On Saturday, June 13 we held an Opening for my ‘Core Values’ and ‘Ground Form’ installations at the Aidron Duckworth Museum in Meriden, New Hampshire. For me, the piece was a meditation on our society’s inaction on climate change, as well as a meditation on color and form. It was gratifying to have some 50 people attend the event. Many thanks to Museum Trustee Grace W. Harde for having made the event possible and to Colleen Bozuwa for having produced the above video of the Opening.

I am equally grateful to Tracy Penfield and Lucia Gagliardone who offered an improvised dance performance among the installations. The dance was conducted in silence to focus our attention on the piece in that moment. So we all heard birds, car alarms and the occasional motorcycle. It was wonderful to see the piece surrounded by people responding to the color and forms through dance, a child climbing, people throwing frisbees and others engaged in quiet contemplation.

Comments I heard from attendees included:

I don’t consider myself artistic. For me art is a new way of thinking about things that are foreign to me. It’s just a cool way of thinking about things. My perception of artists is that they have a need to express themselves. What I get out of it is another perspective that is new and different and appreciated. It leaves me in awe because I don’t do that naturally.

And:

How wonderful, Jay! I loved the colors, the shapes, the way they relate to one another, the grace of the dancers, the green setting… The whole presentation calls up a peaceful, thought-provoking mindset. Thank you for sharing your work with us.