Williamstown Artist's Work Represents Nation Worldwide

'The Collection' by Barbara Prey was used on the State Department's Fourth of July invitations this year. Her work has also appeared on the White House Christmas Card and been commissioned by NASA.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Not all the American flags flying on Spring Street are blowing in the breeze.

Some are the two-dimensional variety, in images captured by renowned watercolorist Barbara Ernst Prey.

Prey's "The Collection" is the latest of her paintings to be used by the U.S. government. The depiction of a simple cluster of flags on a New England porch caught the eye of officials at the State Department, who asked Prey for permission to use the image this year on invitations to every embassy Fourth of July celebration.

If you were not invited to Thursday's bash in Paris or Madrid or Tokyo, don't lose heart. You can see a print of "The Collection" at the Barbara Prey Gallery, which opened this year on Spring Street.

This is not the first time Prey's work has represented the nation. Her paintings have adorned the official White House Christmas Card, been exhibited at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide and been commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for display at the Kennedy Space Center.

The New York-born Prey is a graduate of Williams College with studios in New York, Maine and Williamstown. In addition to allowing her work to represent the nation, she has represented her fellow artists as part of the 14-member National Council on the Arts, the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Among her many honors is the Celebrate Achievement Award for contributions to American art and culture on a local, national and global level, bestowed on Prey by New York City's Heckscher Museum.

"Barbara Ernst Prey [is] one of America's most gifted watercolorists," Heckscher Director Michael Schantz said. "Barbara's flawless technique ranks her among the most important artists who ever painted in the medium."

Prey fielded some questions from iBerkshires.com about "The Collection," the opening of her newest gallery and the demands of being an acclaimed, globe-trotting artist.

QUESTION: What can you tell me about the genesis of "The Collection"?

ANSWER: The scene was on a porch in New England that I saw. I was just fascinated by the way the light hit the porch. They just happened to have the flags on display, probably for a July 4 parade or celebration.

I've painted that porch a number of times, and the flags just happened to be there. They were [the owner's] father's flags from the 1950s.

I had an email out of the blue that they would like to use my image, they were familiar with my work. I have been involved with the U.S. State Department Art in Embassies program for quite some time exhibiting my paintings in the U.S. Embassy residences of Paris, Prague, Madrid, Oslo and a number of other embassies worldwide. I am also fortunate that a number of ambassadors have collected my work and brought my paintings with them to their respective embassies. One hundred of my prints of the painting "Patriot" are in embassies and consulates around the world including Prague, Seoul, Baghdad, Abu Dhabi, Bogotá, Mexico City, Athens, Cairo and Rangoon.

I was invited to lecture about American art and also about my art in the context of American art by a number of the ambassadors to the cultural communities of the various cities where my paintings were on exhibit. In Oslo, the ambassador and I presented a daylong symposium about businesses supporting the arts for the Norwegian business community.

The White House Christmas Card was another out-of-the-blue phone call. In fact, the same year I also had a call from the vice president's office to paint their official Christmas card, I don't think that happens to too many people. I also have a painting in the permanent collection of the White House.

QUESTION: When you are approached about one of your works being used for the White House Christmas card or a NASA commission, do you feel a sense of obligation to represent the nation?

ANSWER: Just like knowing my image will be on the invitation of the United States Independence Day celebrations around the world, painting the White House Christmas Card was an honor. I am going down to the White House next week for the National Medal of Arts Awards, and every time I visit the White House, I am reminded of how much fun it was to sit in the various private rooms and draw. Not many people know this, but the president and first lady also used my studies as the invitations for the congressional Christmas party at the White House and for another event.

QUESTION: The flag is an image you have used before in your work. What is it about the flag that interests you as an artist and makes it so compelling?

ANSWER: The American flag appears in a number of my paintings that are from my 9/11 series. There is a painting on exhibit at the gallery that has never been exhibited before: "Patriot." That is from my private collection and painted in memory of a friend who died in 9/11. My hometown lost 45 people and the flags were ubiquitous.

QUESTION: Tell me about your work on the National Council on the Arts. Is there a set schedule when you meet with the NEA? Are you sort of "on call" as an adviser? Do you get involved in making specific judgments on grants and things of that nature? And has your role on the council been what you expected?

ANSWER: I am truly honored to be the only visual artist on the 14-member Board of the National Council on the Arts, the advisory board to the National Endowment for the Arts. Members are selected for their widely recognized knowledge of the arts and for their established record of distinguished service or achievement in the arts. Our role is to advise the chairman and vote on grants. It has been a pleasure to serve and to see the breadth of great art that is produced in this country. We also nominate the National Medals recipients and I look forward next week to go down to the White House for the awards.

QUESTION: Will you be in Williamstown on Thursday for the parade?

ANSWER: I'm looking forward to it.

QUESTION: What sort of experience have you had with the new gallery?

ANSWER: I love the people [in Williamstown], and the reception on Spring Street has been overwhelming. I can't think of a better place to be. There's a print of the Columbia tribute at the gallery, also a print of the White House Christmas Card and a print of 'The Collection.'

I am a Williams graduate, my daughter is a student at Williams and I have a home and studio in Williamstown.

My mother was head of the design department at Pratt Art Institute in New York City and was an amazing artist. She would come visit me at Williams and go out to paint. I now visit my daughter and go out to paint. Some of the paintings, like "Maple Sugar," are on exhibit at the gallery.

I have been painting Williamstown and the Berkshires since I was 18 — so that is close to four decades. I had an early show at Williams College freshman year, I think Meile Rockefeller (Williams '79) wrote the review using Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."

I also have a studio in Maine. My family were the first settlers of the parts of the midcoast back in the early 1700s so Maine seems to be in my blood.

QUESTION: Is it difficult dividing your time between three studios or do works in progress travel with you?

ANSWER: As a landscape painter, I am continually looking and thinking and all these places provide valuable inspiration for my work.

QUESTION: I saw your entry on the Williams College Museum of Art website as a member of its Art of the Month Club. You mention the Winslow Homer exhibition at the Clark. I was wondering what your reaction was to that show.

ANSWER: Homer has been an inspiration, I grew up with Homer prints that my mother had in her studio and a very nice comment from a museum curator when I was starting out was to compare my work to Homer but in a more contemporary vein.

I am a fan of [Clark curator] Marc Simpson’s exhibits and I think he did a superb job on this exhibit. I always try and follow what is on at the Clark, the Williams College Museum of Art and Mass MoCA. Sarah Cash, Corcoran Gallery Curator of Art, curated a major exhibit I had in Paris, and in the exhibition catalog, she discusses the importance of the art at the Clark and Williams College in my work from my time spent there. I am excited that I have a trove of Homer's right next to me.

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