On Sunday, August 18, 2013, the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, VT will unveil its new Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education. To commemorate the event, the Shelburne Museum will offer free admission and host a celebration throughout the institution’s campus. Festivities will kick off at 11AM with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The Pizzagalli Center, which was designed by the Boston-based architecture firm, Ann Beha Architects, boasts 18,000-square-feet and will allow the Shelburne Museum to expand their exhibition offerings as well as implement new programming. The Center is part of the $14 million capital campaign “The Campaign for Shelburne Museum,” which includes an endowment to maintain the center.
Founded by pioneering American folk art collector Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1947, the Shelburne Museum holds one of the most remarkable and diverse collections of art and Americana. The museum’s 150,000 holdings include Impressionist paintings, folk art, quilts, textiles, decorative arts, furniture, American paintings, and various artifacts dating from the 17th to 20th century, which are exhibited in 39 different buildings. Webb collected various 18th and 19th century structures including houses, barns, a lighthouse, a jail, and a steamboat to house her collection; 25 of the buildings are historic.
Traditionally a seasonal museum, the Shelburne will stay open year-round after the Center’s inauguration for the first time in the institution’s 66-year history.
