BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) invites Brattleboro residents and visitors to its newly completed Sculpture Garden, located between the museum and neighboring Marlboro College Graduate School.
Designed by Michaela Medina of Halifax, the garden features two permanent artworks that double as seating areas: “Rock Rest” by Dan Snow of Dummerston, and “Duet for Dan” by Jim Cole of West Rupert.
The museum plans to use the new space to present rotating exhibitions of outdoor sculpture. Currently on display are large ceramic vessels by Stephen Procter of Brattleboro.
The transformation of what was previously an overgrown and underused parcel of land into an attractive green space, where visitors can relax and outdoor sculpture can be displayed, got under way in earnest last summer.
The ground was cleared, a stone walkway and plantings were installed, and Snow's “Rock Rest,” designed specifically for the site, was assembled.
It is only in the past week, however, that sculptor Jim Cole, who sustained a severe hand injury last fall, completed and installed the final elements of “Duet for Dan”: stainless steel table-and-chairs.
The 'Dan' of the title refers to Dan Freed, the late husband of BMAC trustee Judy Freed, who spearheaded the Sculpture Garden project in his memory and in honor of her friend Linda Rubinstein, a former longtime museum employee.
The south wall of the museum building, which faces the Sculpture Garden, has also recently undergone significant repair.
According to BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld, in 2010 the Museum commissioned a structural assessment of its historic 1915 Union Station building by Keefe & Wesner Architects of Middlebury.
Once slated for demolition, the building has been restored and maintained for the past 40 years by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. In 1974, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Funded in part by the Preservation Trust of Vermont, Keefe & Wesner's assessment found that the south wall required urgent repair.
Stonemason Peter Welch of Guilford, Vermont, was hired to rebuild portions of the wall and to completely repoint it with historically appropriate lime mortar and mortaring techniques.
Welch's work, which took three months to complete, was paid for by the town of Brattleboro.
A video of Welch discussing the project may be viewed at his website.
“Our end of Main Street is really on the up-and-up,” said Lichtenfeld, citing the construction of the new Brattleboro Food Co-Op, steps being taken by the town of Brattleboro to enhance the riverfront property behind the Museum, and plans for the renovation and reopening of the former Riverview Café.
“We're pleased to do our part to make this a more attractive and livable area,” he said.