Home Away From Home at The Hammond Museum

NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - The season’s final exhibit at North Salem’s Hammond Museum, “Home Away From Home VII,” is a collection of works by 25 alumni of Tokyo’s TAMA Art University. TAMA, one of Japan’s top art institutions, encourages applications from students around the globe and stresses in its admissions policy that it welcomes applicants who “wish to pursue international careers.”

The TAMA Alumni Association in New York City is its largest overseas club and currently has about 80 members. This is the seventh exhibit in the “Home Away From Home” series. It serves to remind the alumni of their origins while it also helps establish the presence of TAMA artists in the Tri-State area.

Exhibitor Miki Nagano spoke of her first visit America at the age of 24. “I was shocked! When I saw the art museums and observed the attitudes and the culture around me I thought, ‘I should be here -- there is freedom here.’ Back in Japan at that time, there was a different expectation for women.”

Ms. Nagano, who is president of the New York alumni chapter, explained that some of the art on display was created especially for the Hammond, to reflect and harmonize with the Japanese gardens. The works include prints, sculpture, oil paintings and works in mixed media. 

Discussing her own work, Ms. Nagano, said, “I come from the area of Japan where the earthquake hit on March 11th. I went back at the beginning of April. I was very upset at what I saw. And yet it was also a beautiful horizon.

“I like to express my happiness in my art. Terrible things happen, but we still go on. There is beauty in life. The earthquake? We can live with it. We don’t have the power to change it. So we must find the beauty in it.”

The Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden will close for the season on November 21. Until then, the exhibit and the museum will be open Wednesday through Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m. The Silk Tree Cafe serves lunch from noon to 3 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended.

The Hammond is also available for private parties and weddings.

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