Tag: news-import
Illuminating the Plastic Crisis: Art from Waste at the Schuylkill Center
June 6, 2019By: Christina Catanese
Recently, plastic has been the object of much attention – environmental news feels saturated with increasing calls for bans on plastic straws and grocery bags; images of dead albatrosses on beaches with stomachs full of bottle caps and other small pieces of plastics mistaken for food; an unfolding crisis in the recycling industry triggered by China’s ban on imports on many recyclables, where most of America’s waste had been shipped for years; and the resultant environmental justice crisis in Chester, where Philadelphia’s recycling was being burned for a time this year. Statistics like “8 million tons…
Community: Behind-the-Scenes
April 11, 2019by Sam Bromberg, Environmental Art and Communications Intern
In the gray winter months, Community has brought a refreshing splash of vibrancy to the Schuylkill Center. Our gallery bursts with color and texture, from chunky knits to intricate wood carvings to sleek photography.
The diversity of the show is the product of a collaborative community effort, speaking to the impressive creativity and talent of our Schuylkill Center members, neighbors, staff, volunteers, and friends. The start-to-finish creation of this exhibition was a fruitful process. So, how did we go from bare white walls to the captivating display that’s transformed the gallery? Here’s…
Nature & Art Exhibitions in the Region: Field Trips with Schuylkill Center Art Staff
April 4, 2019Collaboratively written by Lauren Bobyock (former Art + Communications Intern,) Liz Jelsomine (Exhibitions Coordinator), and Christina Catanese (Director of Environmental Art)
Though artists have always been inspired by nature, with the growing awareness of climate change and other ecological crises, an increasing number engage with themes of nature, landscape, and how people and culture connect to them. Over the past few seasons, several exhibitions in our region explored these ideas and the Schuylkill Center environmental art staff took a few field trips to enrich our thinking.
Natural Wonders at the Brandywine River Museum
The relationship between beauty and the sublime…
New Program Opens for Two-Year-Olds
March 21, 2019Imagine witnessing a child's love of nature unfurl through a series of moments: the first time they hold a wiggling earthworm, hear a warbler call, or watch frogs scurry into a pond. These experiences play into the sensory needs of young children and help to bolster their language, fine and gross motor skills, and cognitive abilities. For the first time this spring, we are offering this curriculum to children ages 25–36 months through Fledglings, a "watch-me-fly" program for children and caregivers.
This five-week series will use walks and wanders, songs, stories, and art to tap into children’s innate interest in…
Knit and Crochet for Climate Change
March 15, 2019
By Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art
There’s just something about climate change. Despite the fact that predictions grow more dire by the day, it doesn’t feel like an emergency. It can be hard to wrap our minds around something so big and abstract. So how can it become more personal, tangible, visceral?
A group of knitters has one idea—by applying their craft to climate change data.
The Tempestry Project (https://www.tempestryproject.com/about) is global climate data visualization through fiber arts. A Tempestry is a wall hanging, or temperature tapestry, that represents the daily high temperature for a given year and location,…
A Valentine to Bob and Nancy Elfant
February 13, 2019By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
It’s Valentine’s Day, that day set aside to think about the things we love. Bob and Nancy Elfant, local residents and strong supporters of the Schuylkill Center’s Wildlife Clinic, love animals.
“We both have a soft spot in our heart for animals,” said Bob last week. “And needy animals,” chimed in Nancy, noting their adoption of two rescue dogs 11 years ago. The Elfants were making a visit to the Wildlife Clinic, being given a tour by Chris Strub, the clinic’s assistant director.
“If I pass an animal along the road that has been hurt,…
Celebrate Winterfest at the Schuylkill Center
January 31, 2019By Mike Weilbacher
This Saturday-- Groundhog Day, appropriately enough-- the Schuylkill Center celebrates the reopening of our Wildlife Clinic with a family festival marking the day, Winterfest for Wildlife. Held at the Visitor Center on Hagy’s Mill Road and happening from noon to 4 p.m., the event includes nature walks, wildlife talks, face painting, wildlife-themed arts and crafts, storytimes courtesy of the Free Library, a bake sale, and more.
But the event kicks off at noon with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Since the Wildlife Clinic itself is typically closed to the general public as it is a hospital for ill and…
Eduardo Duenas Reflects on Caravans and Life in Honduras
January 17, 2019By Mike Weilbacher
While the Federal government remains mired in the longest shutdown ever (I am writing this on Sunday, so the fluid situation may change dramatically by the time you read this), a new caravan was scheduled to leave Honduras this week, thousands more beginning the long trek north to Mexico and the U.S.
This sad, hard, complex situation brought me to Eduardo Duenas, the Schuylkill Center’s Manager of School Programs, an educator on our staff who oversees a cadre of educators that help him teach school children on their visits here. A native Honduran, Eduardo has been in…
Reflecting on Remembering Water’s Way: Artist Guest post
January 10, 2019By Cassie Meador, Choreographer/Executive Artistic Director of Dance Exchange
Editor’s note: The LandLab resident artists of 2017-2018 (including this Dance Exchange project along with Kate Farquhar and Jan Mun) will be featured in a gallery exhibition at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists, opening with a reception on January 10, 2019. More information at: https://www.cfeva.org/events/cfeva-exhibitions/landlab2019
Over this past year, I have been working with the Schuylkill Center as part of their LandLab Residency program to address an environmental challenge through dancemaking and community participation.
On our first research walk at the center, I noticed several large bundles of sticks being…
Photographing faces in the forest
January 3, 2019
When I go for a nature walk in a local forest, I see trees, birds, flowers, deer.
Not photographer Willard Terry.
When he goes for a walk — which he does a lot — he sees faces, lots of faces, incredible faces. Gnomes, ghosts, demons, animals, dinosaurs, people, aliens, all staring at him from tree trunks, tree roots, broken branches, gnarly bark, rock walls, even fence posts and barn siding.
Amazingly, once you start looking for them, there are faces everywhere.
And Terry has been photographing them.
He just published a book, “Pareidolia: Spirits and Faces of the Wissahickon and Schuylkill Valleys,”…
