| Built in 1991 through the generosity of art dealer and philanthropist Walter Cerf, the gallery has become the hub of public activity at the Museum. A varied exhibition schedule features both historically themed exhibits and art exhibits of work by contemporary Vermont artists and craftspeople. Recent exhibits have highlighted Vermont’s role in the Civil War, leisure life in 19th century Vermont and the history of town/gown relationships with Middlebury College. The Gallery also serves as a space for lectures, school programs and special events and is open to the public except when it is being used for educational programs.
Exhibit Schedule: Middlebury Meeting House: Celebrating 200 Years of the Congregational Church
March 24 to June 27, 2009
Two hundred years ago the citizens of a frontier village pooled their resources to build what many regard as the most beautiful building in Vermont, the Middlebury Congregational Church. The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History and the Congregational Church of Middlebury join together to present Middlebury Meeting House: Celebrating 200 Years of the Congregational Church, an exhibit about builder Lavius Fillmore’s masterpiece, the Congregational Church of Middlebury. Curated by Nancy Rucker and Barbara Wells, the exhibit provides an overview of the Congregational Church’s long history. Originally conceived as a meeting house for the Church of Christ, the consecration of the church on May 31, 1809 was the culmination of years of hard work and controversy. The exhibit will feature objects from the Museum’s collection, including the Bible used in 1809 dedication, Watts Psalms and Hymns owned by an original member, and photographs and architectural remnants from the building. Come and celebrate the anniversary of this important Middlebury landmark.
 Mapping Champlain’s New World
May 6 to October 23, 2009
This exhibit is an Official Quadricentennial program
Samuel de Champlain was not only known as the founder of New France, he was also a skilled cartographer. In recognition of the Champlain Quadricentennial, this exhibit features a stunning private collection of maps chronicling the evolution of the Lake Champlain region, Vermont and the United States from 1635 to 1911. Visitors will see how successive layers of land acquisition and use were made manifest as mapmakers depicted European conquest and settlement. Maps express the cultural, economic and political ideals of their makers and of the audiences for which they were made. The exhibit will encourage the public to think critically about the meanings of the maps they see every day.  Vermont From Actual Survey, image courtesy: Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division
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One of Vermont’s premier collections of furniture, paintings, documents
The Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History