For Museum Goers

The world of art is alive in Johnny Appleseed territory. If you’re looking for a chance to experience the culture and art of the Shakers and American Indians of New England, as well as the one-time farmhouse of the famous Alcott family and later utopian commune, Fruitlands Museum (www.fruitlands.org) in Harvard, located just off Rte. 2, is your destination of choice. Not only is Fruitlands one of the first “outdoor museums” in America, with its breathtaking vistas and walking trails, and outdoor summer concerts at dusk, but it also offers the visitor a rare look into the life of the Alcotts with their Transcendentalist vision, the Shakers, utopians, artists and Native peoples. Four galleries are home to collections of Native American art and artifacts, the Hudson River School landscapes, a Shaker collection, and a gallery of American vernacular portraits. Dine in the tearoom and shop the Gift Shop of this most American of museums.

Twenty-five miles down the Johnny Appleseed Trail of Rte. 2 lies another world, the Fitchburg Art Museum (www.fitchburgartmuseum.org), located in Fitchburg on Merriam Parkway. Fourteen galleries house a rich collection of American and European painting, prints, drawings, ceramics and decorative arts a, as well as Greek, Roman, Asian and pre-Columbian antiquities. Exhibitions of works from other museums and private collections, as well as from both emerging and established contemporary artists make this treasured institution a must-see!

From local studios and a gallery halfway around the world, the art on display in Johnny Appleseed Country offers something of interest for everyone.
A highlight of the art scene in 2009 was “Two Museums, One Culture,” an exhibit that included 16 rare icons from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Staged at the Museum of Russian Icons (http://www.museumofrussianicons.org) in downtown Clinton, the exhibition is the only venue where the Tretyakov icons can be seen outside Russia. They were displayed alongside some 150 icons gathered by local industrialist Gordon Lankton, who created the Clinton museum just a few years ago as a home for his personal collection. Icons are religious images painted with brightly colored paints on wood and metal.
The Summer of 2010 brings a One Icon Exhibit — Kazan Mother of God, described by the Museum this way: This second in a series of One Icon Exhibitions showcases the recent acquisition of an important, large size Kazan Mother of God icon, circa 1650. It is considered to be one of the most important Mother of God icons—those depicting Mary and the infant Jesus—in Russia. The exhibition conveys how an in-depth examination of one particular painting can afford the visitor a greater awareness of its historic and artistic significance, as well as the particular relevance to the Museum’s collection.
Lankton, whose Nypro plastics factory is nearby, began collecting icons years ago, and the collection grew to significant proportions. He now shares the opportunity to see the icons — which were banned in Russia during the Soviet era — in a refurbished industrial building across from the town common in Clinton.
The Tretyakov icons on display date from the 16th and 17th centuries, and the exhibit has drawn visitors from around the world. Also on display at the museum this spring is an exhit of Palekh, the Russian folk handicraft of miniature painting with tempera on varnished objects made of papier-mâché.
The two exhibitions run through May 1.