ARKVILLE — The Catskill Water Discovery Center will open a new outdoor sculpture exhibition June 27 at the East Branch Nature Preserve, featuring works by artists Francis Cape and Daniel Wiener that connect the region’s agricultural history with contemporary questions of migration, identity and belonging.
The exhibition opens with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, as part of the preserve’s Outdoor Sculpture Series.
Cape’s installation, created in partnership with the East Branch Nature Preserve and the Catskill Forest Association, transforms invasive Norwegian spruce and Norwegian maple into a replica of a traditional English blanket chest. The piece draws inspiration from the kinds of chests once used by immigrant farmers who settled in Delaware County during the 19th century.
By repurposing invasive tree species, Cape’s work links environmental change with human migration, while recalling the site’s past as working farmland.
Responding to Cape’s historical perspective, Wiener has created a sculptural table for the preserve’s outdoor classroom. Functional in purpose but highly expressive in form, the table is shaped with epoxy clay into animated, fantastical figures that evoke uncertainty, displacement and emotional vulnerability.
Together, the two works create a dialogue between past and present.
Where Cape’s sculpture looks backward — tracing stories of settlement, adaptation and the transformation of materials — Wiener’s piece reflects contemporary anxieties, capturing feelings of disbelief, instability and quiet apprehension.
Installed along the preserve’s trail system, the sculptures invite visitors to consider how landscapes, communities and identities evolve over time.
The exhibition is free and open to the public. The opening reception will take place at the East Branch Nature Preserve on June 27 from 4 to 6 p.m.
For more information visit waterdiscoverycenter.org
