ART DISCOVERIES

Each New England state offers visitors the chance to experience top-notch art museums, including some that have achieved international acclaim. It’s certainly no surprise that famous universities such as Harvard and Yale boast masterpiece collections, or that Boston’s venerable Museum of Fine Arts is a worldclass institution. You won’t want to skip these marquee attractions, of course—but you may also find a special thrill in discovering great art in less well-known places.

In NEW HAMPSHIRE , no one should miss the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in Hanover, a gleaming, multistory showcase that recently underwent $50 million in renovations and expansions. But while on the Dartmouth campus, art lovers should seek out a hidden gem located on the lower level of nearby Baker Library. There waits The Epic of American Civilization, a sprawling 1930s masterpiece by the Mexican painter José Clemente Orozco. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2013, the mural’s 24 panels cover nearly 3,200 square feet (297m²) of wall space, with recorded audio available to help you take it all in. An entirely different one-of-a-kind art experience can be found in VERMONT ’s Northeast Kingdom, in the small town of St. Johnsbury. In 2000, artist Stephen Huneck created a chapel devoted to dogs, decorated with his whimsical artwork, on what would come to be known as Dog Mountain. Envisioned as a place where people can celebrate the bond they have with their pets, Dog Mountain has also become a mecca for art enthusiasts, who marvel at Huneck’s stained glass, paintings, and sculptures; visitors often leave mementos of their own dogs on the chapel’s walls, creating a massive, emotional piece of public art. Another small-town cache of art beckons in southern Vermont, where the Bennington Museum holds the world’s biggest collection of works by the legendary American folk artist Grandma Moses.

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A detail of José Clemente Orozco’s landmark mural series, The Epic of American Civilization, at Dartmouth College.