Guests At Naumkeag’s Garden Party Tour “ViewEscapes”
George Rickey's kinetic sculptures offered changing views of the gardens at the Gilded Age estate.
Melanie Mowinski, artist and professor of art at MCLA; her husband, Douglas Molin; and her sister Nina Molin.
ViewEscapes: George Rickey@Naumkeag opened with a garden party for Naumkeag supporters on Thursday, May 5, just as the tulips and daffodils were lining up straight and tall for the venue’s Daffodil and Tulip Festival. But on this evening, the focus was on the kinetic sculptures of George Rickey (1907-2002), an American artist (and Columbia County resident) best known for his large-scale, geometric, moving sculptures. Many of his artworks were designed to be seen outside, where they are naturally powered by air currents. Naumkeag, the former Gilded Age estate and gardens of the Choate family in Stockbridge (and now a premier property of the Trustees of Reservations), is an ideal venue for Rickey’s outdoor sculptures as they are designed to interact with the landscape’s natural environment. Guests ambled through the gardens and along the paths, spotting sculptures down the hill or above their heads, all slowly moving whichever way the wind blew. In fact, said Trustees Curator of Collections Mark Wilson, “No two movements are alike.” Which means one can visit the exhibition again and again and encounter a view never seen before. ViewEscapes runs through November 1.
"Two Open Triangles Up" (1982). As the triangles move, they reframe and reflect the trees, skies, and the distant landscape.
Written by
Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
