• Ken Picard ©️ Seven Days
• Lemon Fair Sculpture Park

With more than 50 large-scale sculptures scattered atop picturesque fields, Lemon Fair Sculpture Park "is a hidden gem in Addison County," wrote one Seven Days reader. East Shoreham residents and art enthusiasts Frank and Elaine Ittleman first opened their property to the public in 2016 for free, self-guided tours along a mowed path — and they've continued to welcome visitors, in season, throughout the pandemic. One Vermonter summed up the experience: "Being able to walk with a friend outdoors amongst these giant art installations was a wonderful way to be able to socialize safely." (East Shoreham • lemonfairsculpturepark.com)

• File: Amy Lilly
• Highland Center for the Arts

From January through March 2021, Highland Center for the Arts hosted a trailblazing art experience — literally. Its Open Air Gallery Ski & Snowshoe Trail invited visitors to walk, snowshoe or cross-country ski a 1.8-mile path past 17 works of locally made art. To counter the cold, the center's café offered hot chocolate, spiked coffee and grilled cheese sandwiches by socially distanced bonfires. "This winter we snowshoed to look at art [and] ate outdoors sitting on a log around a fire," reminisced one reader. It was "a safe, normal-feeling atmosphere" and "a reason to get out of the house," noted two others. (Greensboro • highlandartsvt.org)

Editor note: To choose Vermont's Pandemic All-Stars, we surveyed our readers on the people, places and programs that kept them going — and going — during the COVID-19 pandemic. Space limitations prevented us from recognizing every pick worthy of public praise.