Burlington City Arts (formerly The Firehouse Gallery, or The Center, or the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts) is an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

art education Visual arts education is the area of learning that is based upon the kind of art that one can see, visual arts—drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and design in jewelry, pottery, weaving, fabrics, etc. and design applied to more practi ...

/studio centre and cultural events space in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

. The building was originally built as the Ethan Allen Firehouse on Church Street in 1889. The building is owned by the City of Burlington. Burlington City Arts uses the building for its exhibits, lectures, and educational programs. The gallery has been open since 1995.

History

The Ethan Allen Firehouse is a historic building located in downtown Burlington. It was designed by local architect A.B. Fisher and completed in 1889, serving as home to the Ethan Allen Engine Company No. 4, one of Burlington's volunteer fire departments. In 1927, the building was acquired by the Burlington Police Department, and later, in 1967, it became unoccupied and fell into disrepair. In 1973, the building was slated for demolition, but due to community interest, the Board of

Aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

decided to halt the demolition and allocate funds for its stabilization. Over the years, various organizations utilized the space, including the offices of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Patrick Leahy Patrick Joseph Leahy ( ; born March 31, 1940) is an American politician and attorney who represented Vermont in the United States Senate from 1975 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he also was the pr ...

and the University of Vermont's Church Street Center. In 1995, the Burlington City Arts (BCA) began developing the concept of an arts center, and the Firehouse Gallery moved into half of the ground floor. The Ethan Allen Firehouse was eventually chosen to house this arts center.

Renovation

In 1999, the City Council voted to transform the firehouse into the Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts. BCA hired an architect for the renovation and in the spring of 2001, they began construction. After a few months, progress stopped when a large crack developed on the north wall and the building sank by about 4 inches (100 mm). After much stabilization, construction resumed. To complete the

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...

Shelburne Museum Shelburne Museum is a museum of art, design, and Americana located in Shelburne, Vermont, United States. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. It is located ...

returned the original bell back to the Firehouse tower. The BCA Center (formerly Firehouse Center for the Visual Arts) opened to the public in 2002. It includes a community darkroom and photography studio; artist-in-residence studio; multimedia conference facility for lectures, film series, and panel discussions; and Resource Room and Library with public meeting space and Internet access.

The BCA Center galleries

The BCA Center presents exhibitions, and high-quality artwork, as well as exhibition-related discussions, and arts activities. Their exhibitions and education programming attempt to build and sustain audiences for contemporary art outside of major urban centers.

Roof and Cupola

In 2001, BCA Center learned that the

hoped to give the original bell back to the Firehouse tower. Ravaged by years of water, damage, a re-engineering and renovation of the tower as well as a concentrated fundraising effort took place. The bell was hoisted back into its home on September 12, 2002.

References

External links