The Shelburne Museum in Vermont will construct a $12.5M Native American Art Center in 2025, with Annum Architects and Two Row Architect leading the design to create a sustainable and culturally inclusive space, showcasing over 500 items from 389 tribal nations. The center's architecture reflects Indigenous cultures, with features like an east-facing entrance and a gathering circle, providing a unique and respectful environment for art display and cultural activities.
Rendering courtesy of Annum Architects
View of Perry Center for Native American Art at Shelburne Museum along new landscaped pathway looking south.
The Shelburne Museum, located just south of Burlington, Vt., unveiled the design of a planned building for its Native American art collection on Sept. 26, in addition to announcing the gallery's architectural team.
Construction of the $12.5 million Perry Center for Native American Art is set to begin in next spring, according to a press release from the museum. The 11,200 sq.-ft. space is expected to be the 40th building on the museum campus.
The new Native American art gallery is being designed by Annum Architects of Boston and Two Row Architect of Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, located in Ontario, Canada. Additionally, Reed Hilderbrand in Cambridge, Mass., will complete the landscape design.
PC Construction in South Burlington will be the project's contractor when onsite work begins in 2025. Working alongside the builder will be Civil Engineering Associates, another South Burlington firm.
The Perry Center's architects are working to make the gallery building a highly sustainable structure that will serve as a welcoming space for Tribal members and scholars to study and engage with the collection, as well as one that will reimagine the museum experience for all visitors.
Museum officials noted that the collaboration joins together "noted firms with depth of experience in both major museum and Indigenous projects."
In a written statement, Steven Gerrand, a principal with Annum, said, "Embedded in the design are careful listening, research and creative iteration of ideas, all reflective of how the museum has operated since its founding."
VTDigger noted that the Shelburne Museum's collection is expected to include more than 500 items from 389 tribal nations in North America, including Indigenous art already stewarded by the museum as well as items gathered and donated by the center's namesake, Indigenous art enthusiast Anthony Perry, and his wife Teressa Perry.
The museum worked closely with more than 50 Indigenous partners, who advised the center's design, conservation of the collection, and cultural protocols. Part of that collaboration included a series of listening sessions led by Two Row with leaders of tribal groups represented in the collection.
"The Talking Circles guided us in considering this project in different ways," Matthew Hickey, from the Mohawk Nation and a partner at Two Row, said in a statement. "The building needed to honor the host nation, the Abenaki. The internal space, where the items from many Tribal Nations will be housed, will need to accommodate unique moments with items in the collection and allow for those items to be looked at and taken care of in unique ways."
The result is a building and integrated landscape design that honors the traditional stewards of the site and is referential to the many cultures whose items will be housed in the Perry Center.
"The many steps that led us to this moment are the result of a collaborative approach focused on communication and relationship building with Tribal Nations to create a national resource for the study and care of Indigenous art," explained Thomas Denenberg, CEO and director of the Shelburne Museum.
Perry Center's Designs Reflect Indigenous Cultures
The building itself is curvilinear in its shape, thus referencing several Indigenous building types, according to the Shelburne. The interior is responsive to the changing elevation of the landscape with a floor that gently ramps down on the north end, allowing for visitors to move onto the upper landscape terrace without requiring stairs.
Features of the Perry Center that reflect the needs of Indigenous cultures include:
- An east-facing entrance in alignment with values in many Indigenous cultures, including the Abenaki.
- An orientation space with an oculus or skylight that lets light in and serves as a connection to the sky above, an important consideration in many cultures.
- A housing area designed for collection care with a separate room created for visiting Tribal members or researchers to view items and conduct cultural practices, either in person or virtually.
- A lawn landscape terrace with a gathering circle formed of local stone.
- Visible rainwater features acknowledging the importance of water in many cultures as a component of all living things.
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