Cold Comfort

Knit Graffiti by Melissa Maddonni Haims
At the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education

February 24 – April 30, 2012
Opening reception March 10, 3:00 – 4:00 pm

The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education was pleased to present Cold Comfort, on display along the center’s trails and in the visitor center from February 24 through April 30, 2012. Philadelphia-based artist Melissa Maddonni Haims “knit bombed” the Schuylkill Center, enlivening the brown and grey winter landscape by wrapping tree trunks with brightly colored yarn cozies.

Thirty separate installations made from yarns, Madagascar grasses and “plarn” (plastic bags made into yarn) appeared along the center’s Widener Trail and main driveway, inviting winter travelers to stroll the woods and see them anew. Additional works by the artist were on view in the main building gallery. Cold Comfort celebrated traditional handwork techniques with nontraditional materials in unexpected places.

Knit or yarn “bombing” has made an international splash in the last few years. The genre blends the crafts of knitting and crocheting with site specific installation, transforming public objects such as sign posts and bike racks into clever street art. The Schuylkill Center presented Haims’ work on its driveway and main trails as a way to literally warm up the woods for trees and viewers alike.

Cold Comfort is a featured exhibit of FiberPhiladelphia2012, an international biennial and regional festival for innovative fiber/textile art.

The Artist

Ms. Haims explores recycled, reclaimed and rescued materials—primarily fabrics and yarn—and creates large scale crocheted and knitted works mixed with found objects. She is an active member of the 3rd Street Gallery, a cooperative gallery in Old City. She is the social media coordinator for FiberPhiladelphia 2012, a city-wide biennial celebrating all things fiber. Additionally, she teaches children and young adults traditional handwork methods, such as knit and crochet, for the Handwork Studio of Narberth.