Category: Environmental Art
See, Saw, Sau… Playing with History in the Pine Grove
June 21, 2017Guest contributor Aaron Asis, 2017 Making in Place Artist
Last month, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education launched, Making in Place, a creative collaboration featuring the work of 14 different Art in the Open artists invited to create (or update) work to be displayed within the Schuylkill Center’s art gallery and/or at choice locations throughout the Schuylkill Center's grounds and trails.
As one of the selected artists invited to participate in Making in Place, I was invited to walk the grounds back in September to explore potential project sites and site-specific concepts. Easier said than done, but we found our…
Weaving Good and Bad
June 1, 2017By Liz Jelsomine, Environmental Art & PR Intern
When you think of weeds, you probably think of unwanted, unsightly plants invading and stealing vital nutrients from your lawn or garden. While this may be true for some species, further thought about weeds brings up interesting questions. What is it about a plant that categorizes it as being invasive, and could these pesky plants be of any benefit?
Artists Kaitlin Pomerantz and Zya S. Levy explored ideas such as this at the Schuylkill Center as part of their LandLab Residency, an environmental art residency program that integrates art, ecological restoration, and…
Maintenance as Art
May 19, 2017By Anna Lehr Mueser, Manager of Communications & Digital Strategy
Every week or so one of us (usually our Director of Environmental Art or one of our art interns) heads out to Rain Yard, an interactive environmental art installation by Stacy Levy, for a regular check up. Rain Yard is designed to be education, art, and intervention. The steel sculpture, painted a rich blue-purple, collects stormwater runoff from our Visitor Center roof, slowing the movement of nearly 100,000 gallons of water a year. Some of the water flows through a rain garden, over which visitors walk, and some goes into…
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…
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…
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…
Combating a Natural Enemy
March 7, 2017By Liz Jelsomine, Environmental Art & Public Relations Intern
Restoring, protecting, and preserving nature is no small task, and when that land is comprised of worn-out farmland overwhelmed with invasive species, the job becomes even more of a challenge. Artist Bill Botzow realized this when he visited the Schuylkill Center in 2002, stating, “The Center’s commitment to restoring the land while educating the public is impressive and I would like to contribute to support that effort by highlighting some of the Center’s environmental restoration practices and strategies.”
Botzow observed and quickly learned about the main challenge the Center faces; invasive…
Investigate & Create: My Experience at the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education’s Annual Conference
February 24, 2017
By Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art
I recently had the opportunity to attend a great conference, the annual gathering of the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE), which this year focused on the theme of integrating the arts into environmental education.
[caption id="attachment_268018" align="alignright" width="199"] Miss Martha Shaum's handmade knit jellyfish at the auction[/caption]
The conference occurred on February 4th, but the beginning of this story actually goes back to January 2015. At the time, the idea of an arts-flavored conference for environmental educators was just a glimmer in the eye of John Sandkuhler, a MAEOE board…
Foraging for Art
February 9, 2017By Liz Jelsomine, Environmental Art & Public Relations Intern
Editor’s note: The Schuylkill Center produced a wall calendar for 2017 in celebration of the environmental art program. Throughout the year, we’ll run a monthly post on our blog highlighting the art works featured in that month of the calendar. Calendars are still available, now 50% off – only $10 each!
What started out as an amateur attempt to forage for mushrooms led to 20 years of exploration, mycology enthusiasm, and art for Philadelphia artist Melissa Maddonni Haims and her husband, Josh Haims.
Josh’s curiosity was initially peaked after noticing mushroom foragers…
