After Polly Collins

After Polly Collins pays tribute to the Shaker religious community that settled near the site of Albany International Airport in the late 18thcentury. Shakers lived communally and are remembered for their industrious and celibate lives. They are renowned for simple furniture design, light-filled architecture and the invention of the flat broom. The airport is built on their former agricultural fields and some surviving buildings nearby make up the Shaker Heritage Society.

This piece was inspired by a gift drawing made by Polly Collins (1808-1884),  a member of a Shaker community in nearby Hancock, Massachusetts. Gift Drawings were made by Shakers who had experienced spiritual revelations. And although they inhabited spare and unadorned clothing and interiors, their gift drawings could be exuberantly colorful and were kept only for occasional private display.

Steel, acrylic beads, floral wire, chenille stems . Installed 2019 - 2023,  Concourse B,  Albany International Airport, Albany, NY. 

Commissioned by the Albany International Airport's Art and Culture Program.