The Porch Pieces: a Unique, Traveling Art Project

This summer, residents of Washington and Warren counties shouldn’t be surprised to see a porch, sans house, being driven down the road. The quaint blue and white porch, complete with wooden rocker and proudly hung American flag, is the foundation of a traveling art project, Porch Pieces, by British artist Bryony Graham. The project, sponsored by Salem Art Works, is investigating the place of porches in the lives of present-day Upstate New Yorkers. Graham takes the porch to farmer’s markets, fairs and other community events and invites people up to talk about their experiences living in the area. She also visits people on their own porches in what she calls “porch visits.”

SAW administrative intern Sarah Gomer, who has helped with the project says that Graham was struck by the place of porches in our Upstate NY culture because, “They don’t do that [sit on their porches] in England; it rains too much.” Graham therefore decided to explore this unique aspect of the area’s culture by delving into people’s memories of and feelings for their porches and porch-related experiences. Graham built a wooden porch that incorporated donated pieces of old, dismantled porches and took it on the road.

Since its debut at the Historic Salem Courthouse’s Al Fresco Dinner on July 24th of this year, the porch has seen everything from a short operatic performance to a visit from the children of the “Lunch, Learn and Play” program at the Salem Courthouse. Graham is documenting her conversations with photos and audio and video recordings that are posted on a Porch Pieces Weblog. Eventually, her findings will be compiled into an exhibit that will be displayed at SAW through September and then will travel to England and other countries to educate people about this aspect of Upstate New York culture. All of her findings will also be entered into the archives at the Salem Historic Courthouse.

The project has been successfully engaging people from all walks of life. Most recently, it encountered members of the Select Conservatory of Hubbard Hall Opera. The relatively young company consisted of understudies for the main stagers in Hubbard Hall’s Hansel and Gretel. They hailed from as near as Queensbury and Troy, NY and as far away as Chicago. The group was happy to turn the porch into a stage for a brief but powerful showcase of their vocal prowess.

On Saturday August 14th, the porch became a float in the annual Old Home Days Parade in Rupert, VT. Rupert resident Julie Currie and friends participated in the parade for the first time as the human element of the porch float. Says Currie, when she heard this year’s parade theme was “In the Movies,” she thought that one of the best porch scenes in a movie is from To Kill a Mockingbird. So she was Scout while friends became Atticus Finch and other characters from the movie based on the Harper Lee novel.

On a visit to Merck Forest, the porch featured a reading of a personal essay by Diane Shovak. Shovak recalls her grandmother’s porch as a place where different generations gathered in the summer time. She remembers the men playing cards while drinking beer at one end of the porch and the women at the other end sitting in wicker chairs, drinking ice tea, “gossiping and passing around the newest babies.” She describes sensual porch memories—the smell of charcoal and the aroma of blueberry pie drifting through the songs of wind chimes. Shovak reveals an intimate nostalgia for the porch of her memory as she closes saying, “At eight years old I did not understand…these days would be gone forever. But neither did I know that the sound of wind chimes on a summer evening many years later could bring it all back.”

Sometimes Graham leaves her porch at SAW and goes to visit others on their porches. In a conversation with Peg Winship and Doug Reed she shares her gratitude for the positive responses she’s gotten. “Sometimes the conversations I have are phenomenally intimate. You know, I’m pretty much a stranger and people have just gone, ‘Come into the bosom of our porch,’ and sometimes it’s a very moving and emotional experience.” She also talks about some of the themes she sees emerging in her talks. “Screen doors are lovely things,” she says. “People talk about the sound of them.” The sound is what one porch talker calls “the sound of summer.”

Graham began her project wondering, if porches still have a valued place in an indoor culture saturated with TV and air conditioning. Her answer has been a resounding yes. As defined by members of a quilting bee Graham visited, “Porching,” the act of sitting and talking on a porch, is still very much alive in our society. When asked if “porching” has come or gone, one member firmly responded, “It’s always.”

To follow Graham’s progress and view pictures and video, visit her weblog, www.salemartworks.com/porchpieces

–Sarah Cramer is an Assistant Editor of The Free George. 

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