SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Author Anita Rafael will launch the fall 2024 semester of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), with the program “Saving the ‘Lost’ Paintings of Vermont: The Lyman Orton Collection,” on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 2 p.m., at the Nolin Murray Center, next to St. Mary’s Church, on Pleasant Street in Springfield.
Rafael will tell the story of the magnificent art collection of Lyman Orton, proprietor of The Vermont Country Store, and how he went about collecting this artwork for nearly half a century to ensure that these treasures stayed in their home state of Vermont. She’ll show photographs of many of the pieces, and describe how she helped to collect and tell the stories behind the scenes, and the artists that depict a true love of Vermont in the landscape and the lives of Vermont’s people. Included will be pieces by Rockwell Kent, Luigi Lucioni, Dean Fausett, Henry Shokler, and Stuart Eldredge of Springfield – all from a time that Orton calls the “golden era” of the painters in Vermont, from 1910-1970.
Orton is sharing his collection with Vermonters at locations throughout the state. Many of the paintings are currently on exhibit until the end of the year at the Vermont Historical Society’s Pavilion Museum in Montpelier.
Rafael is the coauthor of the book chronicling this fascinating collection and the story behind it. She is a writer living and working in an 1840s carriage barn she rehabilitated in 2005, in the Village of Wardsboro, Vt. Her feature articles about people, places, arts, food, travel, and events in Vermont have appeared in lifestyle magazines and newspapers throughout the State of Vermont since 2007, as well as on websites and travel blogs.
Sponsored by the University of Vermont, OLLI is run by local volunteer members, and is geared mainly towards seniors who are 50 years of age and older who enjoy learning for the fun of it. Anyone who would be interested in this type of program, regardless of their age, is welcome. The programs are held Tuesday afternoons, at 2 p.m., and last about an hour and a half.
You may view the entire semester’s programs by going to www.learn.uvm.edu/olli/springfield. Preregistration can be done online at this website with a credit card. You may also register over the phone using your credit card by calling 802-656-8407 during regular office hours, Monday-Friday, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. There is a membership series fee, and nonmembers are welcome and encouraged to attend individual programs for a single program fee.
If you prefer to register by mail, send your contact information (name, address, phone number, and email address) indicating full series membership or which specific program(s) you wish to attend. Mail this information and your check made out to “University of Vermont – OLLI” to UVM Non-Credit Registration Office, 85 South Prospect Street, Box 34, Burlington, VT 05405.
If mailing in the registration, please allow 10-14 days from the date of mailing check to receipt and processing.
If there are weather-related changes to the schedule, you can check the above website on the morning of the program.
The next program, on Oct. 1, will be “The Long World War II.” Andrew Buchanan, senior lecturer in the UVM history department, will describe how today’s global world order is still being influenced by the events and politics of World War II.