High Point

Kristine Brennen, American, 20^th century
2007, stone, 35 x 75 x 42 in.
Gift from the Artist, Dedicated to the Art Complex Museum Volunteers
2009.07

Designed to greet visitors as they enter the Art Complex Museum, Kristine Brennan’s granite bench was inspired by a visit to a stone yard in Rhode Island, where the artist often seeks out large pieces of granite for her projects. Brennan saw these beautiful stones in the nearby woods and noticed that their colors closely matched the museum’s façade. She worked to fit the stones together to construct the outdoor bench.

The artist titled the bench High Point because the largest upright stone echoed the highest point of the museum’s roofline, and she felt it was a high point in her career. The debris on the stones suggested they’d been in place in the woods for a long time, inspiring their permanent placement near the front entrance of the museum.