GMALL Presents: Parks and Recreation

MANCHESTER, Vt. – Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning (GMALL) welcomes Jamie Franklin, curator at the Bennington Museum, to talk about the current exhibit at the museum, Parks & Recreation. The exhibit examines the history and artistic depictions of Vermont’s state parks and other formally designated natural areas, such as the state forests, the Green Mountain National Forest, and the Long Trail which runs through it, and the role they’ve played in the helping to make year-round outdoor recreation – from skiing/snowboarding to hiking and fishing – an integral aspect of the state’s identity in the public imagination. This presentation, which is based on the exhibition on view at Bennington Museum through November 6, will trace the history of Vermont’s parks from the origins of nature tourism in the region in the mid-nineteenth century through the formal development of a state park system and national forest designation beginning in the 1920s through the 1940s, alongside the state’s concerted effort to draw tourists through coordinated marketing campaigns. This talk will be available as an in-person event as well as an online presentation via Zoom. Pre-registration is required and there is a fee. For more information or to register, please call our office at 802-867-0111 or visit greenmtnacademy.org.