Our Fragile Home
Artist and former astronaut collaborate on installation of artwork that inspires care for the planet
The Cantor Art Gallery, 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 scheduled for Friday, June 6, 2 – 4 p.m.
Pat Musick received her PhD from Cornell University and has been a practicing artist for most of her life, with artwork in many private and public collections throughout the United States. 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, Car 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, 10:00 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
