeral sculptures are located both inside the gallery space and on the Museum grounds. Curator Carolyn Bauer actively sought out international and contemporary artists while digging deep into the rich collections of Shelburne Museum to explore themes of aesthetics, ephemerality, nostalgia, and climate change.
Birds of a Feather: Shelburne Museum’s Decoy Collection
November 21, 2015–June 19, 2016
Culled from the Museum’s renowned decoy collection,this exhibition features eighty decoys by such master artisans as A. Elmer
Crowell, Charles “Shang” Wheeler, Albert Laing, and Lemuel T. and Samuel Ward.
The exhibition includes thirteen different bird species, ranging from black
ducks and Canada geese, to swans, herons, and shorebirds. Operating under the
principle that “birds of a feather flock together,” decoys are designed to lure
game birds into gunning range by physically mimicking waterfowl in safe
waters. Carvers of decoys are often hunters themselves, but they are no
less naturalists and admirers of the beauty and diversity of their prey.
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| Dominique Ehrmann, Come and Follow Me, 2010. Cotton, metal, beads, buttons, tulle, and rayon, 72 x 96 x 18 in. Courtesy of the artist. Photography by Lucien Lisabelle. |
Dominique Ehrmann: Once Upon a Quilt
May 1–October 31, 2016
This exhibition features the imaginative works of contemporary Quebec-based fiber artist Dominique Ehrmann. Her innovative quilting styles and techniques, along with her appealing stories, will engage audiences of all ages. Works included in the exhibition include 3-D quilts and an outdoor kinetic sculpture.
This exhibition features the imaginative works of contemporary Quebec-based fiber artist Dominique Ehrmann. Her innovative quilting styles and techniques, along with her appealing stories, will engage audiences of all ages. Works included in the exhibition include 3-D quilts and an outdoor kinetic sculpture.
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| George Sherwood, Memory of Water, 2014. Stainless steel, 78 x 78 x 78 in. © George Sherwood. |
Wind, Waves and Light: Kinetic Sculpture by George Sherwood
May 1-October 31, 2016
Sherwood’ssculptures explore the aesthetic systems of space, time, and the dynamic
relationships of objects in motion. The choreography of each piece is governed
by a set of basic movements, facilitated by an arrangement of rotating joints
and aerodynamic surfaces. Made of stainless steel and ranging in scale and
size, the reflective qualities of this material integrate the sculpture into
its space and animate the surroundings. Wind speed and direction, shades of
light, time of day, precipitation, and seasonal color transform the qualities
of light and movement. According to Sherwood, “Each sculpture is a
three-dimensional painting of shifting light, drawing all the colors of
the environment, pulling down the sky, drawing up the earth and gathering
everything in between.”
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| Anna Mary Robertson (“Grandma”) Moses (1860-1961), The Old Checkered House, 1853, 1944. Oil on pressed wood, 20 3/4 x 28 in. Copyright © 2016 Grandma Moses Properties Co, New York. Bennington Museum, Museum Purchase. 2000.2. |
Grandma Moses: American Modern
June
18–October 30, 2016
Grandma Moses: AmericanModern reexamines the works of beloved American artist Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860–1961), reasserting her and her paintings within the context of mid-century American culture and modernist art. This traveling exhibition counters Moses’s marginalization as a “folk” artist or a pop culture phenomenon through close analyses of her paintings and techniques and by presenting her works alongside her fellow “folk” and modernist contemporaries. Co-organized by Shelburne Museum and the Bennington Museum.
Grandma Moses: AmericanModern reexamines the works of beloved American artist Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses (1860–1961), reasserting her and her paintings within the context of mid-century American culture and modernist art. This traveling exhibition counters Moses’s marginalization as a “folk” artist or a pop culture phenomenon through close analyses of her paintings and techniques and by presenting her works alongside her fellow “folk” and modernist contemporaries. Co-organized by Shelburne Museum and the Bennington Museum.
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| Russell Morgan and Company Engravers and Printers, Gorilla and Woman, 1883. Wood-cut print on paper, 90 x 42 in. Collection of Shelburne Museum, gift of Harold and Gladys Degree. 1991-18.3. Photography by Andy Duback. |
Papering the Town: Circus Posters in America
July 9–January 22, 2016
During the heyday of the American circus, cities and towns across the country were wallpapered with thousands of brightly colored posters weeks in advance of a show’s arrival. Adopting a “go big or go home” attitude, American circuses advertised through posters that were the “mass media” of their day, both in terms of their volume and their size. This exhibition features some of the largest circus posters in Shelburne Museum’s collection. Several posters, including Mr. Sage and The Two Giraffes Looking over a Billboard, have rarely been exhibited because of their immense size. One section of the exhibition includes the Colchester circus posters, discovered underneath the siding on a home in Colchester, Vermont in 1991.
During the heyday of the American circus, cities and towns across the country were wallpapered with thousands of brightly colored posters weeks in advance of a show’s arrival. Adopting a “go big or go home” attitude, American circuses advertised through posters that were the “mass media” of their day, both in terms of their volume and their size. This exhibition features some of the largest circus posters in Shelburne Museum’s collection. Several posters, including Mr. Sage and The Two Giraffes Looking over a Billboard, have rarely been exhibited because of their immense size. One section of the exhibition includes the Colchester circus posters, discovered underneath the siding on a home in Colchester, Vermont in 1991.
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| The Routhier Collection. Photography by Andy Duback. |
Hard-Edge Cool: The Routhier Collection of Mid-Century Prints
November
19, 2016–January 22, 2017
Jason and Dana Routhier, two young art collectors from Northfield, Vermont, have judiciously amassed an extensive and thoughtful collection of mid-twentieth-century prints. The Routhier collection includes the works of more than forty-five acclaimed artists from around the world, providing a comprehensive survey of many of the artistic movements and styles developed during this period, particularly Concrete Art and Op Art. Some of the artists featured in the exhibition include Jean Arp, Max Bill, Wassily Kandinsky, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, and Frank Stella.
Jason and Dana Routhier, two young art collectors from Northfield, Vermont, have judiciously amassed an extensive and thoughtful collection of mid-twentieth-century prints. The Routhier collection includes the works of more than forty-five acclaimed artists from around the world, providing a comprehensive survey of many of the artistic movements and styles developed during this period, particularly Concrete Art and Op Art. Some of the artists featured in the exhibition include Jean Arp, Max Bill, Wassily Kandinsky, Ellsworth Kelly, Sol LeWitt, and Frank Stella.
