Spring at Wave Hill is a time of constant change and renewal in the gardens. Plants take center stage in the annual transformation of our environment and our temperament. Survive/Thrive/Alive celebrates the power of plants – their tenacity, adaptability, and necessity. Each artwork was created specifically for this exhibition and explores the ranging complexity of the relationship between plants and people. By engaging different facets of the precariousness and unpredictability of nature, some projects connect with Wave Hill’s collections, others look at how human activity encourages or threatens plant survival. The exhibition offers a unique understanding of the plant kingdom that can be reinforced by a walk through the gardens.

We are pleased to present Maureen Connor’s Curatorial Studies, a special project that provides a rare glimpse behind the scenes of an exhibition and addresses a question frequently posed by visitors – how did you select these artists? The short answer is that the artists in this exhibition responded to a call-to-artists by submitting an initial concept to create a new work addressing the theme of survival in the plant world. The more in-depth answer can be found in the video that examines at the mercurial aspects of curating – deciding which artworks will complement each other, and deepen the exhibition concept. Curating an exhibition of new work has similarities to cultivating a garden – the curators may select and nurture, but the end result can be as unpredictable or as rewarding as the resulting flower bed.

Public Programs

April 1, 2, 1pm, Meet the Artists, tour the exhibit with artists and curators.

April 23, 1-4pm, Exhibition Reception,
Meet the artists and curators at a reception for the spring exhibition Survive/Thrive/Alive, on the theme of plant survival.

April 29, 30, 1–4pm, Planter Surprises, Family Art Project led by artist Stephanie Dinkins, make a planter from recycled materials, plant seeds, take it home to grow.

May 21, 2pm, Behind-the-Scenes of an Exhibition, a discussion with artist Maureen Connor, curators Jennifer McGregor and Erica Strongin, and respondent Ingrid Schaffner, Senior Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania.

Principal funding for the visual arts program is provided by the Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Charitable Trust. Additional support is provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the Hess & Helyn Kline Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Sustaining support for Wave Hill is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Thank you to the artists for participating in the exhibition by creating their work, and to Littlejohn Contemporary, New York, NY, and Metaphor Contemporary Art, Brooklyn, NY.

The Arts at Wave Hill are sponsored by
    

Photography by Becket Logan.