stones, trees, soil

Opens September 17, 2003

Permanent commission for
The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
(36 Battery Place)

Garden of Stones, an eloquent garden plan of trees growing from stone, is Andy Goldsworthy's design for the Memorial Garden of The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. The Memorial Garden is a contemplative space dedicated to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and honoring those who survived. For Garden of Stones, Goldsworthy worked with nature's most elemental materials to create a garden that is the artist's metaphor for the tenacity and fragility of life. Eighteen boulders form a series of narrow pathways in the Memorial Garden's 4,150-square-foot space. A single dwarf oak sapling emerges from the top of each boulder, growing straight from the stone. As the trees mature in the coming years, each will grow to become a part of the stone, its trunk widening and fusing to the base.

Garden of Stones reflects the tension between the ephemeral and the timeless, between young and old, and between the unyielding and the pliable. More importantly, it demonstrates how elements of nature can survive in seemingly impossible places. In Jewish tradition, stones are often placed on graves as a sign of remembrance. Here, Goldsworthy brings stone and trees together as a representation of life cycles intertwined. As a living memorial, the garden is a tribute to the hardship, struggle, tenacity, and survival experienced by those who endured the Holocaust. The effect of time on humans and nature, a key factor in Goldsworthy's work, is richly present in Garden of Stones, as the sculpture will be viewed, as well as cared for, by future generations.

Artist Bio
Andy Goldsworthy was born in Cheshire, England in 1956. Since the 1970s, he has been making sculptures and installations with and about nature. Using color and geometric form to order found materials -- such as stone, trees, mud, grass, snow, ice, and leaves -- Goldsworthy creates visual displays in which the changing nature of the materials is as much a part of the work as the design itself. With their apparent effortlessness, Goldsworthy's creations impart a sense of wonder, drawing attention to the inherent power, beauty, and mystery of nature.
 
Solo museum exhibitions of Goldsworthy's work have been held in the Setagaya Art Museum, Japan (1994); the Barbican Centre, London (2000); Site Santa Fe, New Mexico (2000); the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego (2002); and elsewhere around the world. His other major permanent commissions in the United States include Storm King Wall (1995-97) at Storm King Art Center, River (2000) at Stanford University, and Three Cairns (2002) at the Des Moines Art Center. Goldsworthy has lived and worked in Scotland since 1986.

Sponsorship
Public Art Fund and The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust collaborated on the artist selection process, and the creation and installation of Garden of Stones.
 
About the Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust opened to the public in September 1997. Its mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the 20th century Jewish experience before, during, and after the Holocaust. With more than 2,000 photographs, 800 artifacts, and 24 original documentary films, the Museum's core exhibition combines archival material with modern media to provide a thoughtful and moving chronicle of history. For more information about the Museum of Jewish Heritage, please visit their website at www.mjhnyc.org/index.htm.

Location
The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust is located at 36 Battery Place across from the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
Nearest Subway: N, R to Whitehall; 4, 5 to Bowling Green; or 1, 9 to South Ferry.