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A Neighbor Project: The Downtown Middlebury Portrait

The Henry Sheldon Museum presents the virtual exhibit A Neighbor Project: The Downtown Middlebury Portrait by local artist Rebecca Kinkead. The Downtown Middlebury Portrait includes over a hundred 7 x 5 inch oil portraits of local community members created in the spring of 2020 during twenty-minute portrait sessions throughout the town. The portrait project coincided with Middlebury’s railroad bridge construction, bringing together local business owners, employees, customers, and residents in celebration of the downtown community. These portraits serve as a visual record of the time spent and connections forged with her sitters. Kinkead is “profoundly comforted each time a friend or stranger sits down before [her]” to talk and to be painted.

Photo by Caleb Kenna

Photo by Caleb Kenna

Rebecca Kinkead is a Vermont-based artist who lives and works in Cornwall. She holds degrees in Political Science and French from the University of Vermont, and a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art from Minnesota State University. Her work began with clay and transitioned to paint in 1998. Kinkead has been awarded residencies at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, County Mayo, Ireland; Baer Art Center, Hofsos, Iceland; Jentel Foundation, Banner, Wyoming; and most recently, the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont. Her work has been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally for over two decades.

A Neighbor Project Guest Book

When visitors tour the Sheldon Museum, we encourage them to sign our Guest Book. While we are closed to the public, we hope you enjoy our virtual exhibit of Rebecca Kinkead's A Neighbor Project. After touring the exhibit, we invite you to sign our virtual Guest Book.

For those of you who participated in A Neighbor Project and have a portrait featured in the exhibit, tell us about your experience.

We will post comments in the virtual Guest Book.

The individual portraits included in The Downtown Middlebury Portrait exhibit are available for purchase, $300 each, through the Sheldon Museum. All proceeds benefit the Sheldon Museum. If interested, please email henrysheldonmuseum@gmail.com to make arrangements.

The Sheldon offered two live collage workshops with Rebecca Kinkead, who guided participants in creating their own portraits in collage.

The Sheldon Museum hopes to open in the fall of 2020, should COVID-19 restrictions allow, and A Neighbor Project: The Downtown Middlebury Portrait will be available to view in-person at that time.