Author: news
Making in Place: Art in the Open exhibition
May 16, 2017By Anna Lehr Mueser, Manager of Communications & Digital Strategy and Liz Jelsomine, Environmental Art & PR Intern
This summer 14 artists will extend the Schuylkill Center’s art gallery onto our trails, with art that explores concepts in placemaking, reused materials, and natural-unnatural sound. These works were forged as part of Art in the Open, a public art event which brings art-making into public, along Schuylkill Banks in May. Dozens of artists participate in the biannual Art in the Open event and afterward, each brings their work to a gallery or art site around the City of Philadelphia, reinventing their…
Hollow Perspective
May 12, 2017By Liz Jelsomine, Environmental Art & Public Relations Intern
Perched on tree stumps, floating on water, hidden in the reeds - artist Katie Murken's painted gourds were scattered across the land at the Schuylkill Center in 2007. Debtor's Inheritance was created as part of Green Machine, a multi-media exhibition on our grounds. The project was formed in collaboration with P'unk Ave, a Philadelphia based design studio with a focus on non-profit organizations, that helped Murken create her site specific and interactive work at the Schuylkill Center.
Murken described the Schuylkill Center as a place that exemplifies habitat that was once…
Introducing Fox Glen: a new chapter in land stewardship
May 10, 2017By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
Where our Grey Fox Loop and Wind Dance Pond Trail meet, just uphill from our beloved 19th-century springhouse and its pond, is a section of our forest that has been overrun with invasive plants. But on May 20 we’re turning it around, planting over 200 new trees and shrubs to stabilize the land and reforest the area. We’re calling it Fox Glen.
I hope you’ll transform it with us. (more…)
Why I Marched
May 1, 2017By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
Today I’m writing as a neighbor and friend, and I’m writing about something personal. On Saturday, under a brutal April sun, itself both oxymoron and bad omen, my wife and I joined more than 200,000 people in Washington, D.C. for the People’s Climate March. It was an extraordinary event, witnessing a rainbow coalition of people from every corner of the country and in every walk of life coming together for action on climate change.
We walked alongside a nurses union from New York, behind the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, themselves just behind the Service…
Growing from the Past
April 12, 2017By Liz Jelsomine, Environmental Art & Public Relations Intern
Artist Gary Miller began his visual arts career by studying the traditional farming techniques of isolated southern farming homesteads, and his early work reflected the simple, unadorned functionality of their commonly used materials and homemade tools.
Similar to the farms Miller studied, Brolo Hill Farm also used the same techniques to create thriving crops. Over time, however, small farms experienced crop yield reductions brought on by inefficient planting and catastrophic flooding from indiscriminate clear cutting. Recognizing that their actions were depleting vital natural resources, farmers began responsible use of the land…
Children Need Nature: Fort building as a way to connect
March 30, 2017By Alyssa Maley, Nature Preschool Teacher
When you think back on your childhood memories what stands out to you? Perhaps it was a less complicated life where you spent most of your day playing outside, when you were not bombarded with technology at the end of your fingertips. More and more parents are actively seeking out educational programs that match this outside nature component of their childhood memories. They are quickly becoming aware of technology, and the sedentary life it provides for their children through interacting with iPads, computers, and gaming systems. The excessive use of technology in the home…
Coyotes in Roxborough? Absolutely
March 21, 2017By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
Early in my time here at the Schuylkill Center, a neighbor who lives close to our sweeping Upper Roxborough property gave me a call one day. It was not the phone conversation I expected.
“Mike,” he said with concern in his voice. “I spotted a coyote walking down my driveway the other night. “
“Wow,” I stupidly answered, “that’s great. I’m not sure anyone here has seen one yet.”
He wasn’t as excited as me. “What are you going to do about it?” he challenged.
Ah, of course. He’s worried about his dog, as I…
2017 Winter Photo Contest Winners
March 17, 2017We loved your submissions for the 2017 Winter Photo Contest-- many lovely photos of happy critters, icy plants, and dreamy landscapes came in, but we’ve managed to narrow the dozens we received down to a few winners. Thank you to everyone who submitted a photo!
Anna, Jenny and Liz weigh in on our finalists below:
Winners
Abby Williams
I gasped when 18-year-old Abby Williams submitted this stunning portrait. Black and white perfectly captures the texture of the fallen snowflakes against dark hair. The ice around her chin is so visceral I can almost feel the familiar sting of an icy…
My Path to Nature Education
March 16, 2017By Nicole Brin, Sycamore Classroom Lead Teacher
Editor's Note: This post was originally published by Pennsylvania Land Trust Association for their series on conserved lands, like the Schuylkill Center, in communities around the state.
Rows of stuffed animals- bears, bunnies, dogs, lions- all lined up in the grass of my suburban Connecticut backyard as they got ready to start their school day. Their teacher, eight-year-old me, prepared to teach them all the things that I already knew in the wisdom of my few childhood years. I made attendance sheets, created lesson, and planned field trips to the garden behind our…
Book Review: The Hidden Life of a Toad
March 15, 2017By Claire Morgan, Volunteer Coordinator
Doug Wechsler’s children’s book The Hidden Life of a Toad (Charlesbridge, hardcover, 2017), released just this week, explores what happens in this mysterious process called metamorphosis - from eggs to tadpoles, tadpoles to toads. Amazing photos and descriptions walk you through this phenomenon day-by-day. Doug has witnessed the annual event of toad migration that takes place each spring at the Upper Roxborough Reservoir Preserve, across the street from the Schuylkill Center, where they spend the winter in the forest. Each year volunteers gather for Toad Detour, a citizen scientists program to help the toads to safety cross…
