Artist Reception

Manchester artist, Pat Musick, her husband Jerry Carr, former NASA Astronaut and Commander of Skylab 4, and Gallery owner Lisa Helmholz-Adams invite the public to INNER-OUTER SPACE, a special “send-off” reception on Saturday, November 28th from 2-4 PM at Helmholz Fine Art. Five paintings that make up Musick’s Tertium Quid series will be on exhibition for two weeks before they join NASA’s permanent art collection at the Kennedy Space Center.

In 1970 Musick, responding to our growing exploration of space, believed that, as humans moved into outer space for longer periods of time, they might change in many ways, and wondered what this evolution might look like. She titled the resulting paintings Tertium Quid, a Latin expression that means “a third thing that is indefinite and undefined but is related to two definite or known things”. She saw mankind as the tertium quid caught between the earth and outer space, changing, shifting, bending. The paintings show the influence of Allan D’Arcangelo, noted New York painter, with whom she had studied in the 60s.

In 1973-74 Astronaut Jerry Carr commanded the Skylab 4 84-day flight. One research objective was to investigate the effects of long duration weightlessness on humans. In 1979, Pat and Jerry met in Houston and were married.

The Tertium Quid paintings were exhibited at Cornell University and later in Houston Texas, space city of the 70s-90s. Recently NASA has acquired the works for their permanent art collection at the Kennedy Space Center. They will join artworks by such artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Annie Leibowitz, Norman Rockwell, and others.

“The NASA art collection represents an important source of inspiration for the general public that embraces the glorious achievements of the U.S. space program. Through the talents, skills and graceful strokes of a brush, we share in the passion and pride that is an important step toward reaching the stars and bringing together the worlds of art and science,” says Luis Berrios, Senior Design Specialist, NASA/KSC/PX-V.

Berrios added “I think it would be a great opportunity to share Tertium Quid with Helmholz Fine Art before they make it down to Kennedy Space Center. It is a very touching tribute to you and to humankind’s greatest adventure…”