The Point Art Collection

In 1850, American landscape painting was a powerful medium for conveying national, cultural and religious ideas.  During the first half of the nineteenth-century, transcendentalist thinkers led by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Hudson River School artists inspired by Thomas Cole and Asher Durand vested the American landscape with spiritual and regenerative powers through verbal and painted images of idealized wilderness scenery.

An unending procession of painters found in the splendor of nature a respite from the growing materialism of the nation’s new urban and industrial landscapes and, in a variety of ways, helped soften those landscapes, making change more palatable for generations of Americans.  Nature became the subject of nineteenth-century art, literature, and science.  America's wilderness regions fueled the artistic and scientific imagination and were laboratories for evolving ideas about the land and its role in American culture.  Americans believed that wild nature embodied their country's deepest spiritual and democratic values.

The American paintings in the art collection at The Point epitomize the creation of this visual record and its contribution to the culture of the region and the nation.  Many works are by major American artists such as Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, Winslow Homer, Alexander Wyant, John Henry Hill, and Alexander Lawrie; some are by artists who deserve to be better known; and others are by artists who are known only by the survival of their works.

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Our book, “The Art at The Point”… our museum quality collection, graces all our rooms, including yours!

Caroline M. Welsh

Curator for The Point Art Collection
Caroline Welsh

Since 2016, Caroline Mastin Welsh has brought her wealth of knowledge, skills and judgment to the care and enhancement of the art collection at The Point.

Mrs. Welsh is an art historian, curator of art, and Director Emerita of the Adirondack Museum.  She is an honors graduate of the Kent School and Wellesley College (Art History). She was awarded a fellowship in museum studies at the Smithsonian Institution and a fellowship in museum leadership at the Getty Leadership Institute. Her work in the museum profession includes positions at the Smithsonian Institution, the New York State Historical Association, and the Albany Institute of History and Art in addition to the Adirondack Museum.

Mrs. Welsh has extensive experience in all aspects of museum planning, operations and management specializing in art exhibitions and collections management.  She has curated history and art exhibitions as well as organized collections projects from assessments to building a 25,000 SF Collections Storage and Study Center. She has organized and hosted scholarly national art symposia in addition to being published widely on the subject of Adirondack art and artists.

Mrs. Welsh is currently a consultant to museums for exhibit development and collections management, an independent curator for art exhibits, as well as a national peer reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums.  She serves or has served as a trustee or advisor for arts organizations and museums in Pennsylvania and New York State throughout her career.  Saint Lawrence University gave her the North Country Citation in 2017 for her contributions as a leader, professional and volunteer to enhance appreciation for our artistic and cultural heritage.

Mrs. Welsh was a member of The Century Association in New York City, is listed in Who’s Who in America, and has been or is a member of many professional organizations.

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