asakiyume: (glowing grass)
asakiyume ([personal profile] asakiyume) wrote2012-05-03 02:59 am

houses of words

A most remarkable art installation was going up on the grounds of the Emily Dickinson House in Amherst, Massachusetts: poetry houses: whitewashed reliquaries, inscribed with phrases from Emily Dickinson's poems.

I first caught sight of them from across the street:

poetry house

Intrigued, I crossed over, and they were everywhere:

A poetry house by Emily Dickinson's house

a poetry house

Further on, in a small park where a silhouette of Emily Dickinson talks to a silhouette of Robert Frost, three men were hard at work putting up another one.

building a poetry house

building a poetry house

building a poetry house

That one says "Beauty is not caused. It is. It IS"

From those three, I found out that the installation was the brainchild of a student at Deerfield Academy, a prep school in the area. I was impressed with his vision, and with how beautiful the execution was, and at the same time, hearing the name of a prep school, and looking at the materials and labor required to make the exhibition happen, I got to thinking about the financing of art. Did a grant make this possible? A wealthy patron or patrons? Did the student ask for donations of supplies from local businesses? I expect one day soon there will be an article in the local papers, and my questions will be answered.

Edited to add: This article on the Deerfield Academy website talks about the project. The creator is Peter Krasznekewicz, a junior.

Another addition: Link to the artist's website: Art Action. On the site are more photos of the houses in situ all over the town of Amherst--so it's more far reaching than I realized!



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