February 2024

Bennington Museum Monthly

Welcome to February! The Museum is currently preparing for its re-opening in April and our team is hard at work, rehanging galleries, painting, and bringing in new exhibits to make your visit even more enjoyable. We are excited to kick things off with the Annual Student Art Show and a special exhibit by Bennington Project Independence. We can't wait to showcase the amazing work of these talented artists and share it with our visitors. In the meantime, stay warm, stay in touch, and see you soon!

Upcoming Events

Sunday, 3/17

2pm- 3pm

Vermont for the Vermonters

Mercedes de Guardiola will discuss how Vermont’s eugenics movement emerged from the public policies of the nineteenth century and led to state-sanctioned programs of family separation, sterilization, and institutionalization.

This BHS offering is brought to you at no charge with support from Nexus Consulting.

Thursday, 3/28

5pm- 7pm

Grandma Moses Preview Party

Enjoy passed aps, drinks, and explore the new gallery.

Admission is $5/member and $10/not-yet-member. Purchase tickets via the link above.

March 31 Deadline

NBOSS

Now accepting applications for the North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show. Apply today!

April 1 Deadline

Concerts in the Courtyard

Providing paid summer performance opportunities to regional groups. Apply today!

June 1 Deadline

The Student Internship

Providing paid summer learning opportunities for regional highschoolers invested in learning more about the museum field. Apply today!

A Grant for the Trail

Whipstock Hill Preservation Society, Inc., (WHIPS) which has made a number of grants for development of the George Aiken Wildflower Trail at the Museum, was founded about 30 years ago to prevent or limit the damage of a mine proposed by the Wm. E. Dailey Company. The proposed mine was planned for an area in the path of the Bennington Bypass. The mine is on the west side of Whipstock Hill, in the Town of Hoosick.

Although WHIPS could not stop the mine, a financial settlement gave the organization the resources to support land conservation and agricultural easements in the towns of Bennington and Hoosick.

Over the years large grants from WHIPS have supported the conservation easement on 400 acres of what was Fillmore/Fairdale Farms, the SVMC’s purchase of the SVC property, acquisition of what is now the Walloomsac Headwaters Park, boardwalks in the Greenberg Conservancy on Route 7 and other projects.

It has also invested, with the Agricultural Stewardship Association, a non-profit operating in Washington and in Rensselaer counties, a number of agricultural conservation easements as well as development of a walkway along the Hoosac River in Hoosick Falls. WHIPS also fostered transfer of land owned by the VT Agency of Transportation to the Agency of Natural Resources to establish the Whipstock Hill Wildlife Management Areas, one of the few WMAs in southern Vermont. WHIPS is now a private foundation under IRS not-for-profit regulations. It is overseen by a volunteer board of individuals from Bennington and Hoosick.

Bennington Museum is very pleased to be the recipient of a $10,000 WHIPS grant at the start of 2024 which will be used to plant native hardwood trees along the trails. This spring, Pembroke Landscaping will deliver American Hornbeam, Shagbark Hickory, Sycamore, Swamp White Oak, Hackberry, American Beech, Tulip Tree, and Sassafras.

We can't wait for you to admire our new additions. Remember, please email info@benningtonmuseum.org if you would like to be involved in the Trail Crew which meets every Saturday, weather permitting.

Monument Society

We have an exciting line-up of Monument Society events and a few sign-up forms have opened already for April (Troy, NY: CollarWorks, Hart-Cluett, Nighthawks) and May (Hudson, NY: Thomas Cole House, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Swoon.) Check out what we have coming up and sign up sooner rather than later because space is limited.

Monument Society Members (total of 2 people) are invited to 4 excursions a year, including a tour of something pertinent to the art or history of the region, and a dinner afterwards. We in invite you to join or upgrade your membership today!

Remember, the Museum building is closed for January, February, and March while we reorganize and re-install. We might be closed, but we are still busy and we will of course let you know of any special programs coming up via this newsletter.