Local letters, journals, historic photos, architectural documentation, newspapers, genealogical records, town records, early records. We have thousands of artifacts, including an archival documentary collection in the research portion of the building. Those were featured in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.Īt the museum, we have greater resources. The Sheldon has thousands of works on paper, such as silhouettes of Charity and Sylvia, a 19th-century same-sex couple who lived in Weybridge. What's the difference between that and a town historical society?Ī historical society is largely run by volunteers and focuses solely on the town. The Sheldon is a community-based museum - the oldest in the country, in fact, according to the website. And I can't say enough about Mary Manley, who's been associate director for 23 years. I couldn't operate without the team and 80 to 100 volunteers. Yes, but the Sheldon Museum is a team effort. You initiated a number of exhibitions yourself, right? We had an exhibit celebrating the power of books and Vermont artists. There are all these wonderful children's book authors here. I invited Wendy to go through our collections and incorporate items with her extraordinary nature-inspired costumes. Wendy Copp's costumes and our clothing collection. And Glenn Eames has such a wonderful collection. So, I had a personal connection with that one.
When I lived in Maryland, I came to Vermont for 10 years in a row to bike with Vermont Bicycle Tours. In a recent Addison County Independent article, reporter John Flowers noted that you've "always sought to make history come alive." What are some examples of temporary exhibitions at the Sheldon that illustrate this? I hope I brought these skills to the Sheldon Museum. And I'd had success at the Coolidge, raising money and cultivating donors. I was introduced to GRACE and served on the board for about 10 years.įrom my experience at Frog Hollow, I had the marketing element - promoting Vermont artists and makers. I went to New York in 1993, I went to annual folk art festivals there. I also had gone to the museum as a child. I had a history degree from Kenyon and an art history degree from NYU, so I already had an interest in both. The Sheldon opened in 1884 and focuses on art and history collections and exhibitions. What qualities do you have that helped you lead a nonprofit museum? And then, in 2012, there was an opening at the Sheldon Museum. I was there eight years and raised a couple million dollars. Then I went to the Coolidge Foundation as the development director. We had three galleries by the time I left. I knew Vermont because my family had a camp in North Ferrisburgh, where I'd spent time as a child. Then there was an opening at Frog Hollow. I worked for the Virginia Lynch Gallery in Rhode Island for a year.
and Maryland.Īnd then there was a big shift.
I was in Air Force ROTC, so I served four years. I went to Kenyon College in Ohio, a private men's college. So, I had an early exposure to art at the museums. But I grew up in Washington, D.C., where my dad was a lawyer and lobbyist. They met when he was going to Harvard and she was at Radcliffe. My father was from there my mom is from Middlebury. And if those don't seem like logical follow-ups to working in finance, well, they weren't, exactly. But the Sheldon Museum might be a hard act to follow because it merges Brooks' primary passions: history and art. "In my transitions, something always comes up." Bill Brooks tweet thisĮven during a pandemic, it can't hurt to keep your options open.