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| | The Fairbanks Museum is home to the entire collection of mosiacs known as "Bug Art" created by John Hampson. Using thousand of beetles, moths and butterflies, meticulously postioned on wood and lovingly framed, his creations are a unique reflection of this artist's vision and precision.
Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Museum invited Hélène Gillette-Woodard from the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Massachusetts to assess the condition of our Bug Art collection. Her report details the much needed conservation work. We are seeking additional support to make sure these unique treasures are properly cared for so generations to come can enjoy them.
John Hampson was born in Stockport, Cheshire, England, on July 9, 1836. He came to the United States in 1860, and in the 1870's, Hampson married and moved to Newark, New Jersey.
His passion for insects resulted in the creation of nine mosaics made of common moths and beetles. Each creation contains thousands of insects – ranging from 6,300 to over 13,500. Hampson decorated the frames that encase his creations with luminous beetles and colorful flies.
The Newark Evening News of February 17, 1923 wrote the following about Hampson's work:
Most of them are the common field flies and moths – the skippers, cabbage flies and other familiar to everyone who has a back yard. It would take perhaps three or four years for Hampson to complete one picture, mounting the insects so that the white, black, red, orange, blue and yellow wings would form pictures of famous American generals in characteristic poses, or intricate designs such as the North Star, completed in 1887, or the Centennial Wheel, finished in 1892, copies from patchwork quilts, which had won prizes at exhibitions. But no scraps of silk or calico can match the deathless coloring contained in the wings of these tiny children of the fields and flowers.
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Current Conditions
05/16/12 6:06 PM
St. Johnsbury, VT
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Showers and thunderstorms, some severe, will continue eastward from the Champlain Valley this afternoon. Exercise caution if outdoors this afternoon and evening. Seek shelter if storms approach.
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