Brattleboro Museum & Art Center

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Brattleboro, Vermont

Schwartz/Silver was engaged by the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) and M&S Development to design a unique and exciting 55,000 square foot building in the center of downtown Brattleboro. The new building will be set along waterfalls at the Whetstone Brook, overlooking the Connecticut River. The proposed design weaves together a non-collecting art museum founded in 1972 with new mixed-income residential housing.

The new BMAC, overlooking the Whetstone Brook waterfall off Main Street, includes museum facilities at street level and on the two floors underneath adjacent to the Whetstone, and would have apartments on the top four floors. The building program includes 5,500 SF of galleries, a 2,500 SF education center with classrooms; a café; a sculpture garden on the roof; a kayak launch and a footbridge connecting Main Street to the Connecticut River and local Amtrak Station.

The Union Station galleries will be renovated and used as a “long-term showcase” of works by artists Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason, according to Brattleboro Museum & Art Center Chief Curator Mara Williams, “…and our new galleries will enable us to bring cutting-edge, immersive, interactive art exhibits to Brattleboro on a regular basis, as well as exhibits that require special technology or climate control.”

“The architects’ brief was to design a bold, 21st century building that offers a robust ‘Welcome to Brattleboro,’ while at the same time harmonizing with the Town’s historic streetscape. It was also very important to us that the new building be open and inviting, with art visible from the sidewalk and across the street, even when the museum is closed. We know that art museums can be intimidating places, and we want BMAC to be as transparent and welcoming as possible.”

— Danny Lichtenfeld, Director of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center