Brattleboro Museum and Art Center

About Brattleboro Museum and Art Center :

The Brattleboro Museum and Art Center is an independent, non-collecting museum whose mission is to present art and ideas in ways that inspire, educate, and engage audiences of all ages.

History :

First-time visitors to the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center are often intrigued before they've even encountered our exhibits, and for good reason. After all, not many museums are housed in former train stations, with the old ticket windows still intact, windows overlooking the tracks, and marble steps burnished by long-ago travelers rushing to catch the 8:51.

Union Station was built in 1915, the third of three stations that served the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad starting in 1849. Over the next half-century, until Interstate highways completely transformed transportation, Brattleboro's railway station was a hub of activity, serving not only as a key to link major cities north and south but as a social gathering spot as well.

In 1966, however, passenger train service to Brattleboro was terminated, and Union Station fell into serious disrepair. Luckily for all of us, a group of visionary, culturally savvy community members rescued the building and re-opened it in 1972 as the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center. It has been going strong ever since, presenting dynamic, thought-provoking art, stimulating events, and engaging educational programs to loyal locals and intrigued visitors alike. The building may no longer be a train station but it remains a bustling center of activity, bringing new creative energy into the community, sparking new connections, and sending forth new ideas into the world. Though for different reasons, it is still very much a "transportive" place.