The historic plot of open space known as the Morristown Green sits surrounded by the hustle and bustle of excited expansion, as story after story of contemporary living space climbing to the line of tree-tops and church steeples defies the rest of America's bearish sentiment. A block away, at 14 Maple Avenue, the town's Parking Authority, in concert with the Dodge Foundation, recently completed a model of modern Morristown greenery which, while providing working space for a community of non-profits, inspires those who enter to learn more about the tenets of its design.
The central and defining nature of green architecture is that it requires consideration of each component of the building in relationship to the context of the whole structure, while also qualifying the impact on the wider environment and community around it. 14 Maple's successful embodiment of those principles has been confirmed by its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, one of only a handful in the U. S. that includes both an office building and a parking garage. The building's success is more clearly stated by the feeling it evokes when you emerge from the elevator into the working space. A dramatic vertical garden, composed of plants rooted in layers of porous material, rises through the center of the building and serves as a natural filter for air as it passes through the "living wall" into the office spaces. Light shelves bring outdoor light deep into the interior, complementing the serene sound of water trickling down the wall. You don't have to understand the geo-thermal heat pumps and photovoltaic electricity at work here; nor the environmental wisdom behind the cork floors, recycled beams, bamboo doors, and vegetative roof above. The space just feels right.
In celebration of the project's completion, the Arts Council of the Morris Area has installed an exhibit in and around its shared office space on the third floor. 29 works by 23 New Jersey artists were chosen to express the theme, New Jersey Green. The diversity in media- oil, acrylic, pastel, silk, collage, wax, paper, photography and wood and metal sculptures-is equal to the variety of approach and interpretation of the particular hue in question. The work ranges from straightforward appreciations of nature to more complex and abstract expressions. If you'd like clarification, catalogs available in the lounge area contain statements by each artist.
The exhibit is open pretty much during business hours: Mondays throughThursdays from 10am to 4pm and on Fridays from 10am to 1pm. But if you're in the area, it's worth a visit. And be sure of this: parking will not be a problem.
I think I am a "green" artist. I use found wood for many paintings, make assemblage of discards, often work with cardboard boxes and paper bags, and I reuse my old work as a resource in collage. Although my work is abstract, it is a map of my feelings. I process my thoughts through my artwork, resulting in pieces that are internal self-portraits. In a sense, I recycle the things that are on my mind into images. It is through creating that I reclaim myself.
Memory Garden contains the idea that we can create an ideal "green" world. A garden is nature with a plan. This one is somewhat unruly, full of wildflowers and tall grasses, verdant and alive, but not running amok. Memories can be like that too; the bad ones weeded out, leaving room for the beautiful ones to grow and flourish.
~ Arlene Gale Milgram
