Exhibition Opening for We All Fall Down: Artists Respond to the Emerald Ash Borer

The opening reception for We All Fall Down will include artist talks in the gallery, refreshments, and a short guided walk to the site-specific works on our trails. This exhibition is a response to a highly invasive insect and its impact on our forests. The emerald ash borer, a beetle native to Asia, arrived in the United States in 2002 but was first seen at the Schuylkill Center in 2018. With a 99% kill rate, the beetle will sweep through local forests like a wave, wiping out all of Philadelphia’s ash trees within a decade. With ash forming a significant portion of the Center’s forest canopy, the insect will have a dramatic impact on our ecosystem. 

The Schuylkill Center provided wood from impacted ash trees on our property to six artists (Nancy Agati, Laurie Beck Peterson, Anthony Heinz May, John Kuiphoff, Brian Skalaski, and Janine Wang), who created new artworks that make the emerald ash borer’s impact visible and comprehensible. The exhibition, which features sculptures, photographs, cyanotype, hanging wood forms, and a laser-cut wooden plane, will be on view through November 30.

Reception schedule:
6:00pm – reception begins, refreshments and exhibition viewing available
6:30pm – artist and curator talks in the gallery
7pm – optional walk to outdoor installations, gallery viewing continues
8pm – reception concludes

More information about the exhibition is available here: http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/art/?ha_exhibit=we-all-fall-down