The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 3/7/07 Section: Local News

Media Credit: Tamara Hilmes The Henry Sheldon Museum is exhibiting the Revolutionary War projects of students at the Bridge School throughout the month of March. [Click to enlarge]

Four dollars and a student ID card will gain you entry to the Henry Sheldon Museum's new exhibit, "A Kid's Eye View of the American Revolution." The Sheldon Museum, located on College Street in Middlebury, is a haven from the neighboring restaurants and retail stores. Set far back on the street, its interior is unexpectedly large and filled with a treasure trove of materials, and from March 1 until April 7, the Walter Cerf Gallery holds the spotlight: "A Kids' Eye View of the American Revolution: The Bridge School Exhibit."

The Cerf gallery is home to an ever-changing array of exhibits. This month, the local artists on display are elementary school students hailing from the Bridge School of Middlebury, a small, non-profit, private organization. About 65 students are enrolled in the program, which operates out of a former dairy barn. Now, through a variety of projects, the students present their interpretations of the Revolutionary War in the Cerf Gallery.

"It gives the schools a chance to have focus in their work and to show the public what they're doing," says Susan Peden, the museum's education coordinator, of the school-created exhibits. "It's a nice change for us, too."

The concept of exhibits created by children is not new to the Sheldon Museum. In fact, for the past six or seven years, such exhibits have been offered in the springtime, Susan Peden attests. Peden is the Education Coordinator at the Henry Sheldon Museum, and the individual heading up the project. Peden elaborated on some of the children's exhibits of the past, some dealing with Western Religions, or with Folk Art in America. The subject of an exhibit, according to Peden, "depends on what inspires us and what we think would be fun."

One popular exhibit of the past focused on Storybook Quilts, in which the students actually worked with parents, art teachers and local craftspeople to create the quilts.

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