The Winter Garden
February 5–March 7
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 5, 6:00–8:00 PM

The Winter Garden, NYAE’s annual Members Juried Invitational, brings together a selection of works chosen by artist jurors Peter Bonner, Linnea Paskow, and Patricia Watwood.

As we brave the cold days of midwinter, NYAE calls attention to the classic winter garden, dating back to the 17th century, when European nobility constructed large conservatories that housed tropical and subtropical plants that acted as an extension of their living space for evening occasions, large flower shows and social gatherings.  Or more presently, the public gardens cultivated with hardy, cold-resistant plants that invite long meditative walks.

While the term certainly conjures up images of gothic structures made of iron and curvilinear glass, or a type of garden that is planted with hardy, cold-resistant plants, we are reminded of gardens internal—of the quiet yet stalwart solitudes inside ourselves that we repair to once the cold and dark set in.  The world about us may appear dormant but we are quietly busy tilling the soil uncovering buried secrets and dormant dreams.

Hence, artists were invited to imagine works that reference sustenance, living decoration, and the determination to winter over and last to spring. The exhibition gathers these responses into a collective meditation on endurance, cultivation, and the promise of renewal.