2009 Exhibitions

Artist Statement

When I was in college, I spent a summer sleeping under the stars while working on an archaeological dig in the middle of a cattle ranch in New Mexico. The openness of the country constantly impressed on me that I was a small part of an immense, beautiful and, sometimes, harsh landscape. Willa Cather described some of this sense of place in Death Comes for the Archbishop, “Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth is the floor of the sky.” The remains of ancient camps that we uncovered, watching cattle forage for sparse vegetation, and living in a tent camp were all reminders that making a living off that landscape requires a resilient spirit and body. That summer started me on the path to becoming a geologist and to paying attention to how the landscape, and the way people interact with it, has changed with time.

I’ve returned to the southwest many times since that summer, sometimes to do geologic work, sometimes to vacation, and almost always carrying a camera. When Linda Miller invited me to prepare a set of photographs for the Mary Daly gallery, I looked over years of contact sheets; and these images emerged as a group. They are of places where people have come together over centuries to encounter the spiritual.  For the most part, the structures are built out of stone, adobe and wood, the same materials that dominate the landscape. Those who lived there shaped part of the land itself to hold their spiritual lives and to keep them in relation both to the land and to things unseen. I saw these spaces set more against the earth and the sky than among villages and other buildings.

To view more images from the exhibition and read Bill Graustein's commentary, please click here.

William C. Graustein
Biography

Bill Graustein works in several capacities to support the development of collaborative values-based civic leadership. He is the lead trustee of the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, a charitable family foundation which aims to improve early care and preschool education for Connecticut’s children; he chairs the national board of Public Allies, and he developed and leads the New Haven based Community Leadership Program. He also serves on the boards of the National Center for Family Philanthropy and the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy
 
Bill received a Ph.D. in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University in 1981 and conducted research at Yale on the behavior of natural radioactive elements in the environment until 1996. He served a term as chair of the Public Information Committee of the American Geophysical Union, which seeks to make the results of current geophysical research accessible and useful to the public.

In 1993 an abrupt increase in the assets of his family's foundation caused him to lead a process of redefining the foundation's mission, structure and strategy. The Memorial Fund approaches its work of systemic change by combining support of parent engagement at the community level, support of instructional improvement at the school district level, and communications and advocacy at the state level. 

Bill has served on Public Allies's national board since 1997 and as its chair since 2001. Public Allies advances diverse young leaders to strengthen nonprofits and civic participation through an apprenticeship program in nonprofit leadership. Bill also helped start Public Allies connecticut

In many conversations, Bill heard local nonprofit leaders express a desire for help in working collaboratively and for support in re-negotiating the relation between their values and their roles as leaders. In response he helped develop and lead the year-long "Community Leadership Program" workshop series as well as other activities to develop and sustain community leaders.

He created the role of Pat in Long Wharf Theater’s production of “The Good Person of New Haven and has authored numerous scientific publications that few people will ever read.