Over the past 17 years, the one constant of the Aidron Duckworth Art Museum, aside from the work of its namesake artist, has been Grace Harde.
She and a handful of others founded the museum in 2002, and she ran it for many years before the trustees decided to hire a director. Even with a director running things, Harde often was there, too.
The museum is down to its final days; it closes for good after this weekend. On Tuesday afternoon, Harde was at the museum, which was closed, but still had an open front door.
Not long after a reporter arrived, a pair of women from Hanover stopped by and chatted with Harde while strolling through the museum for a few minutes before hugging her and leaving for a late lunch.
The museum held one final event for its donors last weekend, Harde said. “Now it’s just the sad removal of the art from the galleries.”
Duckworth, who lived and taught art at the former Meriden schoolhouse on Bean Road from the 1970s until his death in 2001, established a trust to safeguard and exhibit the roughly 1,300 works in his keeping. The trust opened the museum the following year and has displayed much of Duckworth’s output. The museum also has shown work by 60 guest artists, typically as solo shows.
“It’s been a wonderful venue for art, for these limited kind of exhibitions we’ve had,” Harde said in Duckworth’s former living quarters, which have been maintained and kept open to visitors.
“It’s as if Aidron is still living here and just went out for lunch,” Harde said. An iPad on the kitchen counter and the museum’s computer were the lone details that would have been alien to the English-born artist. “It’s really going to be wrenching to have that end,” she added.
In the store room, where Duckworth’s work is kept, a headline on the March 12, 1971 edition of the Natal Mercury blares “ ‘Suggestive’ Pictures Spark Art Show Row.” Banned in South Africa was Duckworth. Showing the same work in Meriden caused no such uproar, Harde said.
The question of what’s to become of Duckworth’s work remains unsettled. The trust stipulates that it must be transferred to an organization with a public purpose. A curator from Syracuse University, where Duckworth taught in the 1960s, came to Meriden to look at the work, but the university’s art gallery declined.
Now, Harde, museum director Ben Finer and the other trustees are talking to Ohio State University, where Duckworth earned a doctorate in the 1970s. The proceeds from the sale of the museum property would go with the artwork. Regardless of the final disposition of Duckworth’s work, it’s going to get packed up by a Brattleboro, Vt., company that specializes in transporting and storing art. Then, the museum will hold tag sales every weekend from Nov. 9 to 24 to disperse the rest of Duckworth’s possessions, including books, frames, tools and furniture. The building has to be cleaned out by Dec. 20, when Tom Lappin, who owns Poor Thom’s Tavern, next door, takes possession, Harde said.
In the meantime, the next few days are the last chance we’ll have to see Duckworth’s work. (The museum is open Friday through Sunday.) There’s also a group show of work from some of the guest artists who have had solo shows at the museum. Among the works is an acrylic painting by Stephen Marcus, who has installed the shows at the museum.
Harde assessed the museum’s run in a clear-eyed way. “We never achieved any real PR success with the museum,” she said, by which she meant that it never became all that widely known. In a way, Harde seemed satisfied by that outcome. She hadn’t compromised on a key value. “I don’t like hype,” she said. “We’ve just been lucky we could go 17 years.”
For now, the trustees will carry on. Harde’s words suggest she’s taking the end of the museum hard, but her demeanor doesn’t: “Get the Kleenex!” she said with a smile, when asked how she was doing. “It’s too much.”
The Aidron Duckworth Art Museum hosts its “Guest Artist Grand Salon,” featuring works by some of the nearly 60 guest artists who have exhibited at the museum over the years, and “Exhibition XXXIV – The Multitudes Contained,” the museum’s final exhibition of Aidron Duckworth paintings and drawings. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and by appointment.
AVA Gallery and Art Center, Lebanon. “Remembering Aya,” a retrospective of work by longtime AVA artist Aya Itagaki; “Borders of Consciousness: Dreaming in Color,” work in fiber and mixed media Shari Wolf Boraz, of Lebanon, and color photographs by Mary Gerakaris, of Canaan; “Compost Compositions,” photographs by Evelyn Swett, of Hanover, who will give a talk about her work at 5 p.m. on Nov. 1; “Martha Stein: A 40-Year Retrospective.” Stein, of Windsor, works in fiber and other materials. She will talk about her work at 5 p.m. on Friday, and her daughter Leah Stein will lead her dance company into AVA on Nov. 2 to perform a work choreographed for the exhibition.
Fairlee Town Hall Gallery shows recent linocut prints by Todd Renninger, through Nov. 28.
Matt Brown Fine Art, in Lyme, hosts “Wild about Watercolor!” a show of paintings made with water media celebrating connections to Lyme and Thetford. A reception is planned for 2 to 5 p.m. on Nov. 3. Through Nov. 30.
Chelsea Public Library. “Cats, Landscapes and Figures,” mixed media prints by Deborah Sacks. A reception is planned for 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday. Through October.
Two Rivers Printmaking Studio, White River Junction. “Through the Curve,” prints by Hartland artist Rachel Gross. Through Monday.
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Woodstock. “Creating an American Landscape,” a show of eight of Carleton Watkins’ Yosemite photographs, reproduced from originals in the Billings Family Archives. Through Oct. 31.
Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park, Cornish. “On View in Cornish: American Art at the Picture Gallery, 1948–2019” looks back at all of the exhibitions sponsored by the Saint-Gaudens Memorial and features work by Maxfield Parrish, Marguerite Zorach, Paul Sample, Varujan Boghosian, Ben Frank Moss and Shona Macdonald. Through Oct. 31.
Kendal at Hanover. “Virginia Rice Kelsey: A 64-Year Retrospective” is in the first floor gallery space at Kendal. Through Oct. 31.
Scavenger Gallery, White River Junction. Fall foliage paintings by Claremont artists Sue Lawrence and Andrew Williams. Through October.
Center for the Arts, New London. Paintings by Penny Koburger, Ludmila Gayvoronsky and Marianne Stillwagon hang at Bar Harbor Bank and Trust, New London Inn and Blue Loon Bakery, respectively. Through October.
Sculpture Fest, Woodstock. Contemporary sculpture in outdoor settings at the Prosper Road home of Charlet and Peter Davenport, at the nearby King Farm, and at the Woodstock History Center, which hosts “Vermont Carvers & Sculptors Exhibition,” work by 15 Vermont sculptors. Both the King Farm and History Center shows are open through the end of October. The work at the Davenports’ is on view year-round.
Chandler Gallery, Randolph. “An Archive of Feeling,” a group show curated by J. Turk. Through Nov. 3.
Cider Hill Gardens and Gallery, Windsor. Outdoor sculpture by William Ballantyne and paintings in egg tempera and gold leaf by gallery co-owner Gary Milek.
Betty Grant Gallery, Converse Free Library, Lyme. hosts “Serendipity,” street photography by Hanover resident Jim Lustenader. Through Dec. 30.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Arts Program, Lebanon. Fall exhibitions feature photographer Karen Bobotas, painters Jan Fowler, Amy Hook-Therrien and Ann Young, pastelist Phyllis Orem, textiles by Delsie Hoyt, the Saxtons River Art Guild and Hartford High School Art Students.
The Great Hall, Springfield, Vt. “Alchemy: Metal, Mystery & Magic,” features work by Jeanne Carbonetti, Sabrina Fadial, Alexandra Heller, Peter Heller, Pat Musick, Dan O’Donnell, Gerald Stoner and Johnny Swing. and is on view into February.
Hall Art Foundation, in Reading, Vt. Shows include “Made in Vermont,” works by Vermont artists; exhibitions by Richard Artschwager and the super-realist artist Malcolm Morley. On the grounds: “English Sculptors in New England.” Admission is $10, except on the first Friday of the month, when it’s free. Through November.
Ledyard Gallery, Howe Library, Hanover. “Watercolor Journal: A work in progress,” paintings by Elizabeth Greene. Through Dec. 4.
Library Arts Center, Newport. The Soo Nipi Quilters Guild exhibits around 70 quilts, including three by the late Marie Bugbee, the show’s featured artist.
Long River Gallery, White River Junction. “Feathers, Ferns and Fish,” prints by Coleen O’Connell and “tattooed” guitars by Weathersfield artist Jenna Rice. Through December.
North Common Arts, Chelsea. “Hanging Around,” figures made of found materials by Barre, Vt., artist Janet Van Fleet. Through Nov. 9
Piermont Library. “Faces of Piermont,” photographs by Mel Gitchel.
Tunbridge Public Library. “Colors in Life,” paintings by members of the Connecticut River Chapter of the Vermont Watercolor Society. Through Nov. 10.
White River Gallery, South Royalton. “Breathe the Wind,” paintings by Kate Emlen. Through Dec. 20.
Zollikofer Gallery, White River Junction. Pastels by Diane Taylor-Moore and watercolor and oil paintings by Cathy Finnegan. Through Dec. 30
Alex Hanson can be reached at ahanson@vnews.com or 603-727-3207.
