The Bennington Museum, closed today due to area flooding
[My report on NYC-area museums is here.]
Irene, although downgraded to a tropical storm, still wreaked havoc while working its way up north to New England. Particularly hard hit by devastating floods was Vermont, for which this was (as described by the Burlington Free Press) “the state’s worst natural disaster since the epic flood of 1927.”
A spokesperson for the Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, VT, told me:
We were very fortunate to come through Irene unscathed. We never even lost power. We did close the museum on Sunday as a precaution during the storm. We are open regular hours today, Monday. Southern Vermont was particularly hard hit.
The Bennington Museum, located in Southern Vermont, has not replied to my e-mail, but did post this on its website:
Special Notice: Bennington Museum is CLOSED today, Monday August 29, due to flooded and damaged roads in and around Bennington.
The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown,MA, just 15 miles south of Bennington, tweeted:
Thinking
of our neighbors and friends across New England who have been affected
by Irene. The Clark is very lucky to be open today
In other Irene-related museum news: Heritage Preservation, a nonprofit cultural-heritage group, is gathering information about Irene-related damage to cultural and historic sites. Responses on this form will be publicly posted. The American Association of Museums, on its Twitter site, urges institutions to “complete this damage report to help centralize info for response efforts.”