It was a tie. On a late November day in 1837, the Vermont Senate voted whether or not to purchase a large oil portrait of George Washington by German-born artist George Gassner. The painting was a more or less faithful copy of Gilbert Stuart’s full-length portrait of the first president hanging in Providence, Rhode Island, and it was offered for sale “at a reasonable rate” to hang in the newly constructed State House. Lt. Gov. David Camp cast the tie-breaking vote to purchase the painting, and the State of Vermont has been collecting art ever since.

With the 1964 founding of the Vermont Arts Council, building a state art collection became a goal beyond the walls of the capitol building. Beginning in 1968, internationally heralded sculptors were commissioned by the University of Vermont to place their large abstract marble and concrete pieces at rest areas all along the newly completed Interstate highways, where most remain to this day.

In 1971, the Vermont Arts Council purchased a wide variety of pieces for the newly constructed Pavilion State Office Building. That installation proved to be the first public art specifically placed by the Arts Council in a state facility, a practice they continued for buildings throughout Vermont during the 1970s and 1980s.

With the establishment of the Art in State Buildings Program in 1988, the State Art Collection really took off—and it is that public art program which has allowed the placement of a wide assortment of works of art in facilities all over the state. Many of these works have been integrated into the very fabric of the buildings for which they were created. All celebrate the special qualities and communities of Vermont.

Art helps define who we are as people. As we look back over the works that constitute the State Art Collection, we cannot help but be struck by the amazing messages that are conveyed about Vermont and its people.

— David Schütz, State Curator

The People’s Art

As Vermont observes the 150th birthday of its State House, we celebrate not only a remarkably intimate and historic capitol building, but a truly wonderful collection of art that was created for it, and which helps to tell the story of our past. The large portrait of George Washington, valiantly rescued from the fire of 1857, among other works of art, is indicative of the value Vermonters have always placed on their public art. We still use these works to interpret our past and keep us mindful of the principles that have always defined who the people of this state are.

This exhibit represents but a small sampling of works collected over a century and a half, including those commissioned through the 20-year-old Art in State Buildings Program. It reveals the remarkable breadth of artistic quality in this collection—all owned by the people of Vermont.

— Governor James H. Douglas

Click here to download the gallery brochure.

Location:
Center Gallery

Related events:
coming soon

See also:
coming soon