Art, Design & the Environment
Welcome the Trolls: Art and the Environment
I’m always on the lookout for art that reflects nature, particularly when it is both beautiful and makes connections to restoring or preserving our environment. So I was delighted to learn about Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s installations in Rhode Island of outsize troll sculptures crafted from scrap wood and old wooden pallets. Dambo, who has…
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Sylvestor Manor
Shelter Island, New York I’ve been especially eager to visit Shelter Island’s Sylvester Manor since I began writing my current novel, which has a focus on the slave trade in the northeast. The lands of Sylvester Manor were home for millennia to indigenous Manhansett People, then owned by an Anglo Dutch sugar consortium to run…
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Art, Nature, and Nature in Art: The Great Elephant Migration
A very moving exhibit arrived in Newport R.I. recently to tell the tale of conservation, coexistence with nature, and the power of community in safeguarding the natural word. The Great Elephant Migration features 100 life-size elephant statues made from natural materials. From Newport they will travel to other cities around the country to spread the…
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Art in Nature: Blithwold Mansion and Arboretum
A mile from my home is a wonderful arboretum, Blithewold. On 33 acres along the Narragansett Bay, the grounds of the estate has various flower gardens, but primarily holds a remarkable collection of trees that is a boon to the environment. The property features a 45-room mansion with glorious views out to the water. It’s…
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Tulip Time
I love the absolute excess of masses and masses of tulips – their exuberance, their riot of color. On the Upper West Side there’s a lovely community garden that’s nestled among tall buildings https://www.westsidecommunitygarden.org/. Here residents tend a pocket garden that runs between 89th and 90th streets between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. The garden is…
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Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest
Tucked into Madison Square Park is an unexpected installation. At first it strikes one as curious – odd leafless trees in a cluster, framed by the Manhattan skyline. This is a statement piece by Mia Lin, an extraordinary way of making climate change visible. She has literally brought a dying forest to the city, so…
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The Artistic World of Landscape/Waterscape Photographer Gary Kuehn
Nature’s beauty inspires my writing, as does art that takes nature as its subject. I’m interested in the ways a focus on landscape and water plays out for painters and photographers. Recently I updated my website and wanted images that reflect my writing, in particular, the world of Montauk, Long Island, where my most recent…
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Snug Harbor’s Chinese Scholar’s Garden, a Model of Urban Garden Design
The Chinese Scholar’s Garden on Staten Island is a tiny gem, one of the most beautifully designed gardens I’ve ever seen. Tucked away on the grounds of Snug Harbor museum, a short bus ride from the ferry terminal to Manhattan, it is one of only two classical Chinese gardens in the U.S. The garden took…
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Visiting the High Line
The High Line, which began as a quirky idea for an urban park, has morphed into one of New York City’s tourist attractions, a 1.5 mile long greenway with over 500 species of plants and trees. It’s touted as a stunning example of a creative repurposing of unwanted infrastructure– in this case, elevated train tracks…
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Alexis Rockman’s Art: An Environmental Call to Action
Alexis Rockman’s art is fascinating. I love how his paintings look—vivid, colorful, eye-popping. They are not only gorgeous visually, but also serve as a call to action. For instance, his recent “The Great Lakes Cycle,” have been described as “natural-history psychedelia” https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/alexis_rockman.html. This recent series explores the geographical, physical, and ecological changes of the Great Lakes…
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