According to gallery director Tim Massey, though modest in size, the permanent collection of the Gallery at the Tower Fine Arts Center houses fine examples of works by notable regional and national artists, as well as former faculty and alumni of the Department of Art, all in a wide range of media. Some of these works will be displayed in “Selections from the Permanent Collection,” a free exhibition at the Gallery, 180 Holley Street, Brockport, which runs from October 23 through November 18. A reception celebrating the exhibition will be held as part of one of the college’s First Friday social hours, on Friday, November 2, at 4 p.m.
Käthe Kollwitz’ etching, “Praying Girl,” is one of the oldest pieces in the collection, dating to 1892. Kollwitz, who has several European museums and galleries dedicated to her work, was a German artist who was drawn to the plight of peasants and inspired by a drama recounting the Silesian weavers’ revolution, and rendered them in expressionistic fashion.
“Organic Structure,” Jack Wolsky’s piece, takes its inspiration from the Erie Canal. This is not surprising, given the fact that Wolsky is a professor emeritus at the college, and taught for several years in a building that straddled the canal. His works can be found in museums throughout the Northeast, as well as in many private collections. Earlier this year, Wolsky was presented with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis “Who’s Who.”
Rounding out the exhibition will be at least one selection from E.E. Cummings. Often regarded as one of the most significant American poets of the 20th century, Cummings’ talents with a paintbrush are less well known. The college is the repository of 72 Cummings’ paintings donated to Brockport in the 1970s by James Sibley Watson Jr., a Harvard classmate of Cummings and a publisher of his early poetry. The paintings had been stored in a closet and were rediscovered three decades later, many in need of restoration. The noteworthy collection and restoration project caught the attention of The Poetry Foundation, NPR, and “The Wall Street Journal,” among others. The collection is named in honor of Watson’s late wife.
Others included in the show are Stephanie Cusenz ’05, Saul Steinberg, and Hugo Fisher.
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. For information, call 395-2805.
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