Among the Trees

Image of a serene painting of a forest path lined with vibrant pink trees, inviting viewers to explore nature's beauty.

Luise Kaish, "Blossom Allée II," ca.1993-98, oil on linen. Lent by Kaish Family Art Project, New York

Taking both its title and its cue from a poem by Mary Oliver, this exhibition invites viewers to immerse themselves in the sustaining energy of trees and forests. Curated by Carey Weber, executive director of the Fairfield University Art Museum, the exhibition brings together paintings, prints, photographs, sculptures, and textile works that explore the endless artistic responses to trees - the giants that give shelter, color, and the very breath that animates our common home.

About

Visitors to the exhibition will enjoy the opportunity to see works from the museum’s permanent collection that are rarely on view due to their delicate nature, including a pair of 15-foot-long tapestries by Helena Hernmarck, photographs by Adger Cowans, Larry Silver, and Alen MacWeeney, and old master prints.

Other works from the museum’s collection will include paintings by Ruth Miller, Stephen Pace, and Suzanne Caporael, and a sculpture by David Nash. Works that are being lent include an important group of prints and paintings by Robert Kipniss, and a selection of Hudson River School and Tonalist paintings.

As the season warms, the exhibition will spill into the surrounding green space of campus. Visitors will be provided with a copy of the university’s “tree guide,” created by undergraduate students working with Dr. Kraig Steffen to identify and map all the trees that create Fairfield’s famously verdant environs.

Date

January 29 - August 7, 2027

Location

Walsh Gallery, Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts

Poem

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, ”Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, ”It's simple,” they say,
”and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

A serene painting of a road flanked by tall, lush trees, creating a peaceful, natural pathway.

Unknown Japanese Artist, [Road through the pines, Japan], ca. 1880-1890, hand-tinted albumen print on paper. Gift of Elliot Groffman and Hilary Leff, 2025

Illustration of a tree with a man and his dog, capturing a peaceful moment in nature.

William Alfred Delamotte, "Landscape with Men and Dogs Resting Under a Tree," 1802, pen and ink lithograph on paper. Gift of James M. Reed, 2021

A simple drawing of a tree standing tall on a grassy hillside.

Charles Marie Dulac, "Etudé d'arbres (Bourgogne) [Study of Trees (Burgundy)]," 1893, color lithograph on paper. Gift from the Dr. I. J. and Sarah Markens Art Collection, 2018

Schedule of Events

Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs. When possible, those events will also be streamed and the recordings posted to our YouTube channel.

Opening Night Reception: Toulouse-Lautrec and Steinlen: Two Sides of the La Belle Époque and Among the Trees

Thursday, January 28, 2027, 6:30 p.m.

Shuttles will be available between the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and Bellarmine Hall

Art Workshop: How to Paint a Tree

Thursday, February 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

With Suzanne Chamlin (associate professor, studio art)
Materials will be provided.
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Scene shop

Film Screening: Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (2026)

Thursday, February 11, 5:30 p.m.

Directed by Sasha Waters, 91 minutes
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Wien Experimental Theatre

Lecture: “Shakespeare’s Arboretum”

Thursday, February 25, 5:30 p.m.

Shannon Kelley, PhD (Professor of English)
Charles F. Dolan School of Business, Event Hall and streaming on Arts & Minds Live

Lecture: “Kx2: The Art of Luise and Morton”

Thursday March 11, 5:30 p.m.

Susan Fisher, PhD, Executive Director, Kaish Family Art Project
Charles F. Dolan School of Business, Event Hall and streaming on Arts & Minds Live

Family Day: The Painted Forest

Saturday, March 13, 12:30-2 p.m. and 2:30-4 p.m.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Lobby

Curator’s Tour: Exhibition curator Carey Weber (Executive Director, FUAM) leads a tour of Among the Trees

Wednesday, March 31, Noon

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Lecture: “The Nature of Oaks”

Thursday, April 1, 5:30 p.m.

Douglas W. Tallamy, PhD (T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware) and author of Nature’s Best Hope, Bringing Nature Home, and The Nature of Oaks

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition Among the Trees
Co-sponsored by Bartlett Arboretum
Barone Campus Center, Oak Room

Art in Focus: Luise Kaish, Blossom Allée II, ca.1993-1998, oil on linen

Thursday, April 8, Noon in-person and 1 p.m. Streaming

Lent by Kaish Family Art Project. © Luise Kaish
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Tour: Earth Day Campus Tree Walk with Professor Kraig Steffen

Thursday, April 22, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Lobby (meeting place)

Art Speaks!

Thursday, April 22, 5:30 p.m.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Curator’s Tour: Exhibition curator Carey Weber (Executive Director, FUAM) leads a tour of Among the Trees

Thursday, April 29, 5 p.m.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Art in Focus: Hasui Kawase, [Spring Moon at Ninomiya Beach], 1932, color woodblock print on paper

Thursday, May 6, Noon in-person and 1 p.m. Streaming

Gift of Jennifer and Vincent Tranquillo, 2018 (2018.30.01)
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Curator’s Tour: Exhibition curator Carey Weber (Executive Director, FUAM) leads a tour of Among the Trees

Thursday, June 3, 5 p.m.

Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Art in Focus: Rick Shaefer, Sugar Maple, 2014, charcoal mounted on dibond

Thursday, June 10, Noon in-person and 1 p.m. Streaming

Lent by the artist. © Rick Shaefer
Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery

Additional Information

Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Thursday until 8 p.m.

We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.

For GPS please use the following address:

200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT, 06824.

Bellarmine Hall Galleries

Free parking is available in front of Bellarmine Hall; handicap parking is available next to the service and classroom entrance on the lower level of Bellarmine Hall.

Quick Center

Free parking is available at the lot in front of the Quick Center, including handicap parking. Museum visitors may park in any available spot that is not marked reserved, handicap accessible only, or for service vehicles.

The museum is open to the public and admission is free.

Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4046.

Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station.
Approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station.

www.mta.info/mnr

(800) 638-7646