LongHouse Reserve opened for the 2022 season on Saturday, April 30 with their annual Rites of Spring celebration. The weather could not have been any more perfect – bright and sunny, pleasantly warm. It was an ideal day to wander through the art-filled gardens, where several new works are on display this season.
A special feature of the event was the debut of a new work by artists and brothers Steven and William Ladd, who introduced Right Here. Right Now. Commissioned by LongHouse Reserve, this piece is the first major outdoor sculpture by the brothers. The work is a large walk-through tunnel-like structure made of small wooden disks which they fastened together to create a textile made of wood. The wood came from the family’s property in upstate New York, which contains a lot of cedar trees. Clearing part of the land resulted in a lot of logs which became the material and inspiration for this piece of art. The brothers, including their parents, were on hand for the installation and introduction of Right Here. Right Now. As you pass through the piece, light comes through the walls and casts patterns on the floor below – the effect is magical.
Steven and William are also founders of Scrollathon, a collaborative community engagement program, which returns this year after a Covid hiatus. During a Scrollathon, participants make an artwork to keep, contribute components to a collaborative artwork and are photographed for a permanent record. In 2015 Scrollathon worked with over 1,100 people in conjunction with their exhibition at the Parrish Art Museum.
The Ladd Brothers explain their core values this way: collaborate, be focused and disciplined, spend your life doing what you love. Their work includes text, drawing, sculpture, installation, performance and design. You can find more about the artists and their work at stevenandwilliam.com.
Other new artworks in the LongHouse gardens this year include a second commission, Fish Trap VI, by Cheng Tsung Feng, which opens in early July, Monument 3, by Maren Hassinger, The Poet and The Muse, by Niki de Saint Phalle, and Shrine (Hellgate Keepers) by Moko Fukuyama.
For more info, visit www.longhouse.org
