Shelburne Museum Director Thomas Denenberg announced that the museum’s new arts center will be named the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education after the Pizzagalli family, longtime museum benefactors and local philanthropists. Additionally, the building’s exhibition and education wings will be named for Theodore H. Church and the family of J. Warren McClure, respectively.
The Pizzagalli Center is named for James, Angelo and Remo Pizzagalli and their families. James Pizzagalli is past chairman and a current member of the board of trustees at the museum. The Theodore H. Church Exhibition Wing is named for Theodore Church (1925-2008), an art collector and owner of St. Albans-based Superior Technical Ceramics Corp., who supported Shelburne Museum for many years. The J. Warren McClure and Family Education Wing is named in honor of the McClures’ many major contributions to educational opportunity and access at the museum for over 40 years.
‘The Pizzagallis’support of this transformational project has been essential to its success. The Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education ensures that Shelburne Museum will continue to be a vital part of the state’s cultural landscape, allowing the museum to broaden educational offerings and serve as a hub for the community,’Denenberg said. ‘We are honored to recognize these major contributions from the Pizzagallis, McClures and Ted Church to the future of Shelburne Museum and its benefit to Vermonters.’
The Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education opens on August 18 with a ribbon cutting and day-long grand opening celebration.
‘We are pleased to support this new and important cultural and educational resource for Vermont. We believe strongly in Shelburne Museum’s mission and are proud to see the institution move forward with this building and with a year-round program of educational offerings and exhibitions,’James Pizzagalli said.
The center is part of the Campaign for Shelburne Museum, a $14-million capital campaign, still underway. The campaign also includes an endowment to sustain the ongoing operation of the center and installation of a fiber-optic communications network throughout the museum’s 45-acre campus.
Features of the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education include:
5,000 square feet of gallery space that will be used for special exhibitions on a year-round basis.
An auditorium with seating for 135, allowing the museum to offer lectures, presentations and symposia.
The museum’s first classroom designed for classes and programs for audiences of all ages.
Design that meets the LEED certification standards of the United States Green Building Council including: use of local materials ‘such as Adirondack stone, Vermont slate and beech wood floors ‘to reduce required transportation of materials and to support the local economy; wood products selected from sustainably harvested forests; and energy efficient heating, cooling and lighting.
About Shelburne Museum: Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont is one of North America’s finest, most diverse and unconventional museums of art, design and Americana. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in a remarkable setting of 38 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum’s beautifully landscaped 45-acre campus. Shelburne’s collection includes works by the great Impressionists Claude Monet, Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas as well as a prized collection of folk art including trade signs, weathervanes and quilts. Shelburne Museum will remain open year- round with the opening on August 18 of the new Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education.
IMAGE CAPTIONS:
East side of Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vt.
East side of Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vt. at dusk.
SHELBURNE, Vt. (July 9, 2013) -- Shelburne Museum