MULTIPLE VIEWS:

Hera Collaborates with North Kingstown's Smith's Castle

Ten Hera Gallery artists exhibit artworks inspired by North Kingstown's Smith's Castle in Hera's upcoming exhibition, Multiple Views: Hera at Smith's Castle. The exhibition will run from July 12 -August 16 at Wakefield's Hera Gallery. Participating artists are: Bethany Bonner, Alexandra Broches, Marcia Cooper, Pat Forni Curran, Jill McLaughlin, Barbara Pagh, Roberta Richman, Julienne Saslaw, and Katherine Veneman. In addition, the Smith's Castle grounds will host a sculpture installation by New York artist Marcia Cooper.

Image Above: Julienne Saslaw.

On Saturday, July 12 from 3-4 PM, Smith's Castle will host a "Meet the Artist" reception featuring Marcia Cooper, who will discuss her outdoor, site-specific sculpture. The gallery reception for all ten artists will be held at Hera from 5-7 PM. After the close of the gallery show, many of the pieces in the show will be viewed at the Castle.

According to the Smith's Castle newsletter, "As the Cocumscussoc Association continues the 325th anniversary celebration of Richard Smith, Jr.'s house, it is gratifying to offer our audiences multiple views of Castle history. Scholarly interpretation is now easily accessible in the text and graphics of the new visitor orientation exhibition and catalogue."

The collaboration itself was a result of a meeting of gallery and Castle members and staff at a New England Museum Association Conference. Former Hera Gallery Director Katherine Veneman says, "We were looking for opportunities to collaborate with local cultural institutions, and felt that cross-pollination between our audiences would be beneficial to everyone. Our gallery artists started researching last Fall, and met early this spring to discuss preliminary ideas. In addition, the Castle has a long history, which is a rich source of inspiration to anyone interested in New England's identity, or in the evolution of its culture and traditions."

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Alexandra Broches' photographs are based on her research on King Philip's War, and the role played by inhabitants of the Castle during its duration. Roberta Richman and Julienne Saslaw are both working from direct visual responses to the landscape. Richman is doing a two part painting on paper of the arbor in winter. Saslaw recreates an upstairs window in mixed media, with a photographic collage of the water view from the window. Her photograph is collaged so as to provide a panorama of the view. Image at Left: Alexandra Broches

Marcia Cooper says that her "listening for the whispering breeze amidst the cedar grove" on the Castle grounds and reflecting on our connections to the past and our natural landscape inspired her installation, Between the Trees. Recontextualizing materials and objects from everyday life, she incorporates the sometimes contradictory themes of early trade and cultural exchange, territorial shifts, the enactment of human bondage and the pursuit of human liberties.

Jill McLaughlin combines mixed media and journal writing to celebrate the lives and impact of women in early New England. Incorporating symbols of daily life through the use of materials such as dried herbs, beeswax, needlework, maps, photos and fabric, her focus is women of the 1675-1775 time period? Updikes, slaves and Native Americans. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's A Midwife's Tale, Good Wives, and The Age of Homespun have been important resources for McLaughlin.

Also examining and questioning the place of women in the 18th century is painter Bethany Bonner. The mysterious Elizabeth Singleton, represented in the familiar painting in the Castle stairwell, inspired Bonner to express her glimpse of these women's lives through mixed media. Smith's Castle certainly is, in Bonner's words, one of "the authentic places that are the driving force" behind much of her work.

Barbara Pagh exhibits a series of four photolithographs combine images of interior and exterior views of the house. Printed on flax paper, to reference the importance of flax to colonial life, these works provide a sense of the layered history of the house and its occupants.

Pagh describes her process and imagery as follows:

"The photograph of the wall was scanned into the computer and altered in PhotoShop and exposed onto a photo-lithographic plate. It was printed on handmade paper in a peach color similar to the front room in the house. Superimposed on this background are individual objects or views such as a doll, a set table, a dressing table and a silhouette. The last element is a colonial stencil pattern and a stencil of a Native American woodlands symbol, a bird. Image Above: Barbara Pagh

The exterior views are made with a detail of fall leaves, made in the same way as the wall and printed in a yellow/gold. Superimposed are other views outside the house including the cedar grove and other trees. There is also a colonial leaf pattern stencil and again, the bird symbol. One print has fragments of objects found during a dig on the site."

In developing a mixed media work related to the presentation and preservation of artifacts, Katherine Veneman's mixed media work questions ideas of authenticity and interpretation of primary source material as she focuses on persistent Rhode Island myths and the issues masked or revealed by the creation of these myths.

The project has been partially funded by the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts. Hera Gallery is handicapped accessible and free parking is available. All events are open to the public. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday (1-5) PM and Saturday (10-4) PM. Hera is located at 327 Main St., Wakefield. Directions and additional information can be found at www.heragallery.org or by calling 789-1488.

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About Smith's Castle
Smith's Castle in Wickford (North Kingstown), Rhode Island, is a National Historic Landmark Archaeological Site and is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

Before the arrival of Europeans, it was a summer gathering place for the Narragansett. In the mid-17th century, it was the location of trading posts operated by Richard Smith and Roger Williams-the first English settlement in Washington County. In 1675, it was a garrison for the Great Swamp attack and contains the grave of 40 slain soldiers. In the 18th century, it was one of the largest slave-holding plantations in South County. The present house was built by Richard Smith, Jr. c1678 and renovated by Rhode Island Attorney General Daniel Updike c1738.

About the Cocumscussoc Association
A group of concerned citizens formed the Cocumscussoc Association in 1949 to save Smith's Castle from a developer's wrecking ball. The Association's mission is to preserve the 22-acre site's archaeology and architecture, including the c1678 house and a c1900 house. The Association educates the public about the history of the site and its inhabitants through docent-led public tours, school programs, and adult-education seminars. The Cocumscussoc Association is a private, non-profit, tax-exempt IRS 501(c)(3) organization.

Contact information for Smith's Castle:

Barbara Carey, Resident Director, The Cocumscussoc Association at Smith's Castle, 55 Richard Smith Drive, Wickford, Rhode Island, 02852.

Email: smithscastle@earthlink.net. Web site: www.smithscastle.org.

-By Cynthia Farnell, with contributions from Barbara Carey, Lisa Hallberg, and Katherine Veneman.

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