SHELBURNE, Vt. (April 10, 2026)—Shelburne Museum welcomes the public to kick off its 2026 season with Community Day, a free, all-ages celebration on Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featuring new exhibitions, hands-on activities, live music, and opportunities for connection, Community Day invites visitors to experience the museum as a vibrant gathering place rooted in creativity and community.
Throughout the day, visitors can explore the museum’s beloved galleries, historic buildings, and gardens while enjoying curator-led tours, artmaking sessions, games, and performances. In collaboration with the Vermont Community Foundation, the day emphasizes connection and belonging, encouraging visitors to engage as “neighbors, not strangers” through shared experiences like collective artmaking, seed swapping, and conversation.
New Exhibitions Opening May 9:
Varied and Alive: New and Rarely Seen Treasures from the Collection
Inspired by founder Electra Havemeyer Webb’s vision of a “project varied and alive,” this exhibition highlights the remarkable depth and diversity of Shelburne Museum’s permanent collection. Spanning the 19th to mid-20th centuries, the exhibition includes folk art, circus posters, porcelain, textiles, toys, and trade signs, bringing together both beloved favorites and rarely seen works.
On Point: Needlework from the Garthwaite Family Collection
This exhibition showcases exceptional examples of Vermont schoolgirl needlework, including samplers, silk embroideries, sewing boxes, and memorial pieces. Drawn from the Garthwaite Family Collection and complemented by works from the museum’s holdings, the exhibition explores women’s education in 19th-century Vermont and the Connecticut River Valley, contributing to a growing field of scholarship on schoolgirl art.
Big River: Ogden Pleissner in Wyoming
Featuring sketches, watercolors, oil paintings, and archival materials, this exhibition examines artist Ogden Pleissner’s deep connection to the American West. Inspired by time spent in Wyoming’s Wind River region, Pleissner’s work captures the landscape as both a place of respite and creative energy, while also reflecting on the communities who call it home.
Community Day Highlights:
- Curator tours in special exhibitions
- Artmaking sessions inspired by Varied and Alive and themes of community belonging
- A large-scale communal art project
- Interactive stations with the Vermont Community Foundation focused on building connection
- Seed swap with museum staff and garden experts
- Live music throughout the day featuring Marie Hamilton, Owen Leavey, and Deja Nous
- Tours of historic buildings across the campus
Community Day is generously supported by the Vermont Community Foundation and an anonymous foundation, with additional support from our Members and donors to the Annual Fund.
Shelburne Museum exhibitions are generously supported by Donna and Marvin Schwartz and Todd R. Lockwood, with additional support from Members and donors to the Annual Fund.
Image caption: Community Day celebrates opening day at Shelburne Museum, May 9, 2026, with curator-led tours, artmaking sessions, games, performances, and free admission. Shown here is the iconic Round Barn, one of 39 buildings on the museum’s 45-acre campus. Photography by Isa DeMarco.
High-res images available here.
About Shelburne Museum
Founded in 1947 by trailblazing folk art collector Electra Havemeyer Webb (1888–1960), Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, is the largest art and history museum in northern New England and Vermont’s foremost public resource for visual art and material culture. The Museum’s 45-acre campus is comprised of 39 buildings including the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education and Webb Gallery featuring important American paintings by Andrew Wyeth, Winslow Homer, Anna Mary Robertson “Grandma” Moses, John Singleton Copley and many more. Construction is underway for the Perry Center for Native American Art, designed in partnership with Indigenous voices and devoted to the stewardship and exhibition of the Native American art in the museum’s care, scheduled to open in 2027. For more information, please visit shelburnemuseum.org.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Leslie Wright
Director of Marketing and Communications
Shelburne Museum
lwright@shelburnemuseum.org
802-985-0880
Kristen Levesque
Kristen Levesque Public Relations
kristen@kristenlevesquepr.com
207-329-3090