Pacem in Terris
​Warwick
Latin for “peace on Earth,” Pacem in Terris (pronounced with a “ch” sound — “pachem”) is the creation of Frederick Franck (1909-2006), a Netherlands-born artist and author with a deep interest in spirituality and promoting world peace. Once a major player in the New York art scene, he moved to Warwick in the 1960s with his wife and effectively dropped out of the mainstream art world because he felt it had become too commercialized. But he continued to create art, and set about transforming a six-acre property surrounding a decrepit mill on the Wawayanda River into a sculpture sanctuary.
Today, visitors can tour the grounds for free from late spring through fall and view 70 sculptures (he called them “icons”), drawings, paintings, and stained glass works in the mill’s galleries. “These icons are, in a sense, illustrations of philosophical concepts that he was trying to work out,” says his son, Lukas, who is often on hand on summer weekends. Franck estimates that about 5,000 visitors come annually, all without any promotion. A summer concert series held in the mill features world-class musicians. “The acoustics are extraordinary, and it’s a small, intimate space,” says Franck. 845-986-4329; www.frederickfranck.org
