HANFORD MILLS MUSEUM NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Liz Callahan 607/278-5744, [email protected]
Hanford Mills Museum to present Multi-disciplinary series on environmental justice and sustainability
InterActions Series to feature Artists and Scholars
[East Meredith, NY] Hanford Mills Museum will present a free online series that brings together local artists and scholars to discuss environmental justice, the use of natural resources, and sustainability.
“The InterActions series is designed to spark important conversations and inspire action,” says Liz Callahan, executive director of Hanford Mills Museum. “Bringing together diverse perspectives and speakers with a rich knowledge of the region will help us all assess and enhance our understanding of critical issues.” She said that Hanford Mills will use these conversations to find new ways to enhance visitors’ understanding of our shared landscape, the equitable use of natural resources, and sustainability.
The series begins on Thursday, February 18 at 7 pm with Christina Hunt Wood, a video artist and photographer based in Delhi, and Dr. Rachel Leibowitz, Associate Professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Co-Director of the Center for Cultural Landscape Preservation. Wood uses her artwork to explore the actions of rural communities and their effect on the environment. Leibowitz studies the historical contexts and human relationships that shape cultural landscapes, especially as they pertain to issues of conservation. There will be time for an audience Q&A. To register, visit hanfordmills.org.
On March 4 at 7 pm, the series presents Ellen Wong, a landscape painter and visual artist, and Dr. Lisa Tessier, Associate Professor of Arts & Sciences at SUNY Delhi. Wong focuses on the rural and working local landscape, especially that of the agriculture surrounding her home in Roxbury. She also co-hosts a weekly radio show about local agriculture. She has helped to develop visitor engagement strategies for the Whitney Museum of American Art and Dia Arts Foundation. Tessier, a HMM member and volunteer, has combined expertise in landscape design and art-making. She creates watercolor prints involving native plants.
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, traditional musicians and co-founders of the Ashokan Center, will speak on March 25 at 7 pm. The Ashokan Center seeks to teach, inspire and build community through shared experiences in nature, history, music, and art. The internationally acclaimed artists are known for their performance of Ungar’s Emmy-nominated composition Ashokan Farewell, which became the musical hallmark of Ken Burn’s The Civil War on PBS.
The session on April 8 will feature Richard Kathmann, an artist who paints abstract and landscape works of his Catskills surroundings, and Joshua Cerra, an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University and principal director for the Cornell Climate Change Garden, an interpretive research installation on Cornell’s campus. Cerra works with his students to explore landscape architecture design strategies as they relate to New York waterways and climate change, and his research focuses on the social-ecological systems created between humans and landscapes. A resident of East Meredith, Kathmann served as Hanford Mills Museum’s first executive director.
“We encourage people to join us in these important conversations,” says Callahan. “Guided by this impressive roster of speakers, we look forward to a dynamic series that will shape the way Hanford Mills interacts with visitors in the future.”
Registration
InterActions sessions are free and will take place online via Zoom at 7 pm on February 18, March 4, March 25, and April 8. The public can take part in individual sessions or the whole series. Sign up at hanfordmills.org.
In 2020, Hanford Mills Museum, in collaboration with the Cooperstown Graduate Program (SUNY Oneonta), received a Creativity Incubator Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Greater Hudson Heritage Network. This grant offers financial support for museums to think more imaginatively about the interpretation of their collections and to explore new ways of engaging with contemporary audiences, with an emphasis on experimentation and creative thinking. With this series, Hanford Mills will bring together artists and scholars to lead virtual conversations on environmental justice, sustainability, and climate change.
About Hanford Mills Museum
As one of only a handful of operating water- and steam-powered mills, Hanford Mills Museum has earned a place on both the National and New York State Registers of Historic Places. The mission of Hanford Mills Museum is to inspire audiences of all ages to explore connections among energy, technology, natural resources and entrepreneurship in rural communities with a focus on sustainable choices.
Hanford Mills Museum, which will open for the season on May 15, is located at 51 County Route 12, at the intersection of Delaware County Routes 10 and 12, in East Meredith, NY, 10 miles from Oneonta, and 15 miles from Delhi.
For more information, visit www.hanfordmills.org or call 607.278.5744.
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CONTACT: Liz Callahan, [email protected] 607.278.5744