Events
We sponsor a handful of events each semester related to our collections and temporary exhibitions.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Spring Exhibits Opening Reception
Thursday, February 12 | 5:00–7:00pm
Mahaney Arts Center, Lower Lobby and Museum
Celebrate the opening of our three new spring exhibits with hot hors d’oeuvres, a card bar (cash no longer accepted), and the company of friends. Exhibit curators will be in the crowd to provide conversational insights.
Museum Lecture + Lunch Series: Damian Stamer
Friday, February 13 | 12:00pm Lecture, 1:00pm Lunch
Mahaney Arts Center, Lower Lobby and Museum
Artist Damian Stamer will speak about the partnership between human creativity and artificial intelligence which forms the basis for the evocative oil paintings in the Museum’s spring exhibit Damian Stamer: Angels & Ghosts. Afterward, stay for conversation over a light lunch in the MAC Lower Lobby.
This event is free and open to all, but $5 donations are welcome.
Museum Lecture + Lunch Series: Looms, Linen, and Luxury—The Art of Weaving Damask
Friday, February 20 | 12:30pm Lecture, 1:15pm Lunch
Mahaney Arts Center, Lower Lobby and Museum
Carrie Anderson (HARC) will discuss the Museum’s latest textile acquisition: a seventeenth-century damask linen. Carrie will be joined by Justin Squizzero, Director of the Newbury School of Weaving, who will explain the complexities of weaving damask. Summer Jack (THEA) will be available to talk informally about linen items in the Middlebury College Antique Clothing Collection. Afterward, stay for conversation over a light lunch in the MAC Lower Lobby.
This event is free and open to all, but $5 donations are welcome.
Members Event: Artist Studio Visit
Timothy Clark, Furniture Maker
Friday, February 27 | 10:30am
2111 Green Street, Vergennes, VT 05491
RSVP by Friday, February 20
Join the Friends of the Art Museum for the second in a series of four local artist studio visits available to members this winter and spring. This visit takes us to the Vergennes studio of furniture maker Timothy Clark.
More information coming soon.
Sign up is on a first come, first served basis by either email or phone to Francisca Drexel: fdrexel@middlebury.edu or (802) 443-2369. A final list of participants will be shared with the group so that those wanting to carpool can make arrangements.
About the Artist
From Tim: “A graduate of Middlebury College in 1985 with a B.A. in Spanish Language and Studio Art, I began making furniture professionally in 1986. The building process is very enjoyable to me, and hand-tools are an important part of that. Spoke shaves and hand-planes leave me ankle-deep in shavings as I shape chair parts or plane a table top flat. Building cabinets satisfies engineering inklings, while building chairs quenches the desire to work sculpturally. I design and build case pieces such as dressers, cabinets, and tables, as well as Windsor chairs, which I have designed to be comfortable, pleasant to look at, enjoyable to build, and only of solid wood. I work alone or sometimes with one assistant, so each piece that I build gets my full attention. My work is very much influenced by Shaker furniture and traditional building techniques. Hand-cut dovetails, hand-planed table tops, and hand-shaped chair parts are examples of this. These and other traditional building techniques make the building process more enjoyable as well as yielding a higher-quality finished piece of furniture.”
Museum Lecture + Lunch Series: Beyond Boundaries—Rethinking African Art at Middlebury
Friday, March 6 | 12:30pm Lecture, 1:15pm Lunch
Mahaney Arts Center, Lower Lobby and Museum
Assistant Professor Marguerite Lenius (HARC) will discuss the Museum’s current exhibition Beyond Boundaries. Participants in her Fall 2025 seminar Exhibiting African Art: History, Theory, Praxis contributed to the exhibition design and content to challenge imposed boundaries which have long influenced global views of Africa. Afterward, stay for conversation over a light lunch in the MAC Lower Lobby.
This event is free and open to all, but $5 donations are welcome.
Museum Lecture
Curated by Chat GPT: Notes on AI-Human Collaboration
Wednesday, March 11th | 4:30pm
Mahaney Arts Center, Room 125
In 2023, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University embarked on an experiment to use AI to curate an exhibition from the museum’s collection. It was the first time a museum had ever done so. The resulting exhibition, Dreams of Tomorrow: Utopian and Dystopian Visions, featured 21 artworks and was on display for six months in the museum’s Incubator gallery. This presentation reflects on the project’s successes and shortcomings, as well as the critical response that the exhibition received. Julia McHugh and Marshall Price, Curators at the Nasher Museum, will discuss the impact of AI on curatorial practice and the responsibilities of museum professionals when engaging with this technology. What happens when AI joins the team?
Members Event: Artist Studio Visit
Jane Davies, Abstract Painter
Friday, April 3 | 10:00am
66 Main Street, Rupert, VT 05768
RSVP by Friday, March 27
Join the Friends of the Art Museum for the third in a series of four local artist studio visits available to members this winter and spring. This visit takes us to the Rupert, VT studio of abstract painter Jane Davies.
More information coming soon.
Sign up is on a first come, first served basis by either email or phone to Francisca Drexel: fdrexel@middlebury.edu or (802) 443-2369. A final list of participants will be shared with the group so that those wanting to carpool can make arrangements.
About the Artist
Jane Davies is a full-time painter. Beginning as a potter in the early nineties, Davies transitioned into freelance art, using painting and collage as her medium. Since 2010 she has been teaching abstract painting workshops in North America and online, as well as making art full time. She has written five instructional books, produced one instructional DVD, and offers many demonstration videos on social media.
Note: The Jane Davies studio visit and the Bonnie Baird studio visit (below) are intended as one morning/afternoon event. Your RSVP will register you for both visits.
Members Event: Artist Studio Visit
Bonnie Baird, Landscape Painter
Friday, April 3 | 2:00pm
65 West Road, North Chittenden, VT 05763
RSVP by Friday, March 27
Join the Friends of the Art Museum for the last in a series of four local artist studio visits available to members this winter and spring. This final visit takes us to the Rupert, VT studio of landscape painter Bonnie Baird.
More information coming soon.
Sign up is on a first come, first served basis by either email or phone to Francisca Drexel: fdrexel@middlebury.edu or (802) 443-2369. A final list of participants will be shared with the group so that those wanting to carpool can make arrangements.
About the Artist
Raised on a 730-acre dairy farm in Vermont, Bonnie Baird and her husband Robert are the third generations to own and work their dairy/maple farm. This outdoor experience has given her a deep connection with the land. Working in the natural environment every day in every kind of weather allows her to truly feel the horizon; warm or cold, dark or light, intimate or expansive. Baird’s paintings are filled with an emerging fullness of heart. In her paintings, light infuses life into atmosphere, becoming the magic that conjures a personal memory. Her paintings simultaneously evoke a simple lament and heartfelt joy. Using limited palette and large simple shapes, Baird composes more than a visual observation. Her work is a perceptual experience: an intrinsic, vivid memory.
Note: The Bonnie Baird studio visit and the Jane Davies studio visit (above) are intended as one morning/afternoon event. Your RSVP will register you for both visits.