Mourning art: Tradition honors the dead by portraying lives they led
History and art come together in "Dearly Departed: The Art of Mourning Past & Present," a collaboration between Falmouth Art Center artists and the Falmouth Historical Society.
The society will loan historic examples of mourning art to the show which runs March 31- April 24 in the Landrau-Partan Gallery at Falmouth Art Center, 137 Gifford St. The show's opening reception is Friday, April 14, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Falmouth Art Center.
The 15 artists chosen to participate, in part because their past work dealt with grief and loss, viewed the historical artworks for inspiration and then forged their own works of mourning.
"What we have received is quite moving. We have artists who looked at the larger issues of humanity in mourning victims of war, in one case, and slavery, in another case, to artists who used their personal experience with losing a loved one or a friend and, in one case, an infant daughter," writes Falmouth Art Center Executive Director Laura M. Reckford in an email interview.
The idea for "Dearly Departed" came from Rachel Lovett, the new director of the Falmouth Historical Society/Falmouth Museums on the Green.
"She met with me at the Falmouth Art Center last fall and proposed an idea of a collaboration where the Historical Society would lend the Falmouth Art Center historic 'mourning art' pieces they have and we would design a show around it," Reckford writes.
Looking at original mourning art
The works from the Historical Society were all made by 16-year-old Falmouth girls in the first decade of the 19th century. The pieces feature silk embroidery, watercolor and verre-eglomise(reverse glass painted frames). The imagery includes urns, weeping willows and memorials that modern day culture now associates with mourning.
Of the historic pieces in the show, Lovett said, “The art evokes the emotion of loss that transcends 200 years of Falmouth history.”
The contemporary take on grief and loss
Reckford chose 15 local artists.
"We scheduled a time for the artists to visit the Falmouth Museums on the Green to see the historic pieces. And then I asked them to be inspired by those pieces and create a contemporary piece of mourning art," she said.
The contemporary artists in the exhibit are Christine Anderson, Susan Elizabeth Clark, Betsy Payne Cook, Margot Critchfield, Julie DeMello, Alice Galick, Sigrid Hecker, Ruth Leech, Frances Merton, Mellissa Morris, Marie St. Hilaire, Robert Scutt, Kim Sheerin, Claudia Smith-Jacobs and David Williamson.
Artists worked in a variety of mediums including painting, photography, printmaking, collage, mixed media, ceramics, fiber, wood and glass.
“My goal is for the objects to be a catalyst for contemporary conversation around loss and mourning,” Lovett said in a Falmouth Art Center release. “This collaboration with living artists reimagines these pieces in a new and relevant way.”
Get involved with 'Dearly Departed' talk, workshop
There will be two events inspired by the exhibit at Falmouth Art Center:
For the first event, Falmouth Historical Society Executive Director Rachel Lovett will give a free talk at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 12, at Falmouth Art Center.
For the second event, Christine Anderson, one of the artists with work in the show, will lead a workshop on two consecutive Saturdays, April 22 and April 29, called "Creating a Handmade Book of Memories." Registration for the workshop is on the Falmouth Art Center’s website at FalmouthArt.org or call 508-540-3304.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: 'Dearly Departed': Show offers new take on 200-year-old mourning art
