Smith College Museum of Art
Someone asked where my work might be found in public collections:
A Smith College alumnae wanted to follow the lead of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Yale University and commission furnituremakers to build public seating to go in galleries of the Smith Art Museum. I was one of a dozen or so people asked to make one of these benches.
I wanted to build something with a back that would allow a museum visitor a chance to sit, relax, and admire the art on the wall. I hoped to offer the viewer the opportunity to face in either direction, so my design essentially put two benches back to back.
For a marquetry theme I chose “Four Arts”, with a focus on hands involved in making something creative. The subjects are painting, sculpture (carving), photography, and architecture.
The painting panel is a self-portrait in progress and harkens back to the intarsia panel of Antonio Barili.