Recently, my wife and I visited the Middlebury College Museum of Art to see its current exhibition of Vermont-related works by Connecticut-born Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900). Since it closes August 9, we were nearing the now-or-never point to enjoy a collection featuring pieces by an artist widely viewed as America’s finest landscape painter of the nineteenth century.

Since it opened in May, some readers will already have taken in the exhibition, and they will surely echo my sense of appreciation. If you’re unaware of the Church exhibition or someone who also has procrastinated, time is of the essence. A look at the museum’s website will offer a good introduction, but as with most things nothing tops being there in person.

In brief, museum curators have crafted an exhibition spanning over three decades of Church’s career, beginning with an initial three-month Vermont stay in 1848. Visitors thus see the artist’s early work as he gains his footing immediately following the death of his teacher, the famed landscape painter Thomas Cole. He returned to the state in 1849, honing his talents through pencil and oil sketches that became the source for larger paintings that would be completed over the winter.

Visitors from Brandon and Pittsford along with other spots in Rutland County and beyond will find this particularly appealing since works on display capture many local scenes. One, for example, is a sketch done at Fern Lake in Leicester. As well, Church repeatedly found himself drawing at spots along Otter Creek, finding waterfalls especially compelling.

The peripatetic artist also enjoyed Vermont’s scenery in ways other than sketching and painting. You will thus be reminded of his love of trout fishing through a display of a Church-period fly rod and fish net. Letters provide evidence, moreover, that he enjoyed feasting on his catch as much as he liked reeling them in.

While this article is primarily about the Frederic Church display, it would be remiss not to mention the excellent companion exhibition of photographs of mature adults. Entitled “With Time,” it features “studies of human beings who have simply become who they are with time,” to quote website text. These images demonstrate just how fascinating that process can be.

Located in the Mahaney Center for the Arts, the museum’s hours are Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m., and closed on Monday. In addition, it is not open on Middlebury College designated holidays. Admission is free, and parking is available in an adjacent lot on Porter Field Road just off South Main Street. Exiting the main door, you will find a view worthy of a Church painting in and of itself.

For more on the Church exhibition, see: https://www.middlebury.edu/museum/exhibitions/2025/frederic-church-in-vermont

^{Header image: “On Otter Creek,” 1850, Middlebury College Museum of Art}