inFocus Fall 2016

FALL 2016

Infocus

D ear M em b er s

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useums operate with a long perspective—preserving and collecting precious objects for future generations, planning exhibitions years in advance and benefiting from the gifts of legacy donors. In that culture of permanence, big changes can be unsettling—even when they have been anticipated. When you receive this issue of infocus, the Currier will have moved successfully through a summer of transitions.

In June, we celebrated Susan Strickler, the Currier’s longest-serving director, who retired after a remarkable 20 years. The transition was marked with public tributes, the creation of an exhibition endowment in her honor and the acquisition of a major new painting that will be on display soon (see Page 7). Susan’s legacy will be forever visible. I have developed a deep appreciation for Susan’s commitment to the Currier. I am especially grateful for her graciousness and generosity during the leadership transition. She eased the burden of a challenging task.

In July, the board enthusiastically announced the selection of Alan Chong as the Currier’s new director and CEO. As I write this in August, the compliments on the choice of Alan continue to pour in. Alan is knowledgeable and passionate about the Currier’s collection, is excited to return to New England and brimming with ideas that will take the Currier to a new level of regional prominence. Alan will arrive in early September and you’ll be able to meet him soon (see Page 6).

Two other dedicated and well-loved members of the Currier senior staff are retiring. Nelson Goddard, director of facilities operations, has kept the Museum and the Zimmerman House safe and beautiful for almost a decade. He will be greatly missed. Sherry Collins, CFO, will retire in October after more than 25 years. Sherry has seen the Museum through major endowment growth, several capital campaigns, construction bonding and technology overhauls—accomplishments not celebrated often enough.

Sherry’s quiet, calm presence was a gift to us all. The task of filling those key positions falls to the Museum’s director of operations and human resources, Karen Graham, who served admirably in the role of Museum director on an interim basis over the summer.

Finally, I, too, will be a part of the transition, stepping down as board chair when my term ends in September and Harry Shepler takes over. In the tradition of board chair emeriti begun by Kimon Zachos, I won’t be going far. I’m excited about the Currier’s future and want to be part of it. I’ve always been a person who relished “the new” and welcomed change, but I can appreciate the stress that comes with organizational transitions. Over the past few months, we have experienced those moments of stress related to change, but the Currier family has come through it well—dedicated to art, centered in community and committed to inspire.

Sincerely, M. Christine Dwyer President, Board of Trustees

infocus A Currier Museum of Art Members' Publication Fall 2016 infocus@currier.org

Editorial Staff

Steve Konick: D irector of Public Relations and Marketing, infocus Editor Vanessa De Zorzi: Graphic Designer

Contributors M. Christine Dwyer: President, Currier Museum of Art Board of Trustees Tricia Anderson Soule: Manager of Individual and Corporate Membership Bruce McColl: Director of Art Education Peter Crane: Curator, Mount Washington Observatory's Gladys Brooks Memorial Library

CONTENTS Exhibitions 03 | Upcoming Exhibitions Now on View 04 | The Crown of New England All Access 06 | Welcome Alan Chong 07 | New Acquisition 08 | Membership, CafÉ and Museum Shop Community Connections 09 | Seen at the Currier 10 | Currier Community The Final Word 11 | F rom the Mount Washington Observatory

CONNECT WITH US

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS | 03

Upcoming Exhibitions Deep Cuts: Contemporary Paper Cutting FEBRUARY 25—MAY 21, 2017 Deep Cuts will showcase work by contemporary artists who reconsider, redefine and even subvert the centuries-old practice of paper cutting. In the tradition of the craft, the art to be featured in the exhibition is impressive and intricate, but its subject matter is updated for the 21st century.

Addressing deeper personal or social themes, the work will touch upon complex reference points including the various cultural, economic and environmental associations imbued in the humble medium of paper.

Soo Sunny Park: BioLath Contemporary Connections Series FEBRUARY 25—AUGUST 6, 2017 New Hampshire artist Soo Sunny Park will create a new, site-specific work that will transform the Currier’s windowed Putnam Gallery into an immersive sculptural environment that explores the effect of light on visual perception.

Luminous sculptural forms will fill the gallery space—suspended from the ceiling and placed on the floor—capturing and reflecting the light which fills the gallery. The sculpture will be animated by shifts in daylight caused by the time of day, weather conditions and changing seasons, as well as your changing perspective as you walk through the installation, creating a highly individualized experience with the work. This exhibition is the latest project in the Contemporary Connections series, a platform for exhibiting new work by New England artists made in dialogue with the Currier’s collection, regional histories, or, as in the case of Park’s installation, the architecture of the Museum.

The Paris of Toulouse-Lautrec: Prints and Posters from The Museum of Modern Art SEPTEMBER 30, 2017—JANUARY 7, 2018 After Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s art, no one saw Paris in the same way.

The Currier’s exclusive New England presentation of more than 100 original posters, prints and illustrated books by this groundbreaking artist explores the magic of Belle Époque Paris. Drawn from the Museum of Modern Art’s extensive collection of Toulouse-Lautrec’s work, this exhibition reveals the enduring beauty of the City of Light and the excitement of nightclubs such as the Moulin Rouge and its denizens, during the late 19th century.

This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

IMAGE CREDITS Cover images clockwise: John Frederick Kensett (American, 1816–1872), Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway, 1851, Oil on canvas, 40 3/8 x 60 3/8 in., Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Munn (Ruth C. Hanford, Class of 1909) in the name of the Class of 1909, 1977.37., Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830-1902), Moat Mountain, Intervale, New Hampshire, c. 1862, Oil on paper mounted on canvas, 19 1/8 x 26 1/8in., Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire. Museum Purchase: Currier Funds, 1947.3., George Inness (American, 1825-1894), Saco Ford: Conway Meadows, 1876, Oil on canvas, 38 x 63 in., Gift of Ellen W. Ayer, Mount Holyoke College, Art Museum, South Hadley, Massachusetts, Photograph Petegorsky / Gipe, 1883.55.I(b).PI. Benjamin Champney (American, 1817–1907), Meadows, North Conway, 1851, Oil on canvas, 17 ¾ x 24 in, Courtesy Woburn Public Library, Woburn, Massachusetts. Image left: Jasper Francis Cropsey (American, 1823-1900), An Indian Summer Morning in the White Mountains, 1857, Oil on canvas, 39 ¼ x 61 ¼ in., Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire. Museum Purchase: Currier Funds, 1962.17. Top right image: Randal Thurston, Great Piece of Turf (detail), 2014. Cut paper installation, dimensions variable. Photograph courtesy of the artist. ©Randal Thurston. Right center image: Photo of the artist, Soo Sunny Park, by Joseph Mehling, Dartmouth College, Right bottom image: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, (French, 1864–1901), Jane Avril, 1893, Lithograph, sheet: 49 5/8 x 36 1/8 in. (126 x 91.8 cm), The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of A. Conger Goodyear, 1954, Photograph: Thomas Griesel.

from wilderness to icon

The Crown of New England

Albert Bierstadt (American, 1830–1902), The Emerald Pool, 1870, Oil on canvas, 76 1/2 x 119 in., Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Bequest of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 89.59.

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fierce wind often blows across the barren, rocky peak that is Mount Washington, and yet the 6,288foot summit has long attracted scientists, artists, tourists and adventurers. For more than two centuries, the Northeast’s highest mountain has captured the American imagination. Its combination of rugged beauty surrounded by steep notches and broad valleys made it a favorite subject for many of the country’s most accomplished 19th-century artists, including Thomas Cole (1801-1848), John Frederick Kensett (1816-1872), Albert Bierstadt (18301902) and Winslow Homer (1836-1910).

Mount Washington: The Crown of New England, opening October 1, brings together for the first time many of the most important images of the Mount Washington region (from 1826-1880) and it returns Albert Bierstadt’s monumental 10-foot-wide 1870 painting, The Emerald Pool (above),

to New England for the first time since it was painted. The exhibition includes 40 paintings and a rich selection of historic prints, vintage photographs, scientific reports and guidebooks that all had a part in making Mount Washington an international symbol of the American wilderness.

AN IRRESISTIBLE DRAW During the mid-19th century, an outpouring of literature, paintings, prints and photographs about the White Mountains whet the appetite for adventurers and tourists to explore the area, and the range’s proximity to large East coast cities made it an irresistible and accessible destination.

Regional artists explored the White Mountains in the 1820s, but it was Thomas Cole’s (1801-1848) paintings and prints that first attracted the attention of the artistic community.

His View in the White Mountains (1827)(page 5, top right)

celebrated a snowcapped Mount Washington rising above a verdant valley, the peak silhouetted against dark clouds.

The image was infused with a sense of national pride, the rough, craggy pinnacle named for the country’s first national hero, represented a strong, confident America that could weather any storm.

The area’s tremendous scenic potential was fully realized in the early 1850s when artists Benjamin Champney (1817-1907) and his friend, John Frederick Kensett, sketched in the area around North Conway. Their summer studies were later worked up as fully-realized oils for exhibition and the presentation of Kensett’s Mount Washington from the Valley of Conway (1851) (cover image), brought national attention to the area.

ART AND SCIENCE

Thomas Cole (American, born England, 1801-1848), View in the White Mountains, 1827, Oil on canvas, 25-3/8 x 35-3/16 in., Bequest of Daniel Wadsworth, 1848.17, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut Allen Phillips/Wadsworth Atheneum.

Mount Washington has long been the scene of important scientific research. The peak receives worldwide fame for its phenomenal and unpredictable weather, including one former world record-holding 231 mph wind in April 1934.

Scientists and artists converged on the area in the 19th century, benefitting from each other’s knowledge and skills to create more descriptive and accurate accounts of its subArctic environment, rare plant life and visible rock formations.

Because many of the artists had also studied earth sciences, they better understood the specific processes that shaped the White Mountain landscape, adding scientific accuracy to the scenes they committed to paper or canvas.

During the 1840s and early 1850s, the region was the subject of some of the first American landscape photography.

The exhibition includes photographs in newly invented mediums such as daguerreotype, salt prints and other printing techniques. Stereographs—two images viewed side-by-side to create a 3-D effect—emerged as popular promotional souvenirs of visits to the White Mountains.

Noted photographers, the Bierstadt Brothers, Edward (1824c. 1907) and Charles (1819-1903), were in the region at the same time that their brother Albert painted, occasionally sharing subject matter.

By the 1850s, Mount Washington had become one of the country's most popular tourist destinations. Hotels were built on the summit and in the valleys as visitors swarmed to view “the most magnificent scenery in the United States.” Many ascended the mountain by hiking trail or bridle path. By 1861, they used the Summit Road and in 1869 the technological marvel, the Cog Railway, opened. By this time, so many artists had flocked to the region that Winslow Homer made them the subject of his painting, Artists Sketching in the White Mountains (1868).

After Winslow Homer (American, 1836-1910) The Coolest Spot in New England– Summit of Mount Washington, 1870. Engraving, 13 ¾ x 9 1/8 in., Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire.

Museum Purchase: The Henry Melville Fuller Acquisition Fund, 2014.9.

Today, while extreme weather often makes access to Mount Washington challenging, the peak still fascinates us. More than 300,000 people visit the summit each year. Some hike, while others opt to drive up the Auto Road or ride the Cog Railway. Throughout the year, a team of meteorologists occupies the Mount Washington Observatory, a collaborator in this exhibition.

Stop by with your family and friends to see for yourself and enjoy the fun family programs and fascinating events we have planned. Details are available in Calendar and at CURRIER.ORG.

Winslow Homer, (American, 1836-1910), Artists Sketching In the White Mountains, 1868, Oil on panel, 9 7/16 x 15 13/16 in., Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Bequest of Charles Shipman Payson, 1988.55.4, Image courtesy meyersphoto.com.

06 | W E LC O M E A L A N C H O N G

Welcome Alan Chong get to know our new director & ceo

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e are pleased to announce that Alan Chong has been named the Currier Museum of Art’s new Director and CEO. Alan will be only the ninth director in the Museum’s 87-year history, succeeding Susan Strickler, who retired on June 30 after holding the position since 1996.

Alan emerged as our leading candidate following an international search. A widely admired museum professional and respected scholar, you may already know him from his previous position as Lia and William Poorvu Curator of the Collection at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum from 1999 through 2010.

“Alan is an outstanding fit for the Currier,” said M. Christine Dwyer, president of the Currier Museum Board of Trustees and chair of the search committee. “He brings to the Museum significant expertise in curatorial matters, operations and fundraising. Equally important, Alan will add a spark of excitement to a Museum that, thanks to Susan Strickler’s leadership, has become a leading cultural institution in the region.”

“I am greatly honored to have been chosen as the next director of the Currier Museum, a true cultural centerpiece of Manchester and the region,” said Alan. “It is an impressive Museum, for its collection, enthusiastic staff and board and beautiful building. It also has the advantage of being compact and nimble, and can launch creative new initiatives that bring art closer to its audiences.”

“The Currier is a strong Museum, and like the city of Manchester, it is poised for change, something I find very intriguing. Our challenge will be to change with the environment and be part of regional growth.”

“Art is everywhere. It’s in the design of everyday objects and in the fashion we wear. I hope to find ways to tie our strong historical collection of American and European art with what’s happening in the contemporary scene. In doing that, we can help people ‘see’ the past.”

Since 2010, Alan led the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum in Singapore, where he helped to reconceptualize the collection to reflect the nation’s cross-cultural heritage, and constructed new wings for an expanded collection. Alan strengthened school and educational programs, while developing a series of innovative exhibitions. He became head of the Cultural Academy and Curatorial Forum of the National Heritage Board, Singapore, in 2013. The National Heritage Board is a government agency that oversees the country's four national museums.

As Curator of the Collection at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Alan developed new exhibition and scholarly programs conceived to address themes in the collection, and curated major exhibitions including Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle (2004) and Raphael, Cellini, and a Renaissance Banker (2003).

Prior to the Gardner, Alan worked at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Raised in Hawaii, Alan earned a doctorate in art history from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History of Art from Yale University. His areas of specialization include cross-cultural art, 17th-century Dutch art and patronage.

Please join us and meet Alan in person at our Members-Only Preview of Mount Washington: The Crown of New England, September 30 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. You will receive your invitation in the mail shortly!

NEW ACQUISITION | 07

MAXimum Beauty The Currier's Newest Acquisition

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ax Pechstein (1881-1955) may not be a name you have heard a great deal in your art museum travels, but after seeing the Currier’s new acquisition in person, you will never forget it.

Imagine a painting that combines visual elements of Cezanne’s impressionism, Gauguin’s primitivism and Picasso’s early cubism. Still Life with Nude, Tile and Fruit (1913) is a tour-de-force that features a lovely still life scene in the foreground with the surprise addition of a slithering snake! Fruit rests precariously on a table, spilling out from a jagged, angular bag. Behind a flower jug and pedestaled bowl full of more fruit, a nude woman with full red lips peers from behind a curtain. On the painting's top-left is a Delft tile, adding visual interest to that area. You can play endless games exploring how Pechstein alters depth. This work is truly a bridge between impressionism and modernism.

But the story doesn’t end there. Pechstein often created two-sided paintings, and this one is one of his finest examples.

The back side is a beautiful landscape, portraying the Curonian Forest, near the Baltic Sea coast of Lithuania. In Curonian Forest Landscape (1912), warm tones of yellow and orange draw your eyes deeper into the image, past the tall grasses and shady, arching trees. Blue sky peeks through the branches and leaves in the top-center of this inviting scene.

Pechstein was one of the first painters to be described as an expressionist. He joined the Dresden, Germany based collective, Die Brücke, or The Bridge in 1906. These artists created colorful, emotional images that were anything but naturalistic.

We can’t wait to show you these two paintings! We are working on a special display that will allow you to view both sides of the painting. It will join our Picasso, O’Keeffe, Hartley and other favorites in the Modern (East) Gallery just before Thanksgiving. The painting will be part a special focus exhibition of German expressionism. Our monthly Members eNewsletter will let you know when you can see this for the first of what will likely be many times!

Also, join Kurt Sundstrom, curator, and Ann Bible, educator and lead interpreter on December 3 at 2 p.m. for "ARTalk: Landscape of Desire," a special conversation about this recent acquisition.

Max Pechstein, Still Life and Landscape, 1912-1913, Oil on canvas, 38 7/8 x 39in., Museum Purchase: The Henry Melville Fuller Acquisition Fund in honor of Susan E. Strickler, Director of the Currier Museum of Art, 1996-2016. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

0 8 | M E M B E R S H I P, C A F É A N D M U S E U M S H O P

newBehind manchester the Scenes

By Tricia Anderson Soule, Manager of Individual and Corporate Membership

with tricia anderson soule Tricia Anderson Soule joined us last September as the Currier’s manager of individual and corporate memberships.

Q: Why is the Currier important to you?

As a N.H. native, former gallery owner and parent of children who enjoyed Art Center classes over the years, it’s an honor to help bring people and art together at the Museum. One of my fondest Currier memories is when I attended a college art history seminar in the auditorium. I gave a presentation on Georgia O’Keeffe’s Cross by the Sea! Q: Why is Membership so vital to the Currier?

My priority as manager of membership is to create a sense of belonging, especially for our valued Members. As the state’s largest arts institution, the Currier serves as a gathering place to celebrate art and community.

Members and community-minded businesses help us to offer distinct programming and exhibitions each year.

Q: What is the Currier Community Partners program?

It’s a great way for N.H. companies of all sizes and budgets to get involved with the Currier and also give back to the community.

Art joins us together as a culture. We want to attract businesses who share our commitment to making art accessible. The Currier’s Community Partners Gallery features art created by wonderfully diverse groups of people we serve through our Education Department, recently including artwork by children from military families and Alzheimer’s Café program participants. Our Partners collectively sponsor this community-centered gallery. In return, they receive publicity on the walls and via social media, while also enjoying Membership benefits. To join the Currier Community Partner program, email tsoule@currier.org or call 603.669.6144, x149.

Museum Shop

Get ready to go on an adventure! This beautiful book of White Mountain Poems by Jeffrey Zygmont is available at the Museum Shop for $19.95! The Mount Washington exhibition catalog will also be available for $29.95.

jazz brunch

Bon appétit! Get ready for Sunday Jazz Brunch programs on September 11, October 16, November 13 and December 11 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Make reservations by emailing JazzBrunch@CURRIER.ORG.

Members receive a 10% discount in the Museum Shop and CafÉ.

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S E E N AT T H E C U R R I E R | 0 9

SEEN AT THE CURRIER 1 | Carl, of Able Ebenezer Brewery, and Lynn Thomson, Currier manager of family and community engagement, set up for Currier After Hours: The Art of Beer. 2 | Local singer/songwriter Ryan Williamson rocks out at Currier After Hours: The Art of Beer. 3 | Wining and dining at the Members' opening of Urban Landscapes: Manchester and The Modern American City. 4 | Artist Don Gorvett with his work on view in Urban Landscapes.

5 | Susan Strickler gives an inspiring speech reflecting on her 20 years of leadership as Currier director and CEO. 6 | Susan Strickler and community leaders at her farewell celebration. 7 | Children learning and having fun at our Storytime in the Gallery program. 8 | Alzheimer's CafĂŠ student, Claire Bellaud, alongside her work at the Currier Community Partners Gallery Exhibition Experience This Moment. 9 & 10 | Kids get crafty at the Currier Art Center summer camp, Made in America.

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Images by: Vanessa De Zorzi, Alana Johanson and Morgan McGrath.

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10 | CURRIER COMMUNITY

Currier and the Community: Moe and Her Monster

by Bruce Mccoll

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hen we installed our first Community Partners Gallery exhibition, focusing on children of New Hampshire’s active military families, we were immediately taken by “MOE”—the name that appears next to the colorful monster that has been a signature feature of recent Currier fundraising efforts. That was one year ago.

Almost immediately, we started getting questions about MOE. Was MOE a monster or something else entirely? It turns out that MOE is 8-year-old artist, Mary Jane McGregor, who attended the Art Center’s Summer Art Camp with a full tuition scholarship thanks to funds supporting the children of active military families. We thought her monster was so fascinating that we invited her back to the Currier to share her thoughts on life and art. But, where did the monster come from?

“It’s a mythical creature that I’ve had in my imagination for a long time,” said Moe. “It’s a bird-dragon that breathes flames. Its name is Spark.”

Moe took her time before giving birth to Spark. “I draw a lot, but things have to be perfect. Last summer I practiced a lot at the Art Center, and soon I felt confident I could paint Spark.”

The Art Center opened many doors for Moe. “She was really nervous at first,” said her mother, also named Mary Jane McGregor. “I was blown away by the instructors. They immediately made her comfortable by inviting her to be a classroom helper. Within 15 minutes, she was happy and ready to make art.”

Moe and her older sister, Greta, returned for our recent Summer Art Camp with full tuition support. Moe’s dad is in the Marine Reserve, stationed out of Ft. Devens, Mass., while also attending SNHU. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. Her mother said that her daughter's Art Center experience helped their family adjust to her husband’s return home. For Moe, in particular, the camp “helped her come out of her shell,” and for Greta it “introduced her to new media and techniques.”

The Art Center’s Summer Vacation program serves more than 450 students each summer when the Art Center hums with activity and is home to a diverse student body, from 5 to 18 years old. Students engage with subjects inspired by the Museum’s collection and special exhibitions using a mixed media approach to art-making in drawing, painting, ceramics and sculpture. In summers 2015 and 2016, Moe was one of 25 children of active military families who was given a full tuition scholarship generously supported by RiverStone Resources LLC. Annually, scholarship students make up 20% of the Art Center’s student body and are there thanks to financial support from additional funders including: the Brown Foundation, the Heineman and Dorson Family Funds, the Art Center Annual Fund and the Currier’s Heart of the Arts Gala Fund. Because of the generosity of many, we are making art come alive for ALL of our most talented and deserving students, like Moe!

THE FINAL WORD | 11

The Final Word: On Mount Washington

by Peter Crane

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or some, Friday the 13th is an unlucky day, but for me that date is a fortunate one, for it was on that date back in 1969, that I first ascended Mount Washington. Though I was a rank beginner as a hiker, I was in the company of my more experienced older brother, and he shepherded me safely up and down Tuckerman Ravine. At the summit, we visited the Observatory, and my brother signed in to the summit log book (though I neglected to do so). That logbook remains in the Observatory’s archive, which I now have the privilege of overseeing as Curator of the Observatory’s Gladys Brooks Memorial Library.

Since 1969, I have ascended Mount Washington many times – sometimes while hiking, but mostly by vehicle while I was serving as a weather observer on the summit. There is no doubt that Mount Washington is in my blood.

But why? What is the draw of that cold, windy, barren place? For me, the mountain environment, in all its aspects, is the principal attraction.

The weather can be a mountain lover’s boon or bane, providing endless vistas and mild zephyrs on one day, dense fog and bone-chilling gales the next. The physical enjoyment of the fair weather speaks for itself, but even harsh weather can be an attraction, calling forth one’s expertise and judgment to manage. I find it incredibly exhilarating to safely experience the planet’s fiercest temperatures of 30 or 40 below, super-hurricane force winds and air thick with fog and blowing snow.

Mount Washington’s landscape and geology also attract me. In the above-tree-line realms of the Presidential Range, the very skin, and sometimes the bones of the earth are visible. The surface speaks of the last two million years when glaciers, off and on, scoured the White Mountains. Beneath the surface, sometimes visible in outcrops, are chronicles of the earth’s history going back more than 300 million years, showing traces of mountain building and erosion, the endless ups and downs within geological time.

Atop the rocks lies a green carpet, a remarkable assemblage of dwarf alpine plants, some of which are more typically found at higher altitudes or higher latitudes. I try to make a point of crouching down to cultivate a more intimate acquaintance with these fragile plants, especially during their brief late-spring blossoming, to get a glimpse of their miniature beauty. These plants are relics of the ice age, which persist to instruct us about nature’s resilience and tenacity today.

It’s not just the environment and its underlying science that intrigue me; it’s also the heritage of human interaction with that environment. At least since 1642, humans have been fascinated by this place, and have risen to the challenge. Some of those visitors have been scientists, struggling to learn more and to better understand this mountain. Others have been artists, inspired to recreate the mountain’s scenery on canvas or plate. Others, too, have combined bold engineering and entrepreneurship, forging routes to the summit by trail, road and rail.

The Mount Washington we enjoy today has been shaped, not only by meteorological and geological forces, but also by the efforts of centuries of men and women who shared our attraction to the Northeast’s highest peak. Their endeavors, no less than the mountain itself, have gotten Mount Washington in my blood, and there it remains.

Peter Crane is a guest essayist in the exhibition catalogue. He serves as curator of the Mount Washington Observatory’s Gladys Brooks Memorial Library. Other roles he has enjoyed over the years include shelter caretaker in Tuckerman Ravine and crew member at Lakes of the Clouds Hut. He has been the volunteer maintainer of Mount Washington’s Raymond Path since 1988.

150 ASH STREET MANCHESTER NEW HAMPSHIRE

03104 tel. 603.669.6144 web. CURRIER.ORG

MT. WASHINGTON: ADVENTURE

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et art take you on a journey! Visit our newest exhibition, Mount Washington: The Crown of New England, developed in collaboration with the Mount Washington Observatory, North Conway, New Hampshire, a nonprofit educational institution dedicated to documentation, research and education pertaining to the natural history and human heritage of Mount Washington.

This exhibition is supported by the Henry Melville Fuller Exhibition Fund, the Kimon S. & Anne C. Zachos Exhibition Fund, the Robert & Dorothy Goldberg Charitable Foundation, the Mt. Washington Auto Road, Skinner Auctioneers and Appraisers, Pamela A. Harvey, Harold Janeway, Harvey Construction, the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation and the Susan E. Strickler Exhibition Fund.

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