GREAT WHITE OAK TREE
WHEN: June 10 – August 5, 2018, with a reception on Sunday June 17th from 1-4 PM. Gallery hours: Mondays – Wednesdays 10-1 or by appointment.
WHERE: Farmstead Arts, 450 King George Road in Basking Ridge
For information contact Farmstead Director Kathy Harris at admin@farmsteadarts.org.
Farmstead Arts is pleased to present an art and cultural exhibit honoring the Basking Ridge Great White Oak Tree. (Above: “Oak Tree Home” by Linda Arnold)
This exhibit contains original artwork, historic materials and commemorative pieces reflecting the deep connection and corresponding sense of loss experienced by the local community when the Great White Oak was, after 600 years, dismantled in summer of 2017.
Many artists and exhibit contributors will be in attendance, sharing their thoughts honoring the Oak Tree, including singer/songwriter Gordon Thomas Ward. The Bernardsville native will perform “Trees,” his original composition written in tribute to the Oak Tree. Also in attendance will be filmmaker Mike Reynolds, whose documentary entitled “Under the Great Oak” is currently being submitted to film festivals around the country. Reception attendees will be invited to take part in a community art project in which they will write thoughts about the Oak Tree on seed paper which will comprise leaves on a cloth tree in the Farmhouse. At the close of the exhibit, the papers will be planted around the Farmstead grounds, resulting in new colorful plant life.
Farmstead artist Tammy DeVoe, whose efforts have brought this exhibit to fruition, lives in a wooded area of Basking Ridge. “I love trees, and the Great White Oak Tree was the center of the Basking Ridge Community for hundreds of years. It’s important that we can provide this opportunity to review the history and share these inspirational works with our community.”
Participating artists include Basking Ridge’s Anne Pinto, Dana Reynolds, Meeta Garg, Alex Bigatti and Tammy DeVoe, Bernardsville artists Thomas Schneider and Martha Kelshaw, Linda Arnold of Liberty Corner, Warren’s Suzanne Cline, Debbie Limoli and Margaret Fanning, Oscar Peterson of Millburn, Bedminster artist David E. Clark, and from Far Hills, Susanna Kopchains and John Smith. Historical and commemorative materials have been contributed by Basking Ridge’s Carolyn Kelly, the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills, the Kiwanis Club and the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church.
The farmhouse is wheelchair accessible. Anyone anticipating the need for additional accessibility services may make a request by sending an e-mail to admin@farmsteadarts.org at least three weeks in advance.
In addition to Farmstead membership dollars, funds for this event has been made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, through the State/County Partnership Local Arts Program Grant administered by The Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission.
