Arts at the Arb

By Chandra Burkhart

In the fall of 2021, Lan­dis added yet anoth­er sculp­ture, Brac­ing Stone,” by local artist Kris­ten DeFontes-Wells, to its col­lec­tion. This sculp­ture, made of lime­stone, steel, and reclaimed lum­ber, sits near the Meet­ing House, majes­ti­cal­ly over­look­ing the Schoharie Valley. 

Brac­ing Stone”

As an artist look­ing at anoth­er artist’s art, I was intrigued by this piece. To me, it spoke about the pre­car­i­ous bal­ance between man and nature. The nat­ur­al pieces weigh in at a mas­sive 2,275 pounds and dwarf the man­made pieces of steel and reclaimed lum­ber, per­haps sug­gest­ing the endur­ing sta­bil­i­ty and pow­er of the nat­ur­al world. 

The Lan­dis Arbore­tum has a his­to­ry rich in the arts since its incep­tion. In the 1950s, it was a meet­ing place for writ­ers of poet­ry and nov­els, dancers, painters, actors, and musi­cians, all using its loca­tion and the beau­ty of nature as the back­drop. Fred Lape, the Arboretum’s founder, was him­self an accom­plished poet and musician.

The Arbore­tum con­tin­ues to be a haven for cre­ative minds, wel­com­ing artists of all media: sculp­tors, painters, musi­cians, actors, writers. 


Spring 2022

Volume 40 , Number 1

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