where natural history meets art
How do artists perceive birds, waters, and the ways we interact?
As you view the exhibit, consider recent history and the ways we tell it; the much-longer history of humans on the landscape in the Green Mountains and Champlain Valley; and the much, much, much longer stories of how birds have evolved with, use, and been influenced by water and waterways.
Continue reading “Wings • Waters • Ways | 2026 community art show”
Explore the interwoven history of humans, birds, and waterways with your art. Consider upcoming “250th” celebrations in the US, the much-longer history of humans on the landscape in the Green Mountains and Champlain Valley, and the much, much, much longer stories of how birds have evolved with, use, and been influenced by water and waterways. Ponder habitats, adaptations, and interactions.
The Birds of Vermont Museum invites art submissions that dive and soar with the ways of wings and waters for our 2026 community art show.
Continue reading “Call to Artists: Wings • Waters • Ways”
Thirty years ago, Gale Lawrence purchased land across Sherman Hollow Road from her home. She donated it to the Museum as a place for people to visit, as well as for birds, mammals, insects, plants, fungi, and other wildlife to live. At the same time, Bob planted four American Chestnut trees along the edge of the meadow on this parcel. Since then, countless people have stood under those trees to take photos, paint, listen to birds, admire the changing seasons, and enjoy the steady hum of life around them.
These acts of kindness taken by Bob and Gale were done not to benefit themselves, but for the animals, plants, and people that would come after them. Acts like this make a difference, and we strive to continue making similar choices every day. We believe in the importance of stewarding places to connect and create, providing places to bird and experience nature. These places benefit all of us. Choices we all make, and support of places like the Museum are not just for our individual benefit. We give also to those who will come after us. Continue reading “Kindness and the future: 2025 annual appeal”
We need your help to get to the other side! We have a plan to re-cross Sherman Hollow Brook, and need your help to help fund the construction.
Everything helps, from $5 once, $50 monthly, to $5000 annually.
Bob’s Bridge has been closed since July 2024. Torrential rains and floods that month damaged the bridge and its footing. For safety, the Museum closed it, limiting public access to the museum’s trails on the 60 acres across Sherman Hollow Brook. This also restricted access to Gale’s Retreat.
Right after the flood, we began working with Timber and Stone LLC and DeWolfe engineers. Together we are designing and will build a new accessible bridge!
The new route includes a board walk, places to pause and bird, and views above the stream. The new bridge will be above the 100-year flood mark and allow us to reopen the trails for everyone. By rerouting access, we make the access more gradual, more accessible, and minimize erosion into the brook. Continue reading “Help Us Get to the Other Side!”
Birds from myth may be symbols, guides, teachers, and/or part of an artist’s cultural and ecological background. For the annual art show, the Birds of Vermont Museum asked creatives to bring such birds into their work. The resulting show explores old legends, represents individual belief, examines misconceptions, and offers new guides. Birds and Myth immerses us in histories, hopes, and imagination.
We seek to understand the world. Birds are some of our teachers, not only through our senses and observations, but also through our stories about them. These stories can be factual accounts, broader myths, or something in between. A myth might be a traditional legend, a widely-held-but-false belief, or a representation (or misrepresentation) of something true. A myth can offer insight into who we are, individually or collectively. A myth can offer us ways to behave and ideals to live by. What understanding of birds and humans have you gained through myths you have heard, told, or invented?
The Birds of Vermont Museum’s 2025 art show is centered on these ideas. We invite art submissions that bring birds and their meanings into art to retell an old story, weave several together, represent your beliefs, and/or create a myth for the future.
Continue reading “Call to Artists: Birds and Myth”
Enduring qualities and ongoing change: these shaped 2024. Endurance and change are like the rocks and the water of a creek. Museum founders Bob Spear and Gale Lawrence shared these qualities with all who helped them. They opened their lands and barn-turned-museum to everyone and for decades shared their love of birds. They created museum trails that are free to wander year-round. You can walk or sit, listen or look, observe birds or the whole forest, reflect, meditate, open your senses, be inspired. You can help create an accessible route for everyone, from the museum building all the way to the Retreat. Continue reading “Endure, Change and Bridge: 2024 annual appeal”
Gale Lawrence, respected and loved author, teacher, naturalist, gardener, walker, and detailed observer of nature, passed away on August 22, 2024. Continue reading “About Gale Lawrence, who helped create the Birds of Vermont Museum”
Last Saturday, the Green Mountain Woodcarvers held their annual show at the Museum. The news from WCAX came out to check it out. Enjoy this brief video of the show! Continue reading “Green Mountain Woodcarvers’ Annual Show 2024”
We hope you and yours are safe from the recent flooding due to Hurricane Beryl. For those who have experienced loss, our hearts go out to you. Our Treehouse, Bird Blind, and benches in the “garden” offer places to rest and find respite.
The museum and its grounds are resilient. The good news is that the museum building, the entrance bridge, culvert area, and step-pools in the tributary to Sherman Hollow Brook are undamaged and intact. The Treehouse, picnic areas, pond, Story trail, and the Bird Blind all are fine. Come and walk or sit whenever you need to.
This is not the first time we’ve had to deal with flood damage. We thank everyone who was part of the Bridges to Birds reconstruction in 2013-2015 for their amazing generosity and superb work: volunteers, donors, John Scott Excavating, Dean Grover Engineering, Timber and Stone LLC, and Anne Dannenberg. They created the entrance bridge, the rain garden, the step-pools in the tributary to Sherman Hollow Creek, and the pollinator plantings that protect the slopes. All of that handled the heavy flows of water as intended, demonstrating how a resilient design can cope with a changing climate.
Other parts of our property were not so fortunate. Continue reading “Flooding, thanks to Hurricane Beryl”