SHELBURNE, Vt.-
Vermont's Shelburne Museum is shifting its focus from a historic tourist site showcasing folk art, artifacts and Americana to become a museum of art and design.
Visitors can still wander through the old New England homes, barns and buildings and view American folk art, decoys, Impressionist paintings, quilts and furniture.
But this summer there is also a show of American painter Georgia O'Keeffe's work; the works of Vermont children's book illustrator Tasha Tudor; and a modern furniture show featuring Knoll furniture designed by Frank Gehry and other masters.
The museum was founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb, daughter of art collectors, in 1947. An unexpected gem is the Impressionist collection–paintings by Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas–hanging on the walls of a replica building of the Webbs' 1930s Park Avenue apartment in New York City.
The museum is open from May to October and draws between 100,000 and 120,000 visitors a year.
