This is the second program in the “Meet the Collectors” series. Four collectors who lent objects to the Sheldon’s exhibit Addison County Collects will talk about their collection. Bob Hooker will show several interesting metal objects he has excavated in his yard including the horseshoe pictured, with a little family history thrown in as well – his grandfather and great-grandfather were both blacksmiths on the property where Bob lives. Rod Michaud will discuss his extensive collection of mechanical banks and toys, like the 1886 Uncle Sam mechanical bank included in the Sheldon’s exhibit. Pam Pezzulo will share how she started her collection of antique children’s sewing machines like the Hansel and Gretel machine in the exhibit, and show some examples from her collection. Musician Rick Ceballos collects banjos and has a few proto-banjos from Africa. He will talk about the Ngoni in the Sheldon’s exhibit along with a few other instruments. Lucinda Cockrell will focus her talk on her collection of Lady Head Vases manufactured by NAPCO in Japan and imported by the National Potteries Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Originally made to hold florists’ flower arrangements, these ceramic head vases became popular in the 1950s and 60s.

This is the first program in the “Meet the Collectors” series. Four collectors who lent objects to the Sheldon’s exhibit Addison County Collects will talk about their collection. Bruce Burgess will discuss his extensive collection of 450 pieces of vintage Fiesta Tableware with particular focus on the original six colors made: red, yellow, cobalt blue, green, ivory, and turquoise (a selection is pictured above). Ann LaFiandra, who has a collection of over 25 pieces of German carved wooden folk art, will show several of her Nutcrackers. Nola Kevra will tell the story of her 1944 “Quilt of Hope,” made by her grandmother for her father while he served in the Pacific in WWII. Mary Manley will relate her experience getting to know Alabama folk artist Mose Tolliver and show works from her collection.

In this talk, Dr. Smiley will discuss American daguerreotype portraiture, its uses as both as a scientific instrument and as a means of picturing loved ones, as well as the photographic portrait as a medium of democratic participation, particularly for African American, Asian, and women subjects. Smiley will explore how nineteenth-century photographic portrait studios shaped conceptions of “self” and “other” and the sometimes-unlikely places where we may uncover these visual histories in museums and archival collections.

Jacob Freedman of Treeline Terrains will discuss the group’s business designing custom 3D landscapes combining the trio’s unique craftsmanship backgrounds. Jacob designs maps using GIS to identify trails, water bodies, and buildings to highlight. His colleague Nathaniel Klein hand-joins layered wood blocks, identifying sustainably sourced hardwoods and finally Alex Gemme brings digital files to the CNC router and implements a computer-aided process to carve custom designs. All recent Middlebury College graduates, the group will discuss their entrepreneurship journey, their collaborations with Vermont organization and nonprofits, and delve into their process to create “topography you can touch.” They will explore how tactile models can further efforts toward “inclusive mapping,” helping everyone connect to the places they love.

In this lecture Professor Sarah Carter explores the creation and use of the “Mrs. M.—–‘s Cabinet” period room project at the Milwaukee Art Museum, which she collaboratively created during her time with the Chipstone Foundation. This experimental exhibition hacks into the idea of the museum period room to ask, what does a museum do and who is it for, through the collection and space of an imagined nineteenth-century collector. Sarah Anne Carter, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Center for Design and Material Culture and an Associate Professor of Design Studies in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She previously served as Curator and Director of Research at the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she collaboratively curated many museum exhibitions and led Chipstone’s Think Tank Program in support of progressive curatorial practice. The “Elephant in the Room” lecture series is presented with support from Vermont Humanities.

Collections are the foundation of museums, and behind every collection lies the story of a collector. Dr. Graham C. Boettcher, director of the Birmingham Museum of Art, discusses some of history’s greatest collectors—actual and fictional—exploring what motivates these passionate gatherers and separates them from hoarders. Boettcher will also discuss how the ethics of collecting have changed, and touch on some of the new challenges and obligations collectors—both individual and institutional—face today. This program is presented as part of the “Elephant in the Room” lecture series, supported by Vermont Humanities. This talk is presented with additional support from Marble Trail Financial.

Cornwall author Alexander Wolff spent a year in Berlin, sifting through family letters and diaries and mining German archives, for his book Endpapers. In this presentation he describes the process of researching and ultimately writing this saga about his book publisher grandfather, who fled the Nazis, and his father, who was left behind to fight for them. His remarks should be of interest to anyone eager to illuminate their ancestors’ lives and times with primary source materials. Wolff spent 36 years on staff at Sports Illustrated. He is author, co-author, or editor of nine books, including The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama; the New York Times bestseller Raw Recruits; and Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure, which was named a New York Times Notable Book. He has a B.A. in History from Princeton, where he has taught journalism.