Artists Engaged In Connecticut’s Environment

RIDGEFIELD AND WILTON — Just getting to The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield makes one appreciate Connecticut’s open space and natural resources.

A neighbor of Weir Farm National Historic Site in Wilton, which was the summer home of the 19th Century Impressionist artist J. Alden Weir, the Aldrich is surrounded by state parks and Aspetuck Valley open space preserved through the efforts of the Aspetuck Land Trust and others. This is the perfect place for an exhibition of environmental art.

Nestled in the hills of southwestern Connecticut near the New York state border, short excursions can be made from The Aldrich to Clarence Fahnstock State Park, Bear Mountain State Park, Palisades Interstate Park, Huntington State Park, Putnam Memorial State Park, Seth Pierrepont State Park, and others.

“A River Half Empty: Artists Engage Connecticut’s Environment,” which opened June 1, continues through August 31 at The Aldrich. As part of its 25th anniversary, Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) has collaborated with The Aldrich, Weir Farm Trust, and the National Park Service at Weir Farm National Historic Site in presenting the exhibition.

An advocate for sound environmental policy and the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations in Connecticut, CFE has worked on such projects as the protection of open space, challenging damaging highway proposals and striving to promote transportation choices, restoration of the Shepaug River and other fragile wetland areas, as well as the protection and restoration of Long Island Sound.

For the exhibition, the four organizations invited artists to respond to various environmental issues impacting Connecticut today. Artists include Rachel Berwick, Adam Frelin, Lisa Kereszi, Frank Noelker, Sven PÃ¥hlsson, Claudia Schmacke, Mara Adamitz Scrupe, Michelle Segre, and Peter Waite.

Installed at both Weir Farm and The Aldrich, new work created by the artists reflect on some of the environmental concerns that CFE has worked to address. The faint sound of falling water can be heard upon strolling into the museum to visit “A River Half Empty.”

Documentation in the exhibition catalog and presented on placards next to each work describe the works of art and what has been done by CFE during its 25 years of existence on behalf of the environmental issues that inspired the artists.

The entrance to the exhibit is a corridor that supports a glass ceiling covered by streaming water. If there is a glass ceiling to environmental damage, this is it. Visitors can see it, touch it, even hear it.

A reflective shadow cast by light shining through the water onto the wall below whets the viewer’s appetite for more of the essential life forces growing on the opposite side of Claudia Schmacke’s waterfall. She worked on this piece during her tenure as a Weir Farm resident artist.

Adam Frelin has constructed a large-scale installation in which a tree that appears to have been violently ripped from its roots rests on a bed of box fans. The wind created by fans activates the stranded tree. Mr Frelin’s installation is meant to highlight the potential of both man and nature for destruction.

Dealing directly with issues of urban sprawl, traffic, and the dependence on the automobile in American culture, Sven PÃ¥hlsson is screening a video titled Crash Course, an animated, fast-paced depiction that has the viewer racing along highways and swooping below freeway overpasses. The video deals with issues of urban sprawl, traffic, and the dependence of American culture on the automobile.

Mara Adamitz Scrupe has built a Victorian-style greenhouse takes up almost an entire gallery on the second floor of the museum. Her artistic and environmental vision moved her to stock the glass structure with native flowering species that were once propagated by members of the Weir family. This work, which is being entirely powered by an artist-designed solar energy system, addresses the impact of encroaching development and the effects of historic agricultural practices on the natural habitat of the Weir Farm property.

Michelle Segre has built an outdoor sculpture based on the endangered common barn owl at The Aldrich. Perched on one of the eves of the museum, Ms Segre’s outdoor sculpture is not easily missed if one is looking for it.

Like the barn owl, which is endangered due to destruction of the species’ natural habitat, Ms Segre’s owl will also disappear into history if it is left on its perch for a long enough period of time. It is sculpted from winterstone, foam, metal and acrylic. The winterstone will erode faster than the species.

A Connecticut realist painter, Peter Waite has created a new large-scale painting and series of drawings based on English Station in Fair Haven, a decommissioned Connecticut power station at the center of an environmental debate.

CFE opposed restarting the oil-burning English Station power plant because of concerns about the impact of air pollution on health. The plant is located within a densely populated urban area, near more than 20 public schools, two dozen daycare centers, and six elderly housing complexes.

CFE has demonstrated that less damaging and more feasible alternatives exist, including fueling the plant with natural gas, which is cleaner than oil. The DEP has yet to issue a decision.

Participating Organizations

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is devoted to mounting intelligent, inventive exhibitions of contemporary art and innovative education and cultural programs. The museum focuses on emerging and midcareer artists, and welcomes the chance for artists to create new works.

Connecticut Fund for the Environment (CFE) is a nonprofit organization that uses legal advocacy, scientific analysis, and community outreach and activism to find solutions to Connecticut’s environmental problems.

The National Park Service (NPS) cares for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage. The NPS administers Weir Farm National Historic Site, the former home and workplace of J. Alden Weir.

The Weir Farm Trust, the private nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, perpetuates the artistic tradition begun by Weir by providing outstanding opportunities for artists and cultural programs for the public. Together, the Weir Farm Trust and the National Park Service preserve the inspiring landscape and historic buildings for public enjoyment.

The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, at 258 Main Street (Route 35) in Ridgefield, is open Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm, and on Fridays from noon to 8 pm. Admission is free for the remainder of the month, and then the museum will be closed until early next year for major renovations. Call 203-438-4519 or visit www.AldrichArt.org.

Weir Farm National Historic Site is on Nod Hill Road in Ridgefield and Wilton. Its visitor center, where “A River Half Empty” is being presented, is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8:30 am to 5 pm; grounds are open daily from dawn until dusk. Admission is free. For more information about public or artist programs call 203-834-1896 or visit www.nps.gov/wefa.