Woodmere Art Museum celebrates nature

CHESTNUT HILL, Pa. - March 18, 2012 (WPVI) -- As spring flowers come into bloom, the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill is celebrating nature with 100 paintings on exhibit.

It's called Force of Nature and it explores how the works of Philadelphia artists have been inspired by the force and mystery of the natural world.

The main part of the exhibit is a retrospective of Elaine Kurtz, one of the city's greatest female artists of the late 20th century.

"She uses mud and sand and obsidian and an interesting array of natural materials as her paint," said Bill Valerio, Director & CEO of the Woodmere Museum.

The rotunda is dedicated to Kurtz' career while the other galleries juxtapose her work with those of her colleagues.

We have one room, one gallery that's dedicated to artists who experiment with interesting surfaces and we've got a gallery that's devoted to artists who work with this illusion of atmosphere," said Valerio.

The exhibit pays homage to the museum's mission. Woodmere was founded by Charles Knox Smith, a silver magnate, who wanted to build a museum immersed in nature. So he bought an existing estate in Chestnut Hill.

Valerio added, "This beautiful space that we're in now was built by him to house his collection and to be a public space for the arts."

On Friday evening's that public space becomes a jazz hall.

"And just as our mission is to tell the stories of Philadelphia's artists, painters and sculptures, we're also working with Philadelphia's musicians," said Valerio.

Force of Nature runs through April 22nd, with each new exhibition, there's a corresponding jazz and classical music series. Go to Woodmere Art Museum for the full schedule.

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