Field Notes 2 Exhibit

art work by Jane Thurber

The Porter-Phelps-Huntington House Museum, in Hadley, will host “Field Notes 2” an exhibition of drawings, paintings, floor cloths, and sculptures created by architects, Sigrid Miller Pollin and Stephen Schreiber, and landscape architect, Jane Thurber. The artists have found common ground in their explorations of rhythms found in the land. These visual notes are glimpses into the subtle patterns of the natural world, integrating space, light and movement. The artists have created dialogues with the Porter-Phelps-Huntington historic barn, which holds many patterns of its own. The barn is also the gateway to the agricultural landscape which has also inspired the work of all three artists. The exhibit in the Museum’s Corn Barn runs from July 3-October 15, 2012, and there will be a public reception held on July 15 from 3:00-5:00 pm with Museum tours on the hour beginning at 2 pm.
           

Jane Thurber’s conceptual framework is tied to the abstract patterns of the agricultural landscape. Her floor cloths and paintings explore the tension between an ordered whole and the uniqueness of the individual elements. Jane’s mobiles put patterns of the land in motion.  In all of her work, there is a consistent abstraction and paring down of information to express the essential relationships. Thurber is a landscape architect and lecturer in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at UMass  Amherst.

Stephen Schreiber has fashioned wood bas reliefs as snapshots of landscape conditions. He is particularly interested in the structures of fields, the patterns of snow on the land, and the intricacies of rivulets. He was particularly inspired by various vignettes at the Porter-Phelps-Huntington House including the stacked wood near the main entrance and the view of the fields from the back porch.  Schreiber, an architect, is professor and director of the Architecture+Design Program at UMass Amherst.

Sigrid Miller Pollin’s work explores a combination of free flowing automatic drawing and fantasy images of plant life. Her pen and ink drawings  on acrylic coated poplar  and  her  painted  bas reliefs  associate emotions and  moods with repetitions found  in  the natural environment. Subtle color is woven through the sculptures and drawings. Miller Pollin, principal of Miller Pollin Architecture, is also a professor in the Architecture+Design Program at UMass Amherst.

The Porter- Phelps-Huntington Museum is located at 130 River Drive (Route 47) in Hadley, two miles north of the junction of Routes 9 and 47. The Museum is open for guided tours Saturday through Wednesday from 1 pm to 4:30 pm and mornings by appointment. The Museum is closed Thursday and Friday. For information about the exhibition, tours, and special programs please call the museum at (413) 584-4699 or visit www.pphmuseum.org. The artists can be reached by email: jthurber@larp.umass.edu, schreiber@art.umass.edu, smillerp@art.umass.edu.