David Byrd: On and Off the Ward Exhibit Comes to the Field Gallery September 9

The Field Gallery presents On and Off the Ward: David Byrd Paints the Montrose V.A.
The exhibit runs from September 9 through October 8, 2017, with an opening reception on Saturday, September 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On and Off the Ward: David Byrd Paints the Montrose V.A. is the defining body of work from the artist David Byrd's 30 years (1958--1988) as an orderly in the psychiatric ward at the Veterans Administration Medical Hospital in Montrose, New York, as well as his daily commute from the Peekskill, Montrose, and Cold Springs area. The exhibit is Stop 8 of David Byrd: 10 Stops, a scenic NY gallery road trip (including Brooklyn, Peekskill, West Point, Frankin, Delhi, and Sidney Center) with a final stop in Seattle, WA.

David Byrd (1926-2013) was born in Springfield, Ill, a child of the Great Depression, one of five children of a single, impoverished mother and a father who killed himself when David was a young boy. Mental illness coursed through his family. At the age of 16, he escaped to Brooklyn, NY. After serving in World War II, David attended the Ozenfant School of Fine Art in NYC on the G.I. Bill. For 30 years, Byrd balanced an art practice alongside a career at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Hospital in Montrose, NY where, as an orderly, he cared for psychiatric patients. In 1988, Byrd retired from the V.A., bought land in Sidney Center, NY, and began building his home and studio, stone by stone. In near isolation, he was finally free to paint. At the age of 87, he saw his first exhibition . When Byrd died, his home contained almost every work of art he ever created.
For more information please visit www.DavidByrdEstate.com

The Field Gallery is located in the Field Library at 4 Nelson Avenue, Peekskill, NY. For more information, please contact Alicia Morgan, curator of Arts and Programming at 914-737-0521 or email amorgan@wlsmail.org. Visit the library's website at www.peekskill.org