Burchfield Reproductions on View at Roswell Park

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The Burchfield-Penney Art Center is pleased to be working with the Roswell Park Alliance Art Committee in installing reproductions of seven major works by Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) in the Main Lobby of Roswell Park Cancer Institute at Elm & Carlton Streets in Buffalo, New York.

Members of the Roswell Park Alliance Art Committee made possible the permanent installation of seven reproductions of Charles E. Burchfield paintings. Watercolors of the four seasons from all periods in Burchfield’s career now fill the lobby in front of the radiology department which is adjacent to elevators, a place where they can be seen by hundreds of people daily.

"The installation of art at Roswell Park stems from the belief that art in health care facilities can improve the environment for patients, visitors, employees and volunteers," said Nancy Jewett, chair of the Roswell Park Alliance Art Committee. "Studies have shown that art is playing a stronger role in health care and is helping to create a positive environment for all."

The project began two years ago when Nancy Jewett asked Burchfield-Penney Art Center director Ted Pietrzak if it would be possible to display reproductions of Burchfield's work from the museum's collection to brighten a highly trafficked area. Burchfield-Penney's head of collections, Nancy Weekly, selected some of the collection's most significant works that would be inspirational to cancer patients, their friends and family, and hospital staff. Fellow Art Committee member Sally Gioia oversaw the production of the reproductions, working with Hal Leader of Printing Prep Inc. to create images the same size as the original paintings. Mrs. Gioia also worked with The Artery to have the paintings framed to look like original works, using three different styles of molding to complement the landscapes.

Nancy Weekly states, "It has been a pleasure to serve on Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Alliance Art Committee since September 2003, learning about the many different ways community volunteers have used the arts to make patients' hospital visits more uplifting and positive. For me, nothing communicates the idea of hope any better than the season cycle. Especially this time of year, when spring bulbs bloom and leaves emerge on trees, we feel good about overcoming the hardships of winter. The invigorating resurgence of life is reaffirmed. For these reasons, I selected examples of Charles E. Burchfield's painted season cycle as emblems of hope that Roswell Park so thoroughly exemplifies."

The permanent display officially opens on May 11, 2004. Nearby Art on Wheels posters, another Burchfield-Penney Art Center project, are also on display.

Burchfield works include:

Afternoon in the Grove, July 11, 1916

Watercolor and gouache on paper, 14 x 20 in.

Collection of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Gift of Tony Sisti, 1979

Clearing Sky, July 1, 1917

Watercolor and gouache on paper, 17 5/8 x 21
Media Contact:
Kathleen Heyworth, Head of Marketing and Public Relations | 7168784529 | heyworkm@buffalostate.edu