An interview with Bettina Krampetz, BMAC Volunteer Extraordinaire.

BMAC: How long have you been a volunteer at BMAC?

Krampetz: I feel like it’s got to be more than 10 years. My husband was one of the founding members of Windham Art Gallery, and then he became the director until his ALS wouldn’t let him do it anymore. That gallery lived its life, and I needed to stay plugged in, because I had volunteered there. So I started here.

It’s one of the best volunteer jobs ever. My main role is as a greeter at the desk. I love the connections that one makes with the people who come in. I know a lot of people in the art community, so sometimes I’m just seeing an old friend and continuing a conversation. Sometimes it’s new people. In starting a conversation, amazing connections happen with places we've been or people we know.

BMAC: Can you tell us about some of the people you’ve met through volunteering at the Museum?

Krampetz: One of my really happy experiences has been that over a period of three years, there has been a grandmother who brings her grandson. He was probably not in kindergarten yet when they started. He comes with a backpack and art supplies, and they find something that appeals to him and they sit down and work together. It’s the loveliest relationship, and it’s a way to introduce a child to loving art. They walk around and find something that appeals to them. Sometimes they just look out the window and see if the train is going to come. In the beginning, he hardly would say boo, but now he’ll speak with me a little bit.

Another time, a woman came who has a summer home outside of Bennington. She’s from the West Coast, she was a pastel artist, and she wanted to see our museum. And we got talking. I have a son in northern California, and I’ve also become connected with Green Gulch Farm Zen Center up above Sausalito, where Mount Tam is. And that’s where she lives! The next time I was doing a retreat at the Zen Center, she came and picked me up, took me to her studio, served me tea, showed me all her pastels—things you would never dream of happening.

I have one old artist friend from Windham Art Gallery who knows that I’m here on Thursdays, and he often comes just so that we can chat.

BMAC: What else do you like about volunteering here?

Krampetz: A lot of my sitting time is on Thursday afternoons, which is when the Museum is free. It’s lovely when people walk in and go to reach for their wallet, and I say, “This is Thursday afternoon, and we are free, so please just be welcome and come and join us, and spread the word.” There are more and more people who are aware of that.

Some feel that museums are elitist—I mean, NO WAY. We’re given some leeway at the desk. I have sometimes, when somebody has hesitated, said, “Is this a difficult day for you? If it is, just please be our guest and come in.” It’s just a wonderful, wonderful job. And then to be sitting in the midst of the artwork! There are days that can be crazy busy, and days that are very quiet when I can have some time to myself and take it all in.

Another thing that volunteers do is that we have a big resource book in the drawer with information about restaurants and other museums and activities. Sometimes people just want to know where to go to eat, or where the Estey Museum is. It’s a nice aspect of the volunteer job to be able to give people some tips.

Because I've been here a long time, my relationships with the Museum staff are lovely. It’s nice to care about each other and to love something mutually. Erin Jenkins, who is in charge of the volunteers, is a dream to work with. She’s so considerate. She comes at the start of each sit to say hello and ask me how my week has been.

The shows are wonderful, and the programs are pretty amazing. Sometimes in this whole space [the Wolf Kahn and Emily Mason Gallery], you can hardly move, because they choose such wonderful events to have.

BMAC: What changes have you seen at BMAC during your time volunteering here?

Krampetz: I’m more aware of the wish to connect to the community and reach out, both in terms of some of the shows that have been selected that then pull in a lot of organizations and groups that tie to them, and also in terms of Education Curator Linda Whelihan’s work with children, with the Brattleboro Coop, and with the schools. I feel like that’s become a much bigger and more important focus over the last years, which is wonderful. It’s what museums are all about anyway. BMAC is open and welcoming and available.

BMAC: What do you think about the Museum’s planned expansion?

Krampetz: One of the things I am the most excited about with the expansion is to be able to sit by the Whetstone Brook and that wonderful waterfall, which is such an exceptional spot that can hardly be accessed right now. We’ll be able to sit and listen to the water. I’m excited that there will be a really accommodating classroom and that the galleries will be bigger and more accessible.

Architecht’s rendering of conceptual design for BMAC’s expansion

I can’t imagine that the expanded Museum won’t become a destination. It’s at a time when there’s so much happening in Brattleboro that is trying to be addressed, and this is the time when we need something like this. There are lots of other areas and other ways to address things, but I see this only as positive.

I’ve lived in the area since 1972. I’m 81 now, so it’s over half my life. For me, volunteering at BMAC is just lovely. I look forward to those three hours each week. I guess I’ve always been a people person, and art has always been important in my life. It’s just good.

If you’re interested in volunteer opportunities at BMAC, please contact Office Manager, Michelle Pizzo at 802-257-0124 x101.