IN THE GALLERIES: Art, Inside Out

A quaint barn cottage and garden bursting with allium, wild roses, and lush greenery sits perched on a hilltop overlooking a gradually sloping valley. Off in the distance, dramatic, ominous clouds rise behind lush mountains. The real gems of this scene, however, are nestled along a faint, well-worn path: statues, some with a near-mystic quality, peek from behind bushes. This is the Ruth O. Cowell Sculpture Garden, a sister exhibit to the Naoussa Gallery housed in the barn beside it, in the serenity of Tyringham, Massachusetts.

Inside the gallery, works by regional artists are displayed in rotating collections: photographs, paintings, textile art, jewelry, and ceramics, their bright hues and curving shapes dancing in the soft glow of the barn’s interior.

Both contrasting with and complementing their natural setting, the garden sculptures are compositions of rugged scraps of rusted steel and iron, glossy metal orbs, weathered ceramic shards, and smoothed stone that bring a contemporary character to the otherwise rustic setting.

Featuring mostly regional art—ceramic birdhouses by Stephen Fabrico, mesh cranes by Janet Kawada, found-metal sculpture by Jamie Perkins, and whimsical tree adornment by Kaete Brittin Shaw—the sculpture garden celebrates the landscape and the artists who know it best. [AUGUST 2009]

THE GOODS

Naoussa Gallery & the Ruth O. Cowell Sculpture Garden
8 Main Rd.
Tyringham, Mass.
413.243.0456
www.naoussagallery.com