STORY BY BENJAMIN LERNER
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY LYMAN ORTON
Lyman Orton shares the story and inspiration behind his extraordinarily comprehensive Vermont art exhibition , For the Love of Vermont : the Lyman Orton Collection
LYMAN ORTON
Lyman Orton is a seventh-generation Vermonter , a second-generation proprietor of the beloved Vermont Country Store ( VCS ), and a longstanding pillar of Vermont ’ s cultural community . Over the past several decades , Orton has channeled his love for his home state into building an exceptional collection of paintings and mixed-media artworks by a vast range of Vermont artists . With the help of trusted and knowledgeable collaborators such as the late art appraiser , Barbara Melhado , the talented VCS illustrator , Donnel Barnum , and Bennington Museum ’ s Curator , Jamie Franklin , Orton repatriated hundreds of paintings that had been purchased by collectors from outside of Vermont . By applying the same tenacity and logistical savvy that enabled him to bring Vermont Country Store to new levels of commercial success , he rescued the paintings from the storage rooms of galleries across the country and brought them back to their rightful place in the Green Mountain State .
Orton ’ s hard work has paid off in the form of a spectacular , unparalleled exhibition of Vermont art , entitled For the Love of Vermont : the Lyman Orton Collection . Over 200 of the most magnificent works from Orton ’ s private collection will be shown at Bennington Museum ( July 1 – November 5 ) and Southern Vermont Arts Center ( July 22 – November 5 ) through an unprecedented joint exhibition . The exhibition is intentionally curated in a manner that reframes the cultural context
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