Just as plants migrate, so do people, bringing an affinity for flora and landscape with them. Transplant-Transculture explores ways that plants signify a deep connection to home by artists with roots in Asia, South America and the Caribbean. Ming Fay, Nancy Friedemann and Skowmon Hastanan touch on colonization’s impact on the spread of plants and people. Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Miguel Luciano, and Julio Valdez each explore the cultural significance of the platano/plantain. Zhang Hongtu, Cui Fei, and Lin Yan merge Eastern and Western approaches to art- making. Folk traditions are a departure point for Sandra A. M Bell, who revives a West Indian carnival character, and Tomie Arai, who reinterprets a Japanese folktale. The garden is a metaphoric connection to home in Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons’ photograph and Raymond Saá’s entrance mural. The layers of geometric and plant sources in Jung Hyang Kim’s work emanate from her own experience gardening. The unique perspectives introduced in this exhibition complement Wave Hill’s living collection of plants, one that spans many continents and is a source of enjoyment for visitors from all over the world.

Thank you to the artists for creating and lending their work to this exhibition and to Latin American Masters, Beverly Hills, CA; Goedhuis Contemporary, New York, NY; and Julie Saul Gallery, New York, NY.

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Public Programs
October 28-29,1-4pm, Nature Masquerade and Parade, Family Art Project led by Sandra A. M Bell making animal masks to wear or carry in a festive parade.

October 29, 2:30pm, Exhibition Tour with curator Erica Strongin and artists Tomie Arai, Skowmon Hastanan, Miguel Luciano, Raymond Saá and Julio Valdez.

November 11, 12, 1-4pm, Nature’s Letters, Family Art Project led by Cui Fei, creating secret nature writing collages using leaves, twigs or other natural materials.

November 12, 2pm, led by Tomie Arai / November 19, 2pm, led by Julio Valdez
Culturally Printing, Adult Workshop series introduces mono-printing techniques and ways to connect plants and culture. $20/$15 Member. Registration required; call 718.549.3200 x305, to sign up for one or both.

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.

The Arts at Wave Hill are sponsored by