There’s nothing that compares with fall in Vermont. We have been spoiled with a couple of lovely, bright and crisp days this week, making the drive to the Shelburne Museum to view the ‘Eyes on the Land’ exhibit all the more enjoyable.

If you live in the area, you will want to be sure to add this show to your calendar — and happily, you have until January 3rd to do so. Briefly, the exhibit contains the creative responses of 13 Vermont artists who were invited to participate by the Vermont Land Trust. Each artist was paired with a conserved parcel of land within the state, and given a year to complete their work.

In combing over the artists’ statements it is apparent that, although working independently from each other, many of them were struck by the divisions and boundaries they found during their year of study.

Susan Abbott states that she concentrated on the “intersection of man-made and natural” in her paintings created at the Johnson Farm.

“The boundaries between many of the meadows and the woods…” became the subject of Neil Riley’s oils, painted at the Virginia Stranahan Memorial Town Forest in Marshfield.

And Caleb Kenna’s photographs explore the dichotomy between the traditional “time-honored old-fashioned way” of sugaring at the Russell Farm in Hinesburg and the “very modern” operation that utilizes state of the art equipment at Butternut Mountain Farm sugarhouse in Johnson.

But considering borderlines is just one point of departure while viewing; you may find another approach that resonates more with you. The work is expansive and diverse, including video, collage, painting, conceptual art, environmental sculpture and photography. And, it is spaced throughout the gallery such that it doesn’t feel cramped. You can immerse yourself without being distracted by nearby pieces — a quality I find lacking in many shows.

I chatted briefly with the gallery attendant before leaving and because I was so enthralled, asked about the general response, fully expecting a glowing report. I was shocked when he said that it was about 50/50, that there were plenty of folks who had been disappointed because they were expecting “real art”!    Really?!

While beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, the key to art and its gift to viewers is an opportunity to think and observe with new eyes. I can’t think of a better way to further awareness of our collective responsibility to the land we are only borrowing than to allow 13 Vermont artists free reign to connect and respond with the precious terrain of this state in their individual ways.   The idea behind the show has, as the promotional literature says, produced “a full harvest of artworks in a variety of styles, techniques and processes”. What could be more “real” than that?

Participating artists: Susan Abbott, Bonnie Acker, Brian Collier, Cameron Davis, Charlie Hunter, Karolina Kawiaka, Caleb Kenna, Mark Nielsen, Neil Riley, Gowri Savoor, Dan Snow, John Willis, Matan Rubinstein, Tyler Wilkinson-Ray