The Art of ThE Barn
Bucks County Audubon Society today announced it has set the dates for its new event, The Art of the Barn, a unique barn tour and art show that builds on the success of its renowned Barns of Distinction event. The event will take place July 13-15, 2012, beginning with a pre-tour lecture Friday evening at the Honey Hollow Visitor Center in Solebury. A self-guided tour of barns located in Upper Bucks will take place on Saturday and Sunday, and a gala reception will be held Saturday evening. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.BCAS.org, email bcas@bcas.org or call 215-297-5880.
This year’s event is the first of its kind, pairing the barn tour with an art show featuring several of the region’s best-known artists. “When you think of Bucks County two things immediately come to mind: a rich artistic history and a bucolic, barn-studded countryside. We thought it would be wonderful to combine these two assets and display the artworks within the breathtaking settings that inspired them,” said Ann McCauley, The Art of the Barn event chair.
Each barn on the tour will feature both two-dimensional works, such as paintings and photographs, and three-dimensional works, such as stone, wood and metal sculpture. Artists will be on hand at each display to provide additional information and insight on their pieces. “The Art of the Barn will be an extraordinary experience for people who attend,” added McCauley. “They will be able to tour amazing properties they would never otherwise have access to, and they can interact individually with the artists. Furthermore, they will be supporting not only the art community, but also the important environmental education mission of BCAS at Honey Hollow, as a portion of the proceeds from all art sales at the event go directly to BCAS.”
The Bucks County Audubon Society is in need of support more than ever this year. 2011 was a devastating year for its Honey Hollow “outdoor classroom,” a 100-plus-acre property preserved solely for conservation education. Excessive spring and summer rains followed by unseasonable ice and snow in the fall caused extensive damage to trails and other facilities.
BCAS is counting on The Art of the Barn, as its largest fund-raising event for the year, to provide funding to repair and maintain its property and to continue the education programs it has conducted for over 60 years.
The Bucks County Audubon Society (BCAS) is a private, non-profit organization founded as a chapter of the National Audubon Society in 1969. Since its inception, BCAS has been dedicated to conserving wildlife, promoting awareness of environmental problems, watching birds, educating the community about the interdependence of humans and their world, and furthering the wise use of land, air, and water.