Exhibits highlighting and showcasing local history, heritage, and institutions have been mostly displayed in the Academy Building since 2010. Those prepared in digital format may still be viewed today. For information about others, please check with the Salisbury Association Executive Assistant, Lou Bucceri at info@salisburyassociation.org.
Birth, Death, and Alphabets: TheEnduring Legacy of Schoolgirl Needleworks Before 1850
Spring 2025
The exhibit was curated by Alexandra Peters, a resident of Sharon, and highlighted samplers stitched by girls, mostly aged 5 to 16, between 1689 and 1850.Remarkable for their inventiveness and beauty, needlework samplers are historical documents written by girls on silk and linen with needles.
The samplers are a part of Alexandra Lally Peters’ 150 piece collection. She is a sampler collector and historian who researches every sampler she buys. She loves turning up intriguing information about the lives of the real girls who sat down in school to pierce their linen and silks with needles, two to three hundred years ago.
The World Comes to Salisbury: Celebrating the Holley Knife Collection
Fall 2024
This exhibition tells the story of the Holley Manufacturing Company which was central to Salisbury’s economic life from 1844 to 1947.
Imperiled Species in Our Community: The Biodiversity Crisis at Home
Summer 2024
An exhibit on view at the Academy Building from May 25 through the end of July tells the story of a dramatic decline in the biodiversity of local animal species. Come learn how you can help the at-risk Eastern Pearlshell, Bobolink, Slimy Sculpin, American Bittern, Bombardier Beetle, American Kestrel (pictured) and other species important to our local environment.
Affordable Housing
Fall 2023
Ever since COVID-19 sent local home prices skyrocketing, people have been talking about the need for affordable housing. But an affordable housing crisis isn’t a recent phenomenon. It’s been negatively impacting Salisbury residents, workers and business owners for decades. Luckily, multiple local organizations have been working to create more affordable housing to ensure a vibrant future for our town.
What’s in a Name
Summer 2023
Ever wonder how settlers chose to name your road? The mystery of why places around us are called what they are, can be solved by a visit to our “What’s in a Name” exhibit. Members of the Association’s Historical Society Committee spent months delving into centuries of town records, newspaper accounts, early histories, journals and oral legends to discover the history behind names of local streets, natural sites and buildings we pass every day.
The Land We Protect: Conserving Our Natural Resources
Summer 2023
Exhibit highlights our local resources—water, forests, critical habitats, and more—and how the Land Trust, in cooperation with conservation partners, is working to conserve them.
The Art of Aging: Celebrating 50 years — Noble Horizons
2022
“The Art of Aging” is a tribute to the first 50 years of Noble Horizons, which was founded by community members in 1972. The exhibit celebrates the many people—staff, residents, supporters, and volunteers—who helped create the tri-state’s premier senior living community. Enjoy photos, memorabilia, video clips and more in the exhibit.
Life of a Community: The Lakeville Journal Celebrates 125 Years
Fall 2022
Fascinating exhibit chronicles the history of the century-spanning Lakeville Journal newspaper.
Photo Tribute to the Essential Workers of Salisbury/Lakeville
2022
To honor our essential workers, Leo Nadeau created a photographic tribute to essential workers in our community, photographing each group with masks and without.
We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to these essential workers who, despite all risks, remained on the job and kept serving our community. Workers in grocery stores, public transportation, agriculture, health care, day care, retail, and other sectors provided critical services when we needed them most. To honor these workers, freelance photographer Leo Nadeau created this photographic tribute to the women and men who work face-to-face with the general public and provide much needed services in our town. To symbolize the difficulty of life during these challenging times, Nadeau photographed each group with masks and without.
Come into the Forest
Summer 2022
What better way to connect with nature than a walk in a forest. Forests matter more than we may realize. From the air we breathe, to clean drinking water, to the diversity of life, we depend on forests for our well-being. Forested lands also combat climate change. Why do forest matter? What are the threats? What can we do to make a difference? These questions are the focus of our new exhibit, “Come Into the Forest.” Created by Lou and Elaine Hecht.
Learn More
Student Projects from Coloring Our Past – The Troutbeck Symposium
Spring 2022
The Troutbeck Symposium was a student-led collaboration uncovering local civil rights history through student created documentaries, exhibitions, and artwork. Some of that work is now on display in the Academy
In Her Own Words
19 Stories of Women from the Salisbury Oral History Project
October 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022
This exhibit features interviews of contemporary Salisbury women and is an illustrative sampling of the nearly 400 oral histories in the collection.
Learn More
Salisbury’s Olympians
Winter 2022
Salisbury’s Olympians highlights the town’s world champion and Olympic skiers and their contributions to Salisbury and Nordic sports.
Learn More
Local Baseball from 1846 – 1938
Spring – Summer 2021
Stories sure to please about “how it was” in the early days of baseball here in Salisbury. Curated by Katherine Chilcoat.
A Long Road to Victory: Women’s Suffrage in Salisbury & Connecticut
October 2020-March 2021
Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote and highlighting efforts of local women.
Paintings by Tom Key: Landscapes of New England.
2020
Since retiring from an international engineering firm, Salisbury Association Trustee Emeritus Tom Key has concentrated on a career as a landscape painter working in oils, as well as watercolor.
Birds in Crisis: What Can I Do?
2020 – 2021
Nearly 1/3 of birds’ breeding grounds in the US and Canada have disappeared since 1970. Many lost birds are common backyard species, more than ½ of grassland birds are gone, and forests have lost more than a billion birds. The good news is there are many things we can do! By Elaine and Lou Hecht and co-sponsored with Sharon Audubon and Housatonic Valley Association/Greenprint.
Learn More
Breaking Barriers: National History Day 2020
Projects from Salisbury Central School students.
Postcard History of Salisbury’s Past
2019
Our town as depicted through post cards.
Music Mountain at 90
2019
Exhibit details origins and storied past of longest continually running String Quartet Summer Music Festival, by Anne Liebling.
Triumph and Tragedy: National History Day 2019
Projects from Salisbury Central School students.
Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA)
December 2018-February 2019
Exhibition on Salisbury’s ski jumping tradition that dates back to 1926. SWSA is the volunteer organization that keeps it going and has cultivated and nurtured generations of young skiers.
Roy Sherwood Ski Jumping Collection Display
December 2018- February 2019
Olympic and ski-jumping career artifacts belonging to Roy Sherwood were generously donated to the Association by his two daughters. Sherwood was a Salisbury native who competed for the United States during the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina, Italy.
Over There and Here: Salisbury and Its People During the Great War
2018
An exhibit in remembrance of the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that ended WWI. The exhibit focused on ways Salisbury residents served overseas and at home during the war.
Conflict and Compromise in History: National History Day 2018
Projects from Salisbury Central School Students.
Light on the Land
2018
Photographs of Salisbury Association Land Trust conserved properties by noted photographer, Joseph Meehan.
Learn More
Black History in Rural Connecticut
2018
A special project created by Salisbury School students.
Go Native!
2017
An exhibit on the benefits of using native plants to sustain a diversity of wildlife and the threat to the health of our native community of plants and animals from invasive species.
Learn More
