Front Cover Image Credit: Bob Kephart, (The Root of the Matter 2023 Metal, wood)

The Spring Exhibitions at the Danforth Art Museum merge the past and the present and create a space for storytelling, discovery, and understanding. In three exhibitions in a wide range of media, artists peel back layers of history and confront the past through visual interpretations that provide broader understanding of the present. Each artist uses their chosen medium, lived experiences, and connection to place to explore history, culture, the natural world, collecting, and personal agency—all while urging us to be proper stewards of the world in which we live.

The exhibitions open to the public Saturday, February 17, 2024 and will remain on view through June 2, 2024. An opening reception with the artists is scheduled for Saturday, February 24, at 6 pm.

“We are thrilled to feature this group of artists and their timely and innovative work,” says Museum Director and Curator Jessica Roscio. “These exhibitions are not to be missed.”

For more information, visit danforth.framingham.edu.

Exhibition Descriptions:

In the Litowitz and Hallway Galleries: Harvest, Foraged, Found

Harvest, Foraged, Found highlights five artists who use organic materials found in nature in their artistic practice to create diverse and unique pieces of art. Their pieces, through what they harvest and gather, tell stories of place, connections to people and culture, and our relationship with the environment. Wood, stones, leaves, shells, spores, and produce serve as inspiration and artistic expression that helps us understand the world around us and how we fit into and explore nature that houses us.

In the Works on Paper Gallery: Jennifer Davis Carey and Scarlett Hoey: Not a Story to Pass On

Jennifer Davis Carey and Scarlett Hoey work at the intersection of art and history. The double meaning of the title of this exhibition “Not a Story to Pass On,” is essential to understanding the work of each artist, which includes collage, enamel work, and photography. Carey and Hoey each tell a story with their work, one that is too important to miss, and at the same time it is not a story to carry through history—one that must be understood but not repeated. This exhibition confronts history, giving voice to stories that have been misinterpreted, hidden, or ignored. It is also about the role of vision in history—who do we see, and how do we see them? Who has been allowed to be seen throughout history and who has been silenced?

In the Weinberg Gallery: Sandra Matthews: Unearthing

Sandra Matthews’ works visualize layers of time and translate them into intricate images with powerful narratives. This exhibition focuses on five projects that define distinct periods in Matthews’ career while emphasizing her attention to our discourse on history and placemaking. Unearthing explores our physical and emotional awareness of the passage of time, ideas of place and home in dialogue with the landscape, and finding solace in the familiar.