Vermont Village
Artist Ed Levine’s most significant project is Vermont Village: A Conversation between Art, Water and the Land and is sited outdoors in South Royalton, VT. Deeply inspired by nineteenth-century author Henry David Thoreau, whose existential engagement with nature resulted in the book Walden; or, Life in the Woods, Ed spent three decades building a collection of eclectic wood structures throughout the steep and wooded property. Dozens of structures, which exist between sculpture and architecture, explore different aspects of humanity’s relationship to nature and reflect the vernacular architecture of rural Vermont. The structures appear at home in this wooded landscape. And, like the surrounding built landscape, these structures are in various states of preservation and decay. Some are sited precariously on a steep slope while others are clustered together like a small village or settlement at the bottom and top of the property. Many structures invite viewers inside using doors, windows, rooms, and seating. Many employ water; others incorporate photography, light and/or sound. All seek to reshape our understanding of the natural and constructed worlds in humorous and surprising ways.
Ed Levine’s sculptural environment will be open to the public at no charge with guided tours available during summer months starting in 2025. Until then, watch five visitors discover and experience this unique artist environment on the Back River Road website.
Egg Building
Height: 11′ 9″; Diameter: 5′ 9 1/2″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Waterfall Building
Height: 12′ 9″; Width 9′ 3″; Length 15′ 3 1/2″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Vermont Ark
Height: 7′; Width: 6′; Length: 30′
Hemlock wood and building materials
Train for a Poet
Dimensions Variable
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Descartes Building
Height: 12′ 1″; Width: 8′ 3″; Length: 11′ 9″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Eye Building
Height: 11′ 12″; Width: 7′ 4″; Length: 10′ 11″
Hemlock wood and building materials
Module Building
Dimensions variable
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Nest Building
Height: 12′ 1″ Diameter: 11′
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Locomotive Building
Length: 10′; Width: 5′ 8 1/4″; Height: 7′ 8 1/2″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Leaf Building
Height: 16′; Width: 5′ 8 1/4″; Length: 10′
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Wave Building
Height: 11′ 1″; Width: 6′ 1″; Length: 12′ 4 1/2″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Hive Building
Height: 6′; Diameter: 10′ 1 1/4″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Water Table Building
Height: 7′ 4″; Width: 7′ 9 1/2′; Length: 16′ 4″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Library Building
Height: 15′ 4″; Width: 11′ 10 1/4″; Length: 12′
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Star Building
Height: 10′ 3 1/2″; Diameter: 9′
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Descartes Building
Height: 12′ 1″; Width: 8′ 3″; Length: 11′ 9″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Gate
Height: 16′; Width: 10′
Building materials, mounted image on rolling gate door.
Shaker Building
Height: 14′; Width: 12′ 4″; Length: 22′ 7″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Split Building
Height: 12′ ; Width: 15′ 5″; Length: 10′ 1″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Father Maple’s Podium Building
Height: 12′ 6″; Diameter: 14′ 10″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Lighthouse Building
Height: 9′ 7″; Diameter: 2′ 1 1/2″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Mouth Building
Height: 11′ 12″; Width: 7′ 4″; Length: 10′ 11″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Water Tower Building
Height: 13′; Diameter: 10′ 6″
Hemlock wood and building materials.
Clock Building
Height: 13′ Diameter: 6′ 7″
Hemlock wood and building materials.