Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Wendel Patrick, director of Hip Hop Studies at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, reflects on the way his diplomatic upbringing influenced his relationship with art, and he responds to a model of "Connecting" by Martin Puryear at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery. The full-scale 31-foot-tall sculpture sits within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The “Connecting” maquette is part of “Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad,” an exhibition at the Frary Gallery that reflects 40 years of artistic exchange through the efforts of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE).
Wendel Patrick, director of Hip Hop Studies at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, reflects on the way his diplomatic upbringing influenced his relationship with art, and he responds to a model of "Connecting" by Martin Puryear at the Irene and Richard Frary Gallery. The full-scale 31-foot-tall sculpture sits within the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. The “Connecting” maquette is part of “Artistic Generosity and the American Artist Abroad,” an exhibition at the Frary Gallery that reflects 40 years of artistic exchange through the efforts of the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE).
