Steve Weber. Photo by George Bellerose.

Our Portraits of a Forest: Men and Machine exhibit will be on display at the Center for Arts and Learning in Montpelier, February 6, 2026 - March 27, 2026.

Open hours: Monday – Friday 8 am – 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am – 5 pm.

By the mid 1800s, settlers with their axes and oxen transformed Vermont into a mosaic of open land and forests—clearing nearly 80 percent of the formerly forested landscape. Today, that 80/20 ratio has been nearly reversed, testament to how quickly humans and nature shape the land. Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is once again one of the most heavily forested states in the country.

Featuring photographs and interview excerpts created by photojournalist George Bellerose, Portrait of a Forest: Men and Machine documents through images and text how the forestry community continues to shape the land today and asks: What does it mean to be stewards of a working forest?