鈥淚t fills the Grace lobby beautifully,鈥� says Meetings & Courses Program Executive Director David Stewart. 鈥溾�楨arth Music III鈥� conveys the sense that one has entered a stimulating intellectual environment, prepared for intense conversations about the latest developments in the life sciences.鈥�
Polsky completed the painting in 1974. It鈥檚 from a series of abstract works celebrating nature in its forms and processes. 鈥淭hey are often related to landscape 鈥� places in which the observer can locate himself,鈥� she told curator and critic Karen Wilkin in 2006. 鈥淭hey are at once 鈥榠nterior,鈥� 鈥榚xterior,鈥� and scenic.鈥�
鈥淓arth Music III鈥� is part of a series of paintings inspired by Jackson Pollack. 鈥淗e opened the canvas to all possible ways and means to create images,鈥� Polsky said of the pioneering artist.
In a sense, 鈥淓arth Music III鈥� echoes the grandeur of Grace itself. Stewart notes that Cold Spring Harbor is renowned for its cultured atmosphere. 鈥淭his pairing of art and science is both unusual and hugely appreciated by the scientists attending CSHL鈥檚 Meetings & Courses,鈥� he says. 鈥淕race鈥檚 theme of science-meets-art helps make the Auditorium a fantastic forum that has seen numerous scientific firsts鈥攊ncluding one of the earliest discussions about the sequencing of the human genome.鈥�
鈥淓arth Music III鈥� is a relatively recent addition to CSHL鈥檚 art collection. Records indicate it was installed around 2008. However, Polsky鈥檚 family are lifelong supporters of the Laboratory. Her mother, former CSHL Trustee Lita Annenberg Hazen, was a founding donor of the Laboratory鈥檚 Neuroscience program. CSHL鈥檚 Hazen Tower was named in her honor.
Following Hazen鈥檚 passing in 1995, Polsky and her husband, Leon, carried on her philanthropic legacy. The Honorable Leon Polsky served on CSHL鈥檚 Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2002. The family also sponsored several research fellowships and professorships in Hazen鈥檚 name. Perhaps most impactfully, they established the CSHL School of Biological Sciences (SBS) Dean鈥檚 Chair in 1998.
Since then, the SBS has conferred more than 150 doctoral degrees. Graduates have secured prominent positions at some of the world鈥檚 leading institutions. Likewise, Polsky鈥檚 work can be found across the globe. It鈥檚 on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as the U.S. Embassy in London.
As for 鈥淓arth Music III,鈥� the artist鈥檚 appreciation for music may have helped inspire the painting鈥檚 chromatic notes of color and texture. 鈥淢y work 鈥� was perhaps influenced by the formalized training I received as a dancer,鈥� she has said. 鈥淚t remains my view that innovation and expression are relative to, and incorporate, prior visual vocabularies.鈥�
Something similar might be said for CSHL. The Laboratory has a long tradition of cutting-edge science research and education. Those 鈥渧ocabularies鈥� continue to inspire 鈥渋nnovation and expression鈥� wherever science is taught and tested.