Tag Archives: Trustees

Metal Preserves and Transforms Features of Trees in Art by Ed Shay and Letha Wilson

April 5, 2021 · by · in animals in art, architecture, Art, Artists, bronze, design, environmental sculpture, history, landmarks, Nature study, painting, parks, photography, ponds, public art, Sculpture, steel, steel sculpture, technology, trees, Videos, visual art, Weather and seasons, women artists · 1 Comment

Ed Shay’s ten-foot-tall bronze “Acadian Gyro” entered deCordova Sculpture park about three decades ago. Letha Wilson’s nearly as tall cor-ten steel sculpture “Hawaii California Steel(Figure/Ground)” came in about two years ago. Until now I hadn’t  considered their common key elements: 1) attention to the forms of leaves and branches, 2) expressive rendering of those forms in durable metals ( bronze and steel) 3)relation to the seasonally changing foliage of nearby trees. My awareness grew from posting about four more obviously tree-related artworks in the park and noting further connections. Though I have been a volunteer guide in the park for almost two decades, this focus led me deeper into resources with heightened reasons to share them.

Art Grows from Trees: Alan Sonfist and Richard Rosenblum at deCordova

January 10, 2021 · by · in aluminum, architecture, Art, art and science study, Artists, bronze, design, environmental education, environmental sculpture, Exhibits, families, gardens, history, Installations, interactive art, landmarks, landscape architecture, museums, Nature study, parks, political issues, public art, Sculpture, Sculpture Parks, temporary art, trees, visual art, women artists, wood sculptures · 3 Comments

Sonfist’s The Endangered Species of New England has been part of the Sculpture Park since 2013. Rosenblum’s Venusvine, created 1990, has been there since 1996. Both artworks reflect their artists’ deeply rooted work with trees. Both are metal renderings of natural forms. Both artworks have decisive locations in the park. They’ve held their ground while other artworks have moved around, left or entered in recent years.

Artists Help Us Learn from Trees: Maren Hassinger and Josephine Halvorson at deCordova Sculpture Park

December 26, 2020 · by · in architecture, Art, artists' presentations, collaborative art projects, commuity, conceptual art, Contemporary Sculpture, crafts, environmental sculpture, Installations, interactive art, landscape architecture, Monumental sculpture, museums, Nature study, painting, public art, Sculpture, Sculpture Parks, temporary art, trees, visual art, women artists, wood sculptures · Leave a comment

Josephine Halvorson’s Measure (Tree) and Maren Hassinger’s Monuments 3 and 6 have expanded my range in relating to trees. That is true for several other artworks at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, so I’ll hope to follow up in future posts with more examples. But I’ll start with these two artists because their processes give specific attention to trees. Measure (Tree) involved the artist in close observation while painting a tree’s elements onto a wooden plank. Both Monuments involved many people in carefully weaving assorted branches of local trees into geometric structures and patterns. Quotes from the Trustees website explain more. Links to each artist’s site offer context. My photos give glimpses of the presence of these artworks among trees in the park in different seasons.