Maria Connors

An understanding of self and the larger human experience is often, at least subconsciously, a daily interrogation. We seek an understanding of what makes us different from the animal kingdom, how the evolution of human consciousness became the miracle we consider it.  While most of us ask what makes humans different from animals, artists Leslie Schomp, Mary Kenny, and Andrea Olmstead have taken on the opposite question—in what ways are we the same?

Their explorations into this subject take shape in They Travel Together, an exhibition of drawing and sculpture on display at ArtsWorcester at the Davis Art Gallery until June 13. Their work “seeks to shorten the imaginary and experiential distance between humans and animals”, each approaching this topic from a unique perspective. 

They Travel Together is stitched together with undeniable cohesion, but each piece offers a moment of stunning intimacy should you stop and rest with it. The gallery is a serene array of muted tones, primarily whites, grays and browns, with the occasional splash of color from one of Mary Kenny’s statues. All of the pieces contain some form of human and animal likeness, meaning viewers are confronted with a distinct emotional experience in each piece. In the craned neck of Kenny’s Wasp Woman, the strained reach in Olmstead’s Ascendency, the eyes of Schomp’s Elephant Girl series, viewers are offered powerful insight into the emotional and narrative stories of each subject. 

Schomp emphasizes, “the animals in this show are not puppy dogs and I think that’s important.” The animals depicted in They Travel Together are wilder than the domesticated pets many of us hold dear. These artists share a captivation with animals like wasps, wolves, alligators and cockroaches, creatures they find “eternally interesting”. 

Take Olmstead’s series of charcoal drawings. The drawings come from a picture book Olmstead is writing, about cockroaches who care for a neglected girl living in the South. Olmstead is open about her hatred of these insects, but “this story is about being taken care of, and the roach is a bug that can really survive many things. I wanted something that had that kind of ability to protect.” These drawings are astonishingly tender, yet hint towards the tragic circumstances that surround such palpable compassion from an unexpected source. 

The question of “where does animal become other and where does animal become same” has been of interest to Olmstead, Schomp, and Kenny for years. An earlier version of this exhibit was first shown in 2016 at the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery at Bristol Community College, but Schomp adds, “There’s a lot of pieces in the ArtsWorcester show that haven’t been in the other shows”. The title has been reworked to fit more appropriately with the direction of the project, taken from the Adlai Stevenson quote: “We travel together, passengers on a little spaceship, dependent on its vulnerable reserves of air and soil, all committed, for our safety, to its security and peace.” This sentiment is timeless, yet its resonance only continues to grow. 

They Travel Together was postponed for a year in the upheaval of last spring, but ArtsWorcester Marketing and Communications Director Allie Heimos describes it as “so worth the wait.” The artists are hoping to get more of an audience than they would have a year ago now that COVID restrictions are easing. The exhibit is free of charge and open to the public until June 13, but guests must make a reservation before visiting. ArtsWorcester gallery hours currently run Thursdays through Sundays, 12-5p.m. Visitors can make a free, 90-minute reservation online at Artsworcester.org. 

In addition to the rotating exhibits in their galleries, ArtsWorcester is excited to host their first public event since January of 2020, an outdoor Biennial Block Party on June 12. The event will feature food, live music and prize winner announcements, free to the public with tickets available beginning May 11. “ArtsWorcester is tremendous,” Schomp asserts, smiling.  “What they’re doing for the community is amazing.”  A visit to ArtsWorcester, to see They Travel Together and any of their other exhibits, should be on every Worcester resident’s to-do list. The aesthetic and intellectual value of such a space cannot be overstated–They Travel Together is as tranquil as it is thought provoking, offering visitors the opportunity to learn about their own self through each artist’s journey.