|| EXHIBITION OVERVIEW ||
About this image
Since 1907, the MacDowell Colony has offered a creative sanctuary to artists, writers, and composers, providing them with an opportunity to work undisturbed within a community of other creative individuals. Founded by American composer Edward MacDowell and his wife Marian on their farm in Peterborough, New Hampshire, the Colony’s underlying philosophy is based on the MacDowells’ belief that artists working in different disciplines can benefit from contact with one another. This interdisciplinary agenda along with the promise of quiet, solitude, and time and freedom to create has attracted hundreds of artists to the Colony over the years. The Colony counts among its alumni some of the most distinguished names in American arts and letters, including Milton Avery, James Baldwin, Leonard Bernstein, Willa Cather, Aaron Copland, Benny Andrews, and Thornton Wilder.
Today, with thirty-two artists’ studios nestled among its 450 wooded acres, The MacDowell Colony continues as a vital thriving artists’ colony, offering an environment designed to promote individual productivity and encourage interdisciplinary exchange. This exhibition, drawn from collections across the Library, provides a unique opportunity to appreciate the MacDowell experience and success, from its most recent fellows to its earliest colonists. With the sole criterion for acceptance always being talent, The MacDowell Colony ensures that on any given day, some of the most original art in the country is being created in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Lehman Brothers.
