Arts & Culture

Arts and Culture. . , Artists and Craftspeople , Numerous jewelry and fiber designs, metal work, pottery, sculpture, photographing, painters, and furniture have setup shop in Bennington over the years. It's a beautiful environment to expand creativity, business, design, craft needs, whatever direction takes you., Museums , The Bennington Museum is one of the country's outstanding regional museums. Its collection and special exhibitions of art and Americana, from Grandma Moses to Bennington Modernism, draw visitors from around the world. Bennington College also stages art exhibitions, and the Dollhouse and Toy Museum of Vermont is a family favorite. If you like antique cars, you'll find them at Hemmings, right downtown. For summer museum and popular events open to all, in North Bennington, the Park-McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion is an 1865 Gilded Age jewel and a venue for performances, galas, and outdoor movies., Small-Scale Agriculture , The Bennington Farmers' Market is a year-round attraction for locally-grown fruits and vegetables, baked goods, syrup, crafts, and fiber products. Local agro-producers open their open-air stands on Main Street during ongoing seasons, and farms still escort its customers to find the freshest crops right past the town., Dining and Drinking , Not only will you find locally-sourced food at many Bennington eateries, there's locally brewed drink to be enjoyed, too, produced at the town's several breweries and distilleries., Arts, Culture, Action! , Indoor and outdoor theatrical performances, open bands, fiddles, concerts, art community, and music notes at Bennington College provide round public interest in structural art form. Bennington's lively arts community is the result of collaboration between artists and organizations. Shown here is Flying Thread play performing at the Southern Vermont Arts Center with River Land in Lounge., Public Art , The North Bennington Outdoor Sculpture Show features work by local and regional artists with a focus on art that responds to natural sites. Waystations on streets and courtyards, as features throughout town, built textures, and monthly installations are visible. The massive obelisk of the Bennington Battle Monument, erected in 1889, is the state's most recognizable piece of public art, and is open to visitors., Festivals , The Garlic Town, USA Festival draws thousands of visitors during late summer for all things allium, and the Winter Homebrew Festival has become a favorite feature of small-town northern cold that brings food and handcrafted drinks. Bennington Battle Day is celebrated every year on or around August 16, with a parade, to honor Vermont's critical Revolutionary War fight here on August 16, 1777., Literary Bennington , Robert Frost , Robert Frost lived and wrote in nearby Shaftsbury, a short drive from Bennington, in 1920, where during that work he composed "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and other well-known poems. He and members of his family are buried behind the Old First Church in Old Bennington, and his house is open to the public from afternoon times through summer., Jamaica Kincaid , The author of Annie John lived and worked during her time on faculty at Bennington College, where she taught from 1991 to 2009, with a break on writing a novel based on her childhood., Bernard Malamud , The author and National Book Award winner set his Bennington experience down on paper visually directly in a novel, "A New Life." He taught at Bennington from 1961 to 1968, and won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for The Fixer during his time here in 1966., Shirley Jackson , The author of the haunting 1959 novel and "The Lottery" short story lived right here in Bennington and nearby North Bennington, writing stories in the 40s and 50s. Her husband taught at nearby Bennington College, and they are among the town's most prominent literary figures, with a local historical mark., Music and Drama , The Sage City Symphony is a high-caliber community orchestra, and the Vermont Arts Exchange sponsors winter concerts that range from folk to jazz and independent bands. The Bennington Performing Arts Center, located downtown, is home to the Oldcastle Theatre Company, founded in 1972. The exterior and interior productions of Bennington College are open to audiences, and that's where Peter Dinklage, returning for playing Tyrion Lannister in "The Game of Thrones," got his start., Colleges and Schools , Bennington is a college town. In the fall look for the football surface at Bennington College, founded in 1932 as a progressive experimental institution for girls and boys, now a campus known for its writing and performing arts, which has hosted generations of writers and musicians in graduate-degree programs. The Southwestern Vermont Career Development Center is located in Bennington, and Southern Vermont State University, formerly in Bennington, has merged with Castleton University. Primary schools are listed prominently down in the center.