Art Exhibitions

Wheat: New Photographs of the Palouse

Photographs by Neal Rantoul

November 2 – December 28, 2023 in the Meeting Room Gallery

Photographs by Neal Rantoul will be on exhibit in the library’s Meeting Room Gallery during the months of November and December 2023.

The artist says of his work:

Since 1996, I have made 23 trips from the Boston area to photograph the wheat fields in the Palouse region of SE Washington.I am a career photographic artist and teacher. I taught at Harvard University for 13 years and Northeastern University for 30.

The photographs here are from a recent trip in August, just after the second harvest of the growing season. There are endless rolling fields of wheat to explore and discover, accessed by driving along gravel farm roads, stopping to get out, set up a tripod, trip the shutter on the camera, only to pack it up, drive on and do it all again, over and over, day after day. I also make pictures from above in a small plane, this most recent trip showing a patchwork of striped fields, the pattern the combines left conforming to the contours of the land.

An Acton resident, Neal Rantoul is a career photographic artist and teacher. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts, both in Photography, from the Rhode Island School of Design. Now retired, Neal taught at Harvard University for 13 years and Northeastern University for 30 years. His work is included in several permanent museum collections, including the Harvard Art Museums, the Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

All are welcome to a reception and gallery talk on Sunday, December 10, at 2 p.m. in the Meeting Room, to hear the artist discuss his photographs and creative process.

For more information on Neal Rantoul’s art, visit: www.nealrantoul.com.

Exhibitions are free and handicapped accessible. Exhibitions in the library Meeting Room are available for viewing whenever the library is open and the room is not in use for a meeting. Please check the library Program Calendar for availability.