ATTICUS ADAMS STANDS NEXT TO HIS ART PIECE THAT HONORS HELEN CLAY FRICK IN THE GREENHOUSE ON THE FRICK PITTSBURGH GROUNDS IN POINT BREEZE. HIS SHOW OF METAL MESH SCULPTURES IS NOW ON DISPLAY IN THE GREENHOUSE. | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

Atticus Adams spent much of his childhood at his grandmother’s house in West Virginia. One of his most cherished memories was of her home’s screen door; it was a time he frolicked barefoot about her property and felt free of his parents’ stricter rules.

So, when he was working in his Lawrenceville art studio during the COVID pandemic, his thoughts returned to that screen door, and he created an array of metal mesh and wire hanging sculptures that reminded him of his childhood and less stressful times.

“I would put them by my studio window and when the sun came out, there were rainbows and light,” he says. “It gave me a sense of hope.”

THREE DIMENSIONAL SCULPTURES THAT ARE ON DISPLAY IN THE FRICK PITTSBURGH GREENHOUSE BY ATTICUS ADAMS. | PHOTO BY SETH CULP-RESSLER

Those sculptures are now hanging in the greenhouse at The Frick Pittsburgh in Point Breeze as part of a free exhibit, “Catching Sunbeams from the Porch Swing of Wisteria Castle.” The exhibit, which opens Friday, May 23, runs through Oct. 26.

Adams also created a special piece that combined much of what he has learned about Helen Clay Frick, the daughter of industrialist Henry Frick. She collected art, built the Frick Art Museum on the Point Breeze property and lived at the family mansion, Clayton, until her death in 1984.

Adams designed a circular sculpture that includes pink mesh, representing her pink gowns, with five birds nests inside, which represent the five members of her family. She loved birds and nature.

Dawn Reid Brean, the Frick Pittsburgh’s chief curator and director of collections, said the show is a convergence of art, history and nature.

Adams’ three-dimensional artwork has been displayed at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Mattress Factory and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. In 2018, he was named Artist of the Year by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

Adams says he is thrilled with the opportunity to display his work in the greenhouse. “Greenhouses are already these magical places,” he says.

THE GREENHOUSE ON THE FRICK PITTSBURGH GROUNDS | PHOTO BY VIRGINIA LINN

The current greenhouse on The Frick Pittsburgh property is a renovation and partial reconstruction of one that served the Frick family from 1897 through the 1980s.

Of the exhibit, Adams says: “It’s meant to be playful and fun, and a symbiosis with Helen Clay Frick. This whole thing is a time capsule for her.”

The Frick Pittsburgh is located at 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze, 15208. It’s open Tuesday-Sunday: Gardens and grounds are open 8 a.m. to dusk. Access to the grounds and greenhouse are free