Bennington Museum Monthly | |
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We are thrilled to announce that our end of year fundraising campaign was a success! The closed-bid auction, and the Gala events netted over $50,000 for the Museum - truly a boon for our community programming in the coming year, and specifically for a major upcoming project.
After breaking down visitor survey data, the staff’s inkling of what the visitors were coming to see was confirmed with data. Grandma Moses seems to be the overwhelming hook that brought people into the Museum. This information, a thoughtfully planned Museum acquisition of a number of new Moses artworks, and the desire to meet, improve upon and exceed the visitor experience, led the Museum to undertake plans to remake the Moses galleries within our institution. We’ve done a great job of displaying Moses artwork in the past, but we know we could do better talking about her, who she was, who were her contemporaries in the folk art movements in the areas, why was she so important, and how she became a “fine art” celebrity as well as an artist who work resonated with all people.
With your support, we are set to begin this project in January.
Thank you again to all of our donors, ticket holders, and auction and art winners who made this possible. We look forward to sharing updates on the progress of the project with you in the coming months.
Finally, we would like to offer a huge thanks to our 2023 sponsors. If you do business with any of our sponsoring organizations (listed below), please let them know you recognize their part in keeping art and history alive and strong in this community.
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WCW, The Bike Hub, Custom Creations, The Bennington Bookshop, Earth and Sea, Knapp's Pets and Hobbies, Brown's Brewing, The Village Chocolate Shop, Maple Landmark, The Clip Shop, Hoosick Provisions, Earth and Sea, Darren Sharpe Chimney, Wassick's Tire, Bennington Car Wash, Hawkins House, Mezze Bistro, Petco, Whitman's Feed, Union Underground, Stratton, Bromley, Killington, The Quilted Jardin, Ace Hardware, A Single Pebble, Petra Cliffs, Hotel Vermont, The Flynn, Slate Valley Museum, Pastime Pinball, The Coffee Bar, Iron Coffee | |
Also, a big shoutout to the MAUHS Interact Club, The Bennington PD, Sorcha Cribben-Merrill, Equinox Audio Visuals, and Pangaea for making the magic happen. | |
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Sunday, 12/31
11:15am- 12:15pm
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Noon Year's Eve
Want to celebrate the arrival of 2024 but bedtime is at 8:00? No problem! Put on your party clothes and join us at Bennington Museum as we welcome in the “Noon” Year with music, party hats, noisemakers, sparkling grape juice, and the countdown to Noon!
Admission is $5/child. Adults are welcome to join the party at no charge, but to explore the galleries, regular admission will be charged. Registration is not required. We hope you can join us.
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ANIMATING INFRASTRUCTURE
Bennington Museum has been awarded an Animating Infrastructure Design Grant for $4,125 from the Vermont Art's Council to design a mural for the Museum's south side wall facing the popular Wildflower Trail. Over the next several months our curatorial team will be soliciting ideas from invited Vermont artists who will be paid for their time getting to know our community and creating their proposals. A small panel will convene to select the finalist, and then the next step will be to apply for an Animating Infrastructure Implementation Grant whereby we can bring that artist's work to fruition on our facade.
In the meantime, we need your help!
Please fill out the survey below to share with us the three top positive things that come to mind when you think of Bennington or Bennington Museum.
The prospective artists are from the state of Vermont, but may not necessarily be familiar with the Museum or Bennington. Your input will help inform concepts as the artists begin to design their proposals and will also tell them what they should pay particular attention to when they make their site visits.
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THE HIGH SCHOOL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
In May of 2021, Michele and John Pagán made a $25,000 gift to the Museum’s permanent endowment to support paid summer internship opportunities for Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union (SVSU) and Southwest Tech (SWT) students. The Museum's stated goal is to grow this endowment fund to $125,000 by May of 2025, which will fully support two intern positions each summer.
In December of 2021 the Pagán's gift was matched by Richard and Sandra Johnson as a tribute to Richard’s mother, Priscilla Blake Johnson - a lover of all things Vermont. Then again, this December, the Johnson's made another significant gift of $20,000, bringing the current total to just over $116,000 as we enter 2024.
"We are so pleased to have such generous and invested donors within our Museum community," says Martin Mahoney, executive director. "Their dedication to this program provides real opportunities for education and advancement to the young people in this region. Getting students involved in the Museum field in a meaningful way is no small feat, and we are very grateful for the Johnson's recent contribution, which has put us within striking distance of our goal."
Visit our website to learn more about this program or to make a gift of your own.
Applications will be online in March.
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CONCERTS IN THE COURTYARD
We are pleased to announce that Bennington Museum has once more received anonymous funding for the summer outdoor Concerts in the Courtyard series. On Friday nights from June from the first weekend in September we will invite regional groups to perform in the Museum's Courtyard free of charge. Add kids activities and a local food tent, and it's a party! In the 2023 summer season we offered 15 free outdoor concerts (46 individual musicians) and brought over 1,000 people to our doorstep, some of whom had never been to the Museum before, and some of whom had attended for multiple years and make it a hallmark of their summer experience. All performing groups will be paid a stipend for their services thanks to this grant.
Applications will be online in February.
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The Bennington Historical Society has big plans for the 250th! Make sure to read the coverage in the Bennington Banner and stay tuned for the December BHS newsletter.
Also, if you are looking for reading material to keep you occupied over the holidays, check out the 250th BHS reading list and the first book review. More reviews will be posted monthly.
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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.
We wish you a wonderful winter break and a happy start to 2024!
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Starry Night (background), Leslie Park | | |
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STAY CONNECTED
802-447-1571
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Bennington Museum engages and transforms our visitors and our community by connecting you to the region’s diverse arts, rich history, and culture of innovation.
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