American as Apple Pie? Origins of the Apple and the Mystery of the McIntosh

Slate Valley Museum
17 Water Street, Granville, New York
Tel. 518-642-1417

Event is FREE


The “American” apple is the inspiration behind the the final Seed Journeys session of the season at the Slate Valley Museum โ€“ “American as Apple Pie? Origins of the Apple and the Mystery of the McIntosh.”

Artist-in-residence Serena Kovalosky will share stories of the surprising ancestor of the cultivated apple we know today and share the mysterious history of the McIntosh cultivar.

Participants will string dried apples on beading wire; the strands that they create will become part of a community art installation, entitled โ€œSeed Journeys,โ€ that will explore historical links of certain fruits and vegetables with Slate Valley immigrants from the 1840s to the present.

The conversation and activity will be offered throughout the day. Drop in anytime from 10:30am โ€“ 3:30pm and stay as long as you want. BYO lunch to enjoy on the museum grounds if you wish. Tea & coffee will be available throughout the day.

The Slate Valley is renowned for its variety of colored slate quarried in the region. Participants will be invited to string tiny glass seed beads in the colors of Slate Valley slate as an additional component to the installation.

Young children and those who wish to work on a smaller project with larger beads will have the option to create Friendship Bracelets in the Slate Valley slate colors.

Exterior view of the Slate Valley Museum

The โ€œSeed Journeysโ€ installation is part of Serena Kovaloskyโ€™s artist residency project, โ€œMoving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Projectโ€ at the Slate Valley Museum. The meticulous, six-month journey of placing tiny mustard seeds from around the world, one by one, on the branches of a foraged mustard โ€œtreeโ€ is a contemplative exercise that explores the symbolism of the mustard seed for restoring faith in our ability as individuals and communities to achieve humanityโ€™s dream of peaceful coexistence, one small step (seed) at a time.

Serena Kovaloskyโ€™s mustard โ€œtreeโ€ at the Slate Valley Museum. Four colors of mustards seeds.

Kovaloskyโ€™s mustard โ€œtreeโ€ sculpture and the community-created โ€œSeed Journeysโ€ installation will be exhibited at the museumโ€™s Slate Valley Holiday Festival on December 6 and throughout the month of December. The 2024 theme is โ€œPeace on Earth.โ€

Serena Kovalosky is a 2024 recipient of a Community Arts, Individual Artist grant for โ€œMoving Mountains: The Mustard Seed Project.โ€ This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, administered by the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.


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