Artist and Former Astronaut Collaborate on Exhibit 'Our Fragile Home'

Installation of artwork inspires care for the planet

The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery at the College of the Holy Cross, will present “Our Fragile Home,” an installation of paintings and sculptural works by artist Pat Musick produced in collaboration with her husband, a former astronaut, Jerry Carr. The exhibition will be on view June 6 – July 25, with an opening reception and talk by the couple on Friday, June 6, from 2 – 4 p.m. in the gallery.

Pat Musick received her Ph.D. from Cornell University and has focused her artistic energies throughout her lifetime on the tensions between man and the environment. “Stone Songs on the Trail of Tears,” one of her more significant projects, involved 23 installations along the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 2002.  Her work is included in many public and private collections throughout the U.S., including the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Arkansas. Jerry Carr is a retired Colonel, USMC and NASA astronaut. Carr was commander of Skylab 4 (third and final manned visit to the Skylab Orbital Workshop) from November 16, 1973 – February 8, 1974 and was part of the longest manned flight (84 days) at that time.  Carr logged more than 2,000 hours in space on his mission.

In 1990, Carr was invited along with 40 other astronauts and cosmonauts to participate in an Earth Day celebration at the United Nations. Six were chosen to reflect upon their feelings as they first looked back at Earth from space. In the audience, with a translation headset, Musick noted that the space travelers, speaking in their own languages without translation, all used the same words to describe their responses—beauty, sustain, harmony, nurture, steward, protect, fragile and balance.

It was this experience that prompted Musick to create a body of artwork that might in turn inspire others to reflect on our collective relationship to our planet.

The exhibit consists of several large-scale ink and watercolor paintings on kozo paper and a series of metal and glass sculptural pedestal tables.  The artists use stone, wood and beeswax, materials that represent the natural world, while steel, canvas and paper reflect human elements. Their artistic goals are to express the relationship between mankind and the environment and the tensions we exert upon each other.

Musick and Carr will give a presentation in the Gallery during the opening reception, which will further describe their shared goal of awakening a sense of stewardship of the earth through their work. As Musick states, the words used by those who had the privileged experience of being in space, “challenge us to become guardians and caretakers of our earthly home.”

EVENTS

Friday, June 6, 10 a.m. Exhibit Opens: “Our Fragile Home”

Friday, June 6, 2 – 4 p.m. Opening Reception

Friday, June 6, 3 – 3:30 p.m. Talk by Pat Musick and Jerry Carr

Please note:

Summer hours for the Cantor Art Gallery are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Gallery Information

Founded in 1983 through the generosity of Iris & B. Gerald Cantor, the Cantor Art Gallery serves both as a venue for a changing series of historical and contemporary public exhibitions, as well as a vital resource for Holy Cross faculty and students, linking exhibitions to the broader liberal arts curriculum.

Summer hours for the Cantor Art Gallery are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Located in O’Kane Hall, 1st Floor, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, Mass., 01610.  Visitors needing assistance with handicap accessibility should contact Public Safety at 508-793-2011. Admission to the gallery is free.

For additional information please call 508-793-3356 or visit the Gallery’s website.