“View Over the Grout Pile,” oil painting by Tracey J. Hambleton. Photo courtesy of the Vermont Granite Museum.
The Vermont Granite Museum announces the opening of a new exhibition, “Barre, Painted Fresh: Oil Paintings by Tracey J. Hambleton.” This new, engaging exhibition will be on view at the Vermont Granite Museum from Aug. 31 through Oct. 15, 2023.
Tracey J. Hambleton has been a practicing plein-air painter since 2010, and she most often seeks out familiar views to paint outside on her tripod easel.
Hambleton embarked on an 11-month residency at Studio Place Arts in 2022, during which she explored Barre’s landmark buildings, iconic industrial areas, hillside houses, and crisscrossing tracks of the railroad in her work.
“Though sometimes gritty, weathered, imperfect or worn, the landscape of Barre keeps me inspired,” she says. “The shadows cast from church steeples, the glow on farm fields, the color of granite, the foursquare roof-lines, the evidence of changing times and the people who live and work here — these are the things I hope to preserve with my paintings.”
“Barre, Painted Fresh” celebrates Barre’s past and present in its historic neighborhoods and its varied architecture, honoring the indelible mark the granite industry has made on this community.
“We are thrilled to be exhibiting Tracey Hambleton’s paintings of Barre and its abandoned granite quarries,” says Scott McLaughlin, the museum’s executive director. “Her paintings capture views of the community that are peaceful, comforting, and timeless.”
More information about Hambleton’s exhibit can be found at vtgranitemuseum.org, or on the museum’s Facebook page: facebook.com/vermontgranitemuseum. Questions can go to development@vtgranitemuseum.org or 802-249-3897. All of Hambleton’s paintings in this exhibition are available for sale.
