Jury Selects Winners for Take a Seat! On View at Morris Arboretum and Woodmere Art Museum

Tropical Adirondeco by Murrie Gayman

At a reception held at Woodmere Art Museum on May 21^st, winners of the collaborative Morris Arboretum-Woodmere exhibit, Take a Seat! were announced.  Forty artists are included in the Take a Seat! exhibition, and 70 Adirondack chairs will be on display at Woodmere Art Museum and throughout Morris Arboretum’s 92-acre garden from May 31^st through Labor Day, September 3^rd.

The variety of disciplines and talent on display in the art form of the classic Adirondack chair is impressive.

First prize went to Murrie Gayman for his vibrant Tropical AdironDeco chairs and accompanying footstool. Gayman graduated cum laude from the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now the University of the Arts) in 1958.  After successful careers designing interiors, fabrics and wall coverings, he began a new venture in the 1990s creating huge murals for public spaces utilizing scraps of antique barn wood.  His work can be seen in many prominent Bucks County buildings, at the Pennsylvania Visitors Welcome Center in Susquehanna County, and at the historic Moland House in Warwick Township. www.barnwoodmurals.com

Second prize was awarded to Ilyssa Shapiro, a young artist whose concept chairs, Urban Arbor, invite viewers to truly “take a seat” and enjoy a brief respite from life under the cool shade of tree. On the arm of one chair is the statement, ‘If a chair were placed with every street tree in Philadelphia, our city would be radically different.’ Ilyssa is a thinker, problem-solver, and designer who resides in South Philadelphia. Her personal work explores solving problems through design often in non-traditional ways.  She is particularly interested in how design can play a role in protecting our natural environments, especially in cities.  She currently works for the creative consultancy and Culture as an Experience Designer & Strategist and a freelance designer for the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability. www.ilyssashapiro.com

The third prize winner was Patricia Siembora for her distinctive submission, “Lawn” Chairs, which display a grass lawn motif that is vinyl-wrapped on her chairs, using the same wrapping technique that Septa does for its buses. For added interest and comfort, Patricia has adorned her ‘Lawn’ chairs with Astroturf pillows.  A textile artist who is also an educator, Patricia’s current work involves screen-printing onto fabric, dyeing and sewing.  She recently began incorporating photographs in her stitched work.  Her love of color, the natural world and memorable images are included in her creations.  Patricia has exhibited her work both locally and nationally.

Three Honorable Mention awards were also given. Recipients include David Robinson a premier builder of rustic gazebos and landscape work for Adirondack Meets Modern Meets Rustic.  Local woodworker Tim Lewis received recognition for his untitled sculpture, a striking, undulating, wave-like double chair, designed for two. Finally, Morris Arboretum staff members Nina Safavi, Charlie Nicholson and Jason Lubar took home honors for Chairscape and Repose in the Wissahickon, which were designed using local Wissahickon schist to reflect the rugged shape and natural beauty of the valley’s landscape. 

These are just a few of the 70 chairs exhibited at Woodmere Art Museum and at Morris Arboretum, all summer long…inviting visitors to Take a Seat! and enjoy the summer landscape.

About The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania

The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania is located at 100 East Northwestern Avenue in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.  The 92-acre horticulture display garden features a spectacular collection of mature trees in a beautiful and colorful landscape. The Arboretum includes numerous picturesque spots such as a formal rose garden, historic water features, a swan pond, and the only remaining freestanding fernery in North America. A new permanent nationally award winning exhibit, Out on a Limb – a Tree Adventure adds to Morris Arboretum’s allure by transporting visitors 50 feet up into the treetops on a canopy walk that requires no climbing.  The Morris Arboretum’s new Horticulture Center Complex has received Platinum Level LEED® Certification, the highest sustainability rating of the U.S. Green Building Council. For more information, visit www.morrisarboretum.org.

About Woodmere Art Museum

Housed in a 19th-century stone Victorian mansion on six acres in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Woodmere first opened its doors to the public in 1940. The building, grounds and the nucleus of the Permanent Collection are the benefactions of Charles Knox Smith (1845 – 1916), who wished “to awaken the spirit of, the appreciation of, and the knowledge of art … in the City of Philadelphia and surrounding territory.” Today, the Permanent Collection consists of more than 3,000 works of art, celebrating the art and artists of Philadelphia.

Woodmere’s core collection includes important paintings by renowned artists such as Edward Redfield, Daniel Garber, Walter E. Schofield, Benjamin West, Frederic Edwin Church, Violet Oakley, Arthur B. Carles and many more. Woodmere’s nine galleries and salons, including a grand rotunda and a uniquely designated Helen Millard Children’s Gallery, provide space for exhibitions and programs that serve the entire family. In the George D. Widener Studio, a converted carriage house, a year-round roster of classes provides outstanding art training for children and adults. For more information visit www.woodmereartmuseum.org.

This exhibition was made possible in part by the Madeleine K. Butcher endowment, Bowman Properties, and Chestnut Hill Hospital.