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Show Exhibitors: Dick Morill, left, Elly wane and
Harry Leigh at the Pomona Cultural Center |
Rockland
Journal-News
Wednesday April 5, 1995 - Front Page: Living Section
Nature is their Muse
Local conservationists mark their group's 65th year by mounting an
art exhibit
By Laura Incalcaterra
Staff Writer
"Anyone who has an eye for beauty would want to paint
nature"-- Katharine Brimer
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| POMONA.
Nature can knock your socks off. It can overwhelm the senses. And it can
inspire even the most amateur of artists to try to capture Mother
Earth's beauty on paper, canvas, wood and other mediums.
It is nature, appropriately enough, that has inspired members of the
Rockland County Conservation Association to mount an art exhibit in
honor of the organization's 65th anniversary.
The show is on view through April 27 at the Pomona Cultural Center.
An opening reception takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. tomorrow.
"To salute
the years of work dedicated to preservation of natural resources and
natural beauty in our county and beyond, we decided to celebrate in a
happy way," says Betty Hedges, president of the association. |
And judging from the response, association members are more than
happy to participate. Nearly 70 pieces of art by some 40
professional and amateur artists are on view, including photographs,
ceramics, drawings, sculptures, stained glass and paintings.
Many of the participants say it makes sense that artists, -- who
consider themselves environmentalists -- would share in such a show.
"Who should
want to protect the environment more than artists?" says Katherine
Brimer of Airmont, who is exhibiting a painting of a turquoise berry
vine.
"Anyone who has an eye for beauty would want to paint
nature," says Brimer. Her husband, who is exhibiting two paintings, agrees. |
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"All my life I've enjoyed art and nature," says John Burton
Brimer, 89. "In nature, I feel closer to God and than I do in most
churches."
Elly Wane, who
helped organize the exhibit, is inspired by the outdoors, especially
when it comes to her gardens. "It's overwhelming, being outside and
looking at the things growing," she says. "Even rocks. You
look at them and say well, what kind of personality could rocks have?
But when you look, you see they have different sizes, different colors.
"For me, it's natural to want to preserve those sights in
art."
Beauty is the link
So what is this connection between art and nature? |
"I think the first connection is obviously beauty," says Dick
Morrill of Pomona. "I think the basic inspiration comes from nature, which
also includes human beings --we can't separate that.
"And I think artists are militant when it comes to fighting the forces
of ugliness," says Morrill, who is exhibiting sculpture. "Beauty is
beauty, be it natural beauty or man-made beauty."
The conservation association has been fighting to keep Rockland beautiful
since 1930. It formed from the smaller conservation committee of the Suffern's
Women's Club.
In the early days, the group busied itself with beautification projects, such
as planting bulbs and trees along roadsides, sponsoring mailbox improvement
contests, and pushing for regulation of billboards.
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Preserving High Tor
The turning point came when the group fought off the Trap Rock Mining
Company, which was eager to create a rock quarry on most of scenic High Tor
mountain in Haverstraw.
It took 19 years, but the mountain was saved. The association raised $6,000,
bought the land, and turned it over in 1913 to the Palisades Interstate Park
Commission.
Later, the association headed a move to have the county Legislature create
several agencies, including the county Park Commission in 1960; the Soil and
Water Conservation District in 1965; and the Rockland County Environmental
Management Council in 1914.
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"I consider them the heart and soul and environmental center of the
environmental movement of Rockland County," Diane Gruskin, executive
director of the county Environmental Management Council, says of the
association.
"You can always count on them for a fresh view and positive
vision," she says. "And they don't just sit on past laurels. They have
vision for the future. I think that's why they've been around so long.
"They take personally every inch of open space they help preserve, "Gruskin
adds. "And they've managed to do it all while remaining nonpolitical.
That's important because as soon as an issue is politicized, it becomes too
emotional.
"Of courses, that doesn't mean they don't become indignant," she
says. "They do, with a cause."
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More recently, the association has backed passage of the New York State
Bottle Bill and the state Environmental Quality Bond Acts of 1972 and I986. The
group also initiated and financed the Rockland Champion Tree Survey to identify
noteworthy trees in the county.
It helped lead the drive to have the Ramapo River designated an official New
York State Recreational River, and helped promote the establishment of a local
chapter of the National Audubon Society.
It continues to work on projects promoting safe solid waste disposal that
avoids massive incineration; and encourages recycling efforts, erosion control,
and the preservation of tidal and freshwater wetlands and other environmentally
sensitive areas.
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The association also sponsors a scholarship for high school students each
year, named in·honor of a former president, the late Eleanor Burlingham.
It also sponsors public forums. In 1994, for example, association-sponsored
talks focused on parkland in Rockland, breast cancer concerns and Sterling
Forest.
A community watchdog
Members of the association continue to keep an eye on Sterling Forest, said
to be the largest undeveloped tract of land remaining in the Hudson River
Valley. Some want to develop the land, or at least part of it, while others urge
total protection.
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The association also continues to monitor the Indian Point nuclear power
plant in Buchanan, N.Y., just across the Hudson River from Stony Point and
Tomkins Cove.
"They've really been in the forefront of many, many issues, "says
Harriet Cornell, a county legislator (D-Clarkstown) who has herself long been a
supporter of environmental causes.
"They're extremely public spirited and very attentive of local issues
that come to the county Legislature and local town boards," she says.
"They understand the importance of the issues ... and they really are able
to make an impact on the community."
It was the association that for years pushed the county to take over
jurisdiction of the historic Dutch Gardens located near the county courthouse, a
cause in which Cornell has been active.
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The gardens, built in the 1930s, were taken under the county's wing in 1968.
Thanks to $50,000 in grant money from the Environmental Quality Bond Act and
another $50,000 in matching funds from the county, restoration of the gardens
can begin.
What it all comes down to, says Brimer, is a respect for nature.
"Anyone who doesn't respect nature is playing with fire," says
Brimer. "Anyone who doesn't respect nature is either a vandal or a fool or
both.
"I hope that a lot of people see this (art show) and become inspired to
go out and save the world."
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