LEAF - STONE - WATER

LEAF – STONE – WATER

Watercolors by Reeves-Reed Director of Horticulture

MARC MONTEFUSCO

April 7 through May 25
Artist reception, Friday, May 8, 6 to 8 pm

Reeves-Reed Arboretum
165 Hobart Avenue
Summit, NJ 07901

Summit, NJ:  Reeves-Reed Arboretum announces its first art exhibition of the 2015 season – LEAF – STONE – WATER, watercolors by Marc Montefusco, the Arboretum's Director of Horticulture.

Montefusco's fascination with landscape painting dates from his tenure at the Smithsonian Institution, where he lived day-to-day with some of the masterpieces of American Impressionism. "They had a profound effect on my understanding of American art, and set an impossibly high standard for craftsmanship and artistic expression." He is also indebted to his friend and mentor, artist and educator Patrick Collins of the Cate School in Carpenteria, California.

For several years, Marc worked with the fields and aging buildings of Maryland's Middletown Valley. More recently, he has been inspired by the Connecticut woods and shorelines to create more intimate landscapes. His goal is to faithfully recreate the patterns of the natural world in what he calls a "reverse trompe-l'oeil," where seemingly random arrangements of color and form reveal themselves to be accurate depictions of natural phenomena.

In addition to being a painter, Marc is a professional horticulturist and writer, and an amateur musician.

LEAF – STONE – WATER is at the Wisner House Gallery of Reeves-Reed Arboretum from April 7 through May 25. There is an artist reception on Friday evening, May 8, from 6 to 8 pm, which also happens to correspond with National Public Gardens Day. The artist will donate 30% of all art sales to the Arboretum.

About Reeves-Reed Arboretum:  Celebrating over 40 years as an historic public garden, education resource, and non-profit conservancy, Reeves-Reed Arboretum seeks to engage, educate and enrich the public through horticulture and environmental education, and the care and utilization of the gardens and estate. Open 7 days a week from dawn till dusk, the Arboretum is listed on both the National and New Jersey State Historic Registers. Funding for RRA has been made possible in part by the NJ Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, through a grant administered by the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Dept. of Parks & Community Renewal.