Tilly Strauss of Amenia: mural/sculpture will stand in the Poughkeepsie Train Station
Tilly Strauss of Amenia has been commissioned by the Dutchess County Arts Council on behalf of Dutchess County with funds from the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency to create a self standing mural for the Poughkeepsie Train station depicting the cultural, agricultural, environmental and historic attractions of the county. An engineer in Texas, Willy Strauss, and local welder, John Haas, of Amenia, collaborated with her to create the unique surface and the welded aluminum frame.
The painted and collaged mural is a two-piece, two-sided work that suggests the romance and excitement of travel. The mural/sculpture depicts a suitcase beneath a giant floating, unfolding treasure map of the county. DutchessCounty is a treasure full of gems!
Often unexpected and surprising elements can transform and give a work impact and weight, so within the surface there are revealed the names of towns, major roads, and over 154 sites, including the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, the Dover Stone Church and Innsfree Gardens.
See details of the work and a variety of views:
Photo Gallery
Photos by John M. Benson
Eager to paint and sculpt, but a little shy about talking about her work, Tilly said of this mural, “This is a mult-media work, because it has many different kinds of media in it, the paint, the collage, the stamping, silk screening, and all mixed in together. It is a map of Dutchess County. The image next to the banner name is the Dutchess County Seal, and I think it is interesting that the seal is an agricultural image, with the plow for a team of horses, the harness and the bundled grain in the field. To pull the whole thing together, because there is so much information, I decided to repeat symbols like the camera, the golf bag and clubs, the tractors for farming, the artist, the theater masks, the apples and other farm products. I like the idea that the camera is about sight, the musician is about sound, the bicycle is about movement, there are images for taste and dining, something for all of the senses, and taken altogether, this mural is about what Dutchess County has to offer you.”
Wander from the antique aircraft and hot air passenger balloons at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome along the northern boundary, surrounded by the barns and livestock and other symbols of farming, to the mansions along the Hudson, to the cultural centers at Bard College, Vassar College, the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, find the ferry and the Clearwater Sloop on the Hudson, amble across the farmlands in the southern county including Dykeman’s Farm, visit Pawling in the southeast corner for the Pawling Concert Series and Pawling Theater Company, then hike back up the eastern side of the county along the Appalachian Trail and the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.
Tilly said there are actually at least 32 golf courses in the county, with Dutcher Public Golf Course in Pawling being the oldest public course in the United States. It was originally built by John Dutcher as a three-hole course for the guests in his hotel in the downtown Village of Pawling.
You can see the Dutchess County Fairgrounds, the Rhinebeck Aerodrome, McCann Ice Arena, the Clearwater Sloop, the Mid-Hudson Bridge, the ferry on the Hudson, Vassar College, the Dia Art Foundation in Beacon, and the Culinary Institute of America.
Along the Hudson River are the Howland Cultural Center, Mt. Gullian, Locust Grove, Wilderstein Historic Site, the Mills Mansion, The Vanderbilt Mansion, the Roosevelt Mansion and an image of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, all of the remarkable historic sites that overlook the river and grace the county landscape.
The Appalachian Trail is represented by a pathway of footprints, and also marked are the Harlem Valley Rail Trail and the Dutchess Rail Trail.
This enchanting and adoring artist’s view of Dutchess County will soon be placed in the Poughkeepsie Train Station where everyone entering the county by train will have the opportunity to enjoy it.
Tilly Strauss is a world traveler who calls Amenia her “home”. She exhibits locally and has found a successful following across the country. Two of her sewn pastoral paintings are in the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Her work has shown at the Attleboro Museum, the Berkshire Museum, the Albany Center Galleries, St John’s University, and has been reproduced in the New York Times, the Poughkeepsie Journal, the Pulse, and the Millerton News, the Harlem Valley Times, among others. In 2004 she was a recipient of the Dutchess County Executive Arts Award for creating historic murals of the Town of Amenia with her students.
The work is available for previewing (before transport to the train station) on the website www.tillystudio.com and in the Strauss barn/studio Monday, May 7th or by appointment. Call 845-489-3264 for information and directions.
|
