Article by Dennis McFadden, NRS 2018
We know it’s coming. The days are getting longer, and the Nature Groupie calendar is stretching into spring. Most of us, no matter how much we like the winter landscape, are likely itching to get back outdoors without multiple layers of fleece under our parkas.
In the meantime, if you have already sharpened your pruners, or even if you haven’t and just need a break from the cold and the prospect of mud season ahead, are looking for a way to fill an afternoon, find some inspiration in great American art, or learn a bit about environmental thinking in our country, you should consider a trip to Salem, MA. The Peabody Essex Museum there is presenting a terrific exhibition entitled Nature's Nation: American Art and Environment.
When I saw Nature’s Nation last fall at the Princeton University Art Museum where it was organized, I immediately thought of my fellow Natural Resources Stewards. Described as “…the first exhibition to trace environmental awareness in American art over the last three centuries,” it brings together great art and presents it in a way that is engaging and challenging, offering an opportunity for us to see our own commitment to the responsible stewardship of New Hampshire’s environment within the broad context of the work of historic and current artists.
Toward the end of the NRS program someone observed that we would never look at a tree the same way again. After seeing this exhibition, I don’t think I’ll ever look at a Hudson River School painting or the field I see out the window the same way again.
Nature's Nation: American Art and Environment will be at the Peabody Essex until May 5, 2019. There is also a great catalogue that accompanies the exhibition for those who want to delve into the subjects it covers in greater detail. I’ve been reading it and plan to see the exhibition again now that I have.
