DYCKMAN FARMHOUSE MUSEUM
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Contemporary Dutch Art @ Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
HOME | LAND - Tanja Smeets @ Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
UNBRIDLED FRACTALS
November 12 - December 13, 2009


Amorphous sculptures have found their way into the farmhouse. Experience Smeets' extraordinary creations, specially made for Dyckman Farmhouse. Exploring what history left behind,her sculptures of uncommon materials grow in secret places.
 
Tanja Smeets invades the historic Dyckman Farmhouse Museum and its grounds with her colorful organic, biomorphic sculptures to investigate the theme of roots and belonging. Dyckman Farmhouse was built by William Dyckman c. 1784 on land gathered by generations of Dyckmans, starting with the first family member to arrive in the 1660's. While Smeets considers these previous claims of ownership she treats the historic structure as a canvas to explore her ideas. Rather than 18th century goods, her sculptures use industrial materials, such as Lycra threads, plastic hoses, and concrete spacers. Developing hyperorganic shapes that can ooze through barriers, infiltrating and merging with the identity of the historic site. Her sculptural creatures challenge viewers to consider how and why they determine something or someone belongs. The farmhouse is an ideal setting for these explorations because it is itself an unexpected "creature" in its urban neighborhood. In her work at the Dyckman Farmhouse Tanja uses the concept of fractals, infinitely complex and irregular organic shapes that interweave with their environment.

visit www.dyckmanfarmhouse.org for more info!


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Posted by Dyckman at
11/7/2009 2:21 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Music at the Farmhouse
Backporch Concert Series Returns to Dyckman Farmhouse


Summer kicks off at the farmhouse with the first Backporch Concert on Thursday, June 11th.  The series highlights musicians from Washington Heights and Inwood.  This month its the fabulous Djangos & Tangos - -www.myspace.com/djangosandtangosSo bring a picnic and a blanket for the lawn or relax on our benches and chairs while you enjoy some great local music!

Thursday, June 11
Backporch Concert: Djangos & Tangos
6:30-8pm - FREE
Join us for our first concert of the summer season! Uptown-based instrumental quintet
Djangos & Tangos plays gypsy jazz made popular by Django Reinhardt and neotango of
Astor Piazzolla, coupled with jazz and folk standards. Celebrate the Recession with
music of the Depression!
www.myspace.com/djangosandtangos
Bring a picnic and a blanket (no chairs please) and recline on the lawn or relax on our
park benches as you enjoy an evening with local musicians.

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Posted by Dyckman at
6/5/2009 8:34 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Spring

Really?

While not everyone here at the Farmhouse is convinced, spring really is coming. We already have daffodils that are starting to bud and if you look closely you will see signs of tulips and other bulbs beginning to emerge from the snowy ground.  Make sure to visit the farmhouse later this month, in April, May and in June to get the full range of beautiful blooms.

To make it a bit easier to wander through the garden we will be streching our garden hours a bit this spring.  You can, of course, always visit during our normal museum hours of  Wed-Sat from 11am-4pm and Sun 12pm to 4pm.  

From Saturday March 21st  until Thursday, May 21 the garden will be open some additional morning and evening hours*
Thursdays 11am-6pm
Saturdays 10am-4:30pm
Sundays 10am-4:30pm
*museum hours will remain the same

Garden Entrance is FREE.

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Posted by Dyckman at
3/3/2009 2:55 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
What We Have Been Looking For
 At Dyckman Farmhouse Museum our wish list is pretty long - we are constantly conducting researching and searching for new documentation on how the Dyckman's lived and worked and the story of the transformation of the farmhouse into a museum in 1916.  We got one item off our wishlist recently.  We've long been hunting for a photograph of the Reginal Pelham Bolton Collection - affectionately known as the Relic Room - as it existed before the 1970's.  We recently received the wonderful photograph above which shows the space as it looked roughly in the 1920s-1930's.  This is a huge help as we continue our project to document the collection and work to put items back on display. 

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2/19/2009 4:18 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Hawks at Dyckman
LOOK UP!
Visitors to Dyckman Farmhouse might want to look up into the trees for some hawk spotting.  We usually see hawks a couple of times a season, but for some reason the site has been particularly active over the last week.  We have spotted several hawks making visits, including a magnificent Red-Tail.

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Posted by Dyckman at
1/8/2009 12:46 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Chimes
Dyckman Farmhouse Case Clock Chimes Again!
This year, thanks to a generous grant from the Historic House Trust, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum was able to conserve a beautiful case clock in the collection.  The clock returned to the museum today, Friday, October 17th.  Not only were the clock case and face conserved but the clock workings were cleaned and the clock is now chiming for the first time in decades.   If you can't visit in person, listen below.

Download | Duration: 00:00:00

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10/17/2008 12:58 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
18th Century Chair Returns!
Jacobus Can Relax in Comfort
The lovely 18th century Easy or Wing Chair in the Dyckman Farmhouse Collection returned at the end of September after a major conservation effort.  The chair was originally owned by Jemima Dyckman, daughter of William Dyckman, the builder of the farmhouse, and sister of Jacobus Dyckman, who took over the farmhouse and farm after their fathers death.  The chair is now on display in the first floor bedroom and features a slipcover appropriate to our early 19th century interpretive period. 

The conservation work and the creation of the loose fitting dimity slipcover were completed by Elizabeth Lahikainen & Associates -- many thanks for all their hard work in restoring this lovely piece!

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Posted by Dyckman at
9/27/2008 8:21 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Dyckman on NY1!
Dyckman Farmhouse will be featured on NY1 as one of Manhattan's Hidden Treasures.  The program will air Sunday, July 13th  - visit http://www.ny1.com/ny1/index.jsp for other air times and a preview of the show.

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7/13/2008 6:23 PM | View Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
First Rose of the Season
SUMMER IS INDEED COMING
We always know that summer isn't too far away when our first rose of the season blooms.  Just this week the first pink bud opened and now quite a few roses are blooming along our embankment and on site.  In another few weeks there should be an explosion of roses. 

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Posted by Dyckman at
5/9/2008 12:10 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)
Personal Note

TO THE EX-NEIGHBORHOOD KID: 

Thank you, our history is so important. The arrival was timely and the wrong has been righted with great appreciation.

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Posted by Dyckman at
3/29/2008 12:27 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)