© CARMEN HERRERA; IMAGE COURTESY LISSON GALLERY; © 2013 BY DEBORAH KAAS/ARTIST RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK
Deborah Kaas’ 1997 Triple Ghost Yentl (My Elvis) lurks just beyond an Alfond archway. Kass, drawing on pop culture themes, created an homage to Andy Warhol’s Elvis paintings and substituted images of Barbra Streisand in the guise of a young male Talmudic scholar from the movie Yentel.
In a trio of 2013 paintings, all dubbed Untitled, Cuban-born artist Carmen Herrera uses geometric shapes and vivid swatches of color. Herrera is considered one of the most important artists working in the genre of geometric abstraction.
a 50 percent increase in visitors, in part because admission is free, subsidized by Dale Montgomery, a 1960 Rollins graduate who majored in studio art. (Montgomery, a frequent visitor to the campus, retired after a long career at New York-based McMillen Inc., the oldest continuously operated interior design firm in the U.S.) Museum attendance has also been bolstered by guests of the hotel. Each room has a rack card featuring directions to the museum, as well as instructions on how to take an audio tour of the hotel’s art using a mobile device. In addition, guided group tours of the Alfond collection are offered every Friday at 1 p.m., and “Happy Hour” tours are offered the first
Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. The tours — which are usually conducted by the Cornell’s in-house curator, Amy Galpin — are free of charge and no reservations are required. Many Happy Hour-tour attendees choose to remain at the hotel for a glass of wine or dinner at Hamilton’s Kitchen, its award-winning restaurant. Many others, their curiosity piqued, eventually make their way to the Cornell to see what’s on display there. It’s all very symbiotic and, to Heller, very heartening. “We’re always looking for ways to become a more integral part of Rollins and expand its boundaries in the community,” she says. “This partnership has allowed us to do both.” FA L L 2 0 1 5 | W INT ER PARK MAGAZ IN E
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