FROM VERMONT ART GUIDE #5
Paul Sample Mural Reinstalled
at the Vermont History Museum
In Vermont Art Guide #5, we tell the story of mural that was restored, reserved, and on permanent view at the Vermont History Museum. In 1958, National Life commissioned Norwich painter Paul Sample (1896-1974) to paint a 50-by-8-foot mural for their new lobby and from 1961 to 2016 the mural greeted visitors to the company’s headquarters. In September 2016, the mural was donated to the Vermont Historical Society “to ensure its preservation and broader public access to this important work.” The Society contracted with conservator Emily Phillips to oversee the removal, restoration, and reinstallation of the mural in a custom-designed space at the Society’s Vermont History Museum on State Street in Montpelier.
Each issue of Vermont Art Guide has over a hundred places to see art around the state. The full-color, printed magazine has artist and venue profiles as well as articles and news about Vermont Art. Our goal is to document and share the state’s incredible art scene.
ORDER YOUR COPY OF VERMONT ART GUIDE TODAY!
Sample’s artwork was defined by Social Realism and informed by the Great Depression. His paintings told stories of drydock workers building a ship, men playing baseball in a sand lot as a train passed by, or a farmer working the land in the spring.
To contemporary viewers, Salute to Vermont may appear a quaint, oversimplified take on the state’s history, a nod to a notion of regionalism society has largely moved beyond. But this would miss two key points. First, Salute to Vermont is an artifact of how people thought about community and society in the early 1960s, before post-New Deal era attitudes and the great social changes of the late 1960s. Second, the mural is a testament to art’s ability to preserve and hold ideas over time. A visit to Salute to Vermont is an opportunity to reflect on where we came from and what our future holds.
Each issue of Vermont Art Guide has over a hundred places to see art around the state. The full-color, printed magazine has artist and venue profiles as well as articles and news about Vermont Art. Our goal is to document and share the state’s incredible art scene.
ORDER YOUR COPY OF VERMONT ART GUIDE TODAY!
See Salute to Vermont at the Vermont History Museum & Store, located in the Pavilion Building (next to the State House) at 109 State Street in Montpelier. The mural is placed near the entrance. The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10AM-4PM. Call (802) 828-2291 or visit vermonthistory.org for more information.
SPECIAL NOTE: Vermont Art Guide is a quarterly, printed magazine about contemporary art in Vermont. We have three goals: 1) To connect the entire state’s art community by sharing information about exhibitions and events. 2) To present a picture of Vermont art and art in Vermont, to tell our story. 3) To build an audience for Vermont art inside the state and out. We hope you will join us by subscribing to the print edition today!