ARTICLE
May 21 – July 14, 2024 (Falmouth, Massachusetts): Highfield Hall & Gardens is pleased to announce the next exhibit In Flux: Perspectives on Arctic Change, scheduled to open May 21, 2024. The exhibition, sponsored by Woodwell Climate Research Center, features selections from four artists who partnered with Woodwell Climate scientists in Arctic field research--installation artist Aaron Dysart, filmmakers Michaela Grill and Karl Lemieux, and photographer Gabrielle Russomagno-as well as Woodwell Board Member, encaustic painter Georgia Nassikas, and Woodwell Climate cartographer Greg Fiske. Collectively, the works demonstrate the power of art to interpret the data and experience of climate science in ways that connect and inspire at a deep emotional level. Highfield Hall’s public galleries welcome the artists from Minnesota, Canada, Philadelphia, and Washington DC, together with Senior Scientist Dr. Susan Natali, and Arctic Program Director and Associate Scientist Dr. Jennifer Watts, to share their creative interpretations of new research with a broad non-specialist audience. Comprehensive climate science is critically important in responding to the climate crisis, but science alone does not inspire everyone to act. Facts and research might not reach everyone, so in order to have the greatest impact, Woodwell Climate invests in other ways of expressing the same truths that resonate with different audiences. Artistic expression can help bridge the gap between facts and feelings by appealing directly to our emotions and our values, while exploring impacts of climate change and ways to address it. The diverse region is home to 4 million people who rely on unique ecosystems. Warming 3-4 times faster than the rest of the globe. The rising temperatures impacting the balance of life from vegetation, soil, and ice. Each artist in the exhibit brings focus to a cross-section of scientific study; Greg Fiske’s mapping provides a bird’s-eye view, with data represented in ways that ask the viewer to question what they think they know. Photographs of ground-level vegetation by Gabrielle Russomagno play with concepts of scale and power, while Aaron Dysart explores below ground on his installation that references measurements of seasonal permafrost thaw, and filmmakers Grill and Lemieux capture the visual and auditory changes happening now in the tundra, as the edges of frozen ground thaw and collapse into the sea. Painter and Woodwell Board Member, Georgia Nassikas, witnessed firsthand the thawing of the permafrost and fracturing ice, she now dedicates her time working in climate science policy, and doing artwork that speaks to the importance of balance in all things and of the Arctic at risk. This exhibit is made possible in part by the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, Brabson Family Foundation, The Falmouth Fund, and Woodwell Climate Research Center. Gallery Hours: Tuesday– Friday, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm Saturday & Sunday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm About Highfield Hall & Gardens The house is a rare surviving example of transitional Stick Style architecture, containing beautiful gardens located in the heart of Falmouth, Massachusetts. It is a unique combination of a historic house, expansive gardens and trails, and a vibrant cultural center. Built in 1878 as the summer home for Boston's Beebe family, the house sits on 5.5 pristine acres surrounded by nearly 400 acres of conservation land and public walking trails. Highfield Hall & Gardens is not your typical historic estate. It is an example of a historic building saved by grassroots community organizing. An effort of tenacity and vision that continues as new research on the structure and its story of the people who lived here add to the building's significance. It offers world-class music, international art exhibitions, culinary classes, family programs, and year-round special events. For more information, visit www.highfieldhallandgardens.org.