The Shelburne Museum, which spreads across 45 acres in rural Vermont, bills itself as an “unparalleled and unique experience of American history, art, and design.” Founded in 1947 by the collector Electra Havemeyer Webb, the eclectic colonial campus is populated with sourced and relocated historic buildings from across New England and New York, including a covered bridge, weaving workshop, lighthouse, barns, and a cramped brick jail where visitors can pretend to be prisoners. Objects associated with childhood and whimsy, like toys, dolls, and gigantic pencils, fill the buildings. So do impressive artworks by figures like Claude Monet and Andrew Wyeth, as well as extensive collections of folk art and material culture. Although it’s a lofty claim to be unparalleled and unique, where else can you visit an exhibition of Impressionist paintings alongside a replica circus, then climb aboard a 220-foot-long historic steamboat inexplicably perched on the hillside?
It’s no surprise, then, that an outdoor exhibition of vibrantly colored abstract sculptures finds a perfect home in this quirky setting. While seemingly at odds with the historic architecture of the grounds, the aluminum sculptures in Carl D’Alvia’s “(mono)LITHS” (on view through October 25, 2026) heighten the element of play sprinkled throughout the museum. D’Alvia’s works sag, wobble, and curve, with simple forms that give way to soft, organic edges. Finished in automotive paint, their Minimalist surfaces are industrially precise, yet their silhouettes evoke bodies caught mid-gesture rather than inert geometric volumes.
