back into Vermont was absolutely amazing . I feel the same way every time I get to bring back Vermont artworks , and I had a similarly-thrilling experience when I shipped a Cecil Bell painting back from a gallery in Carmel , California . I also found a painting that was featured in a book that my father , Vrest Orton , published in 1937 , And So Goes Vermont : A Picture Book of Vermont as It Is . There was a photograph in the book of the Sunderland Church where Rockwell Kent painted Mother and Chicks . It threw me for a loop when I saw the photograph in my father ’ s book after building my art collection , because I had some Rockwell Kent paintings already . I put an ad in the paper looking for someone who had information about the painting , and I got a response from Jamie Franklin from Bennington Museum . He looked it up and gave me some information , and I was eventually able to discover it in San Francisco . It took over a year of negotiation to buy it , but it was wonderful to finally bring it back to Vermont .
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Q : Long before the For the Love of Vermont : the Lyman Orton Collection exhibition , you had generously loaned works out from your personal collection to many Vermont museums , including Bennington Museum , Southern Vermont Arts Center , Dorset Historical Society , and Shelburne Museum , among others . You have also developed a close , working relationship with Jamie Franklin at Bennington Museum . What motivated you to share your art so freely and form these collaborative partnerships with curators and artistic directors in Vermont ?
A : I was motivated by the same feeling that made me want to bring the paintings back to Vermont . I started loaning them out because I didn ’ t have a museum . I have a good-sized office building in Manchester with a lot of wall space , which I filled up with art with the help of Donnel Barnum . Still , we wanted to get more eyes on the pieces . I ’ m always happy to loan paintings out , and I ’ ve also helped Jamie Franklin bring paintings back to Vermont by making donations to the Bennington Museum . The donations helped them to cover part of the price of purchasing the paintings to add to their collection . One of the best things at the Bennington Museum is a fence post with a head at the top that was carved by a farmer who wasn ’ t even a professional sculptor by trade . Jamie came across it in his travels , learned the story
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