Spring Exhibitions at the Hammond Museum
A Plethora of Plants: Real, Observed, Imagined (April 6-July 14) opens in Guild Hall and brings together a multi-sensory display of works by 19 visual artists, plus a soundscape and fragrance samples. Curated by Marcy B. Freedman, an accomplished and award-winning art historian and multi-media artist, this exhibition presents visual arts of many styles, techniques, and aesthetic sensibilities together with videos and sound to explore how artists are richly inspired by the world of plants, both ones that are real and those only imagined.
In her curator’s statement, Freedman describes the exhibition, “as demonstrated by the paintings, drawings, photographs, textiles, sculptures, and video works in this exhibition, it is clear that many artists of today strive to continue the tradition of closely observing the natural world, while others use nature as the starting point for an imaginative adventure of creative invention. In order to enhance the experience of our visitors, the exhibition also includes real plants, an interactive display of plant-based fragrances, and an original, plant-inspired soundscape.”
A Plethora of Plants includes the works of visual artists Lisa Breznak, Marsi Burns & Nickolas Riggs, Ivy Dachman, Loren Eiferman, Carla Rae Johnson, Natalya Khorover, Janice LaMotta, Corinne Lapin-Cohen, Rita Maas, Mary McFerran, Linda Nemergut, Loretta Oleck, Gene
Panczenko, Leslie Pelino, Richard Rosenbaum, Ilse Schreiber-Noll, Thomas Sarrantonio, Devin Siglock, and Tom Smith. The soundscape is provided by Skin Against Metal, while Nell Valentine Cote prepared the selection of fragrance. Herbal teas will be served to engage the fifth sense, taste.
Ruby Silvious: Waste Not (April 6-June 9) in the Hays and Goelet galleries features unconventional use of everyday materials that encourages viewers to expand their definition of traditional art and think creatively in a world of excess. In today’s throw-away culture with its immediate access to an abundance of materials and countless media, all things become possible. The result is skillfully crafted artworks, including two kimono, made of such diverse materials as pistachio shells, acorns, fast-food bags, and, especially, tea bags.
Ruby Silvious is a visual artist and graphic designer, whose recent work includes experimenting on recycled and found materials. On January 3, 2015, she started a project called 363 Days of Tea, a visual daily record of her impression of the moment, using the emptied-out tea bag as her canvas, and altering it to create a new work of art every day for 363 days. This project is chronicled in her book 363 Days of Tea: A Visual Journal on Used Teabags (Mascot Books). She draws, paints, prints, and collages moody, evocative, and sometimes whimsical art on a wide variety of everyday materials. Silvious was educated in the U.S., Europe, and Asia; she currently lives in Coxsackie, New York. Her art is exhibited internationally and is featured in public and private collections.
The exhibitions are complemented by a variety of engaging programs through the coming months, beginning with the Opening Day 2024! reception.
Opening Day 2024!
Saturday, April 6
Exhibitions opening 3-5pm
Free admission
At 3pm, Marcy B. Freedman will introduce the exhibition and invite viewers to speak with the artists whose work is represented, while visitors enjoy a reception on the patio. Ruby Silvious will also be available to talk more about her artistic practice and interests.
Sakura Celebration
Saturday, April 20, 2-4pm
Free with museum admission
The blossoming of the Hammond’s Kwanzan and Weeping Cherry Trees is one of our favorite spring events. This year the exhibition A Plethora of Plants: Real, Observed, Imagined makes this celebration even richer. Dress up in your more festive flora attire and join the Plethora artists in a Parade of the Plant People.
Free with museum admission
Early in 2024, Marcy B. Freedman invited a talented group of writers and musicians to create new works about . . . plants! On May 5th at 3pm, museum visitors will be able to experience the extraordinary results of Freedman’s request, which vary from silly to solemn. This multi-disciplinary performance will delight art lovers and nature lovers alike.
The Musicians: Skin Against Metal
The Writers: Andrew Acciaro, Jeff Fuerst, Loretta Oleck, Nina Semczuk, Ted Taylor
LivingArts: Making Art with Everyday Materials with Ruby Silvious
Sunday, June 2, 2pm
Free with museum admission, space limited, RSVP recommended
Ruby Silvious will demonstrate and lead visitors in a hands-on workshop on how you, too, can turn the daily things around you into lovely and personal works of art.
This workshop is the inaugural program in our new series, LivingArts, which shows how you can introduce or increase art in your life by making it, collecting it, enjoying it, and surrounding yourself with art to enrich your daily life.
About the Hammond:
The Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden, in North Salem, New York, was founded in 1957 by Natalie Hays Hammond (1904-1985) as a place where Eastern and Western cultures could be appreciated and visitors could enjoy the beauty of nature. The Hammond consists of an art museum that presents a changing roster of exhibitions, as well as offering educational programs and classes. The highlight of the Hammond is the Japanese Stroll Garden, which occupies 3 ½ acres, is centered around its pond, and includes numerous rare Japanese plants and trees, as well as species native to Westchester. Also on the grounds is a traditional Japanese tea room, which was imported from Kyoto and is used for tea ceremony events. The Hammond is open to the public from April to November.
For more information, please visit www.hammondmuseum.org
About Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden
Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden: The Museum hosts Moonviewing concert in addition to a Swing Band Dance in August and a Shakespeare play during the summer. We also offer children’s programs on designated Saturdays and the Animal blessing in May. The most important exhibit is our garden, it is a beautiful 3 acre Japanese Stroll Garden that will please all, from the young to the old. It features a waterfall, maple terrace and two ponds that are filled with frogs and fish. The exhibits that we offer in the galleries range from Asian to Contemporary art. We also offer a gift shop that specializes in hard to obtain Asian items.
The Hammond Museum was created as a foundation of support to promote global awareness and development of Eastern cultures with the West. It continues to reach out and support its wide community of artists and performers in the Greater New York Metropolitan Region.