Author: news
Winterfest with Nature Preschool: Winter, Stars, & Nature Crafts
December 18, 2014By Shannon Dryden, Nature Preschool Manager and Sweet Gum Classroom Lead Teacher
Stars are a practical and magical symbol for children and adults alike. They are a mystery of the sky, full of gas, providing us with light, and are still something that we don’t yet fully understand. They are a symbol of hope, something to wish upon, or a picture to represent many holiday celebrations this time of year. With the dawn of the winter season upon us and the upcoming winter solstice, Schuylkill Center just held its annual Winterfest, a star themed family event welcoming Schuylkill Center Nature Preschool…
Giants of the Forest: Reading the forest
December 15, 2014By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
Every day at the Schuylkill Center I am reminded of the passing of time, the history of the land, and the immense power of plants to change our landscape. Amazed at how the trees could grow so tall in just 50 years, I stand in awe of the towering tulip poplars (also called tuliptrees) which rise high above old fields once clear cut for agriculture. As winter approaches and vegetation retreats, ruins and farm walls of old homesteads - signs of literally hundreds of years of human occupancy - reveal themselves as markers…
Drunk Cedar Waxwing at the Wildlife Clinic
December 8, 2014By Michele Wellard, Assistant Wildlife Rehabilitator
The woman who brought the waxwing in said he seemed "tame." He just sat on her finger and wouldn't move, and that's what prompted her to call the clinic. She was convinced the bird had been raised by humans. When she brought him to me, perched on her finger, I thought he had a sort of 'faraway' look about him - like he wasn't entirely present. There was just sort of an odd affect about him. Additionally, he also was in absolutely PERFECT feather, and he was in great body condition - upon palpating…
#StormSnakes Update – Wriggling Through Change
December 5, 2014By LandLab Resident Artist Leslie Birch
Right now I've been experiencing some interesting emotional connection to my LandLab project. This may seem odd, as my project is probably the most tech oriented of the bunch! I can only describe it as this feeling of letting go of attached ideas and really just observing and listening, both to nature and the people that know it well. That is different for me, because most of the time my projects are conceived ahead of time so they can be "pitched" to the people that may green-light them. The process for LandLab is very…
Weaving Art into Nature
November 21, 2014By Ezra Tischler, Public Relations and Environmental Art Intern
LandLab resident artists Kaitlin Pomerantz and Zya Levy, of WE THE WEEDS, have been busy collecting invasive plants like oriental bittersweet, mile-a-minute, wisteria, Japanese stiltgrass, and bush honeysuckle at the Schuylkill Center. These gathered vines are then woven together using hand-built looms, creating beautiful tapestries of varying color and texture. Be sure to check out their guest blog post detailing the process and progress of their botanical weaving project.
Zya, taking full advantage of her resident artist title, recently spent some time exploring the Schuylkill Center's property. Her exploration resulted in some impromptu land art capturing…
Fall of light
November 13, 2014By Anna Lehr Mueser, Public Relations Manager
This morning as I drove down the driveway to the Schuylkill Center, passing the large meadow to the north then the gentle slope of forest where the Pine Grove and Founders Grove stand, I realized the leaves are nearly gone.
Here and there a plume of yellow or red glows against the pale forest. These days I look into the woods to see colors, and instead, I see the fall of light. The trees stand empty, their beautiful forms exposed. A soft fall of light, visible deep in the woods, carries a hazy,…
Fall Festival at Nature Preschool
November 10, 2014By Shannon Dryden, Nature Preschool Manager and Lead Teacher
October and November are a time of transition and growth here at Nature Preschool. The leaves are changing, the children are growing and bonding, and the environment is preparing for the colder temperatures to come. This is the time when I hear, “Does my friend John come today?” or “Miss Shannon, look what I found, it’s the fur from a milkweed plant!” The children are becoming more aware of each other and even better observers when it comes to the outdoor world.
Perhaps one of the times when this is most…
Restoring Cattail Pond
November 3, 2014
By Melissa Nase, Manager of Land Stewardship
Cattail Pond sits in a serene, sunlit woodland opening at the edge of our forest, just a few quick steps outside our back door. It is a special place, nestled into one of the few areas on the property that is free from undulating topography, naturally protected by a steep slope uphill from it and surrounding trees. Taking all of this into consideration, it’s not surprising that there are also ruins of a barn near the pond, part of a former homestead and a reminder of the rich history of this land. (more…)
Botanical Weaving with WE THE WEEDS
October 30, 2014By LandLab Resident Artists Zya Levy and Kaitlin Pomerantz, WE THE WEEDS
For our Landlab Residency project, the process of its creation is of great importance. As we work towards the installation of a large-scale sculpture created from woven plant material in Spring 2015, we invite Schuylkill Center visitors to participate right now in creating the tapestry panels which will comprise it. In this way, the exploration of global plant migration, and the ecological and cultural roles of non-native plants, becomes a hands-on, engaging experience, with a cumulative, archival result. The following photos show some moments in the process-- from the…
All About Apples
October 24, 2014By Shannon Dryden, Preschool Manager and Sweet Gum Classroom Lead Teacher
The beginning of the year at preschool means apples! For most preschools, this is also the case, but at Schuylkill Center Nature Preschool, an interest in apples developed from enjoying apples snacks to the preschoolers’ observations along the trails. Playing and exploring outside led to a deeper association with apples.
As both classes walked along various trails (getting to know our outdoor community), they started classifying the types of trees with their teachers’ help, by looking at the shape of the leaves, the bark, and branches. Inspired by the…
