A Great Time to Visit West Branch Gallery

West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park is one of the best places in Vermont to experience art outside.  Located in the bucolic mountain town of Stowe, Vermont, the indoor gallery and outdoor sculpture park is situated on the West Branch of the Little River. West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park is one of Vermont’s premier destinations for contemporary art. Since 2001, thousands of visitors have enjoyed 3,400 square-feet of gallery space showing 60 contemporary artists and a 3.5 acre park dotted with large outdoor sculpture. The Sculpture Park is located at the crossroads of the Stowe Recreation Path (a 5.5 mile long paved path for cycling, jogging, and walking) and Route 108 (Mountain Road), a scenic state highway that leads up the mountain through historic Smugglers Notch.

The sculpture park is curated by Vermont sculptor Christopher Curtis and showcases work by Richard Erdman, John Matusz, Chris Miller, Claude Millette, Karen Petersen, Jonathan Prince, and David Stromeyer. Curtis, whose own sculpture is concerned with context and resonance, expertly selected and placed the selection on view at the sculpture park. The spectacular 3.5 acre park is dotted with large trees and is bordered by the winding West Branch of the Little River, making it a beautiful place to visit and contemplate the sculpture on view.

“Sculpture is something that can draw you outside,” said Curtis. “It amplifies the changes in the seasons and the weather. A sculpture in snow looks different than it does in the springtime, different than it does in the rain, or with fog behind it. It makes the outdoors more appealing in some way, because you notice it more.”

Visitors to the park are greeted by John Rubino's gate-like welded steel arch,L’Arc de Gymnastique, and then Rumba by David Stromeyer, a large geometric, painted-steel sculpture. As visitors move about the park, they encounter carved granite work by Chris Miller; organic cast bronze forms by Karen Petersen; and curious contrasts of steel and stone by John Matusz. Claude Millette’s work deals with captivity and movement by juxtaposing organic and geometric shapes that allow the viewer to contemplate the emotional and the rational. The bronze work of Richard Erdman and the granite work of Christopher Curtis are particularly attuned to the environment in which they are placed.

West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park offers visitors a unique opportunity to explore these large sculptures in a beautiful outdoor setting.