Art Exhibit Inspired by the View from the Quarry Farm Porch Coming Soon

View from the Quarry Farm Porch (Photo by Jan Kather)

While thousands of people every year visit the Mark Twain Study, located in the heart of the Elmira College campus, few people have had the opportunity to visit Quarry Farm, the original location of the Study. Quarry Farm, on the U.S. Register of Historic Places, remains today much as it did at the time when the Langdon family bequeathed it to Elmira College in 1982. The Langdon family insisted that Quarry Farm remain a living home and asked that the main house be used as a writer’s retreat for scholars and artists working in the field of Mark Twain Studies. In essence, in the same place where Mark Twain wrote his most iconic works, a national and international group of scholars now write about Mark Twain.

Since Quarry Farm is not open to the general public, CMTS created a virtual tour so that the public could see the nineteenth century collections, the writing and research workspaces, and overall interior of the house. The virtual tour can be found here.

Samuel Clemens seated in a rocking chair on the porch at Quarry Farm, East Hill, Elmira New York.
Mark Twain on the Quarry Farm Porch (1903)

The main house contains original 19th century furnishings, artwork, textiles, books, wall finishes, and architectural features and objects that continue to be unraveled by scholarship.  At the time of the Langdon gift, Quarry Farm had been owned by four generations of the Langdon family, starting in 1868.  As a result, most of the current collection was present when Mark Twain resided at Quarry Farm. The books on the shelves in the library contain marginal notes and markings from Mark Twain with bookplates and inscriptions of the Langdon family, the Crane family, and Ida Langdon, Mark Twain’s niece, who was a longtime professor at Elmira College. 

The collection also contains a number of reference works, first editions, and other rare books which are hard to find outside university libraries and special collections. For many scholars-in-residence, this may be the first time they have had access to such resources. Few scholars at any career stage have the opportunity to peruse such materials at their leisure over the course of several weeks, all without leaving the quiet, private, and picturesque domestic space in which many, starting with Twain himself, have found the ideal conditions for writing.  Current residents share the same spectacular view of the Chemung River Valley as the famous author, his family, and his in-laws.  Many scholars believe that contemplating this view and watching his young daughters play and grow up at Quarry Farm inspired Twain to write about parts of his childhood on the Mississippi River that resulted in the creation Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, America’s most iconic characters of childhood.

It is this view that has inspired an upcoming art exhibit at the Community Arts of Elmira.

The Community Art of Elmira presents Clemens and The Pen – Perspectives from The Porch at Quarry Farm

Exhibit Opening is Saturday, December 14, 2019 at Community Arts of Elmira (413 Lake Street, Elmira)
Exhibit Artists and Community Arts of Elmira Staff on the Quarry Farm Porch
  • Saturday, December 14, 2019
  • 6:00-8:00pm
  • Free & Open to the Public
  • Community Arts of Elmira – 413 Lake Street – Elmira, New York – 14901
  • www.communityartsofelmira.com

Clemens and The Pen – Perspectives from The Porch at Quarry Farm is an exhibition of visual art, fashion and poetry created by artists who participated in the inaugural “Clemens and The Pen – Studio Session on The Porch at Quarry Farm” (June 29, 2019). Regional artists, designers and poets include Satyavani Akula, Bridget Bossart van Otterloo, Joe Caparulo, Christopher Eldred, Matt Guagliardo, Lynne Rusinko, Laura Jaen Smith, Brent Stermer, Sam Somostrada, and Shannah Warwick! 

Lynne Rusinko stated that “Community Arts of Elmira is most grateful to the participating artists who applied through application and the Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies.”

For more information on future artist opportunities for Clemens and The Penemail info@communityartsofelmira.com