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Environmental Art
Created in 2000, the department complements the Schuylkill Center’s two mission-driven objectives: land preservation and environmental education. This unique interpretive program offers an alternative to both traditional art venues and formal methods of presenting environmental education to the public. The program challenges established and emerging artists to reflect on environmental issues; to consider the natural context in which the artwork is being created; and to explore working with new and non-traditional materials. Through partnerships with other arts and educational organizations, environmental art at the Schuylkill Center also provides professional opportunities for artists, interpretive programs for the public and arts-in-education programs for students. Looking ahead, the department will broaden its scope of activity to include conservation. We are exploring an innovative art practice known as “ecovention," where artists collaborate with scientists to interact directly with the ecosystem. Projects such as habitat creation, remedial plantings, or water-control structures will expand the boundaries of traditional art and maintain the balance of our eco-system. Artists working in this way (Patricia Johansen, Buster Simpson, Lillian Ball, Stacy Levy--to name just a few), traditionally learn on their own, finding their teams themselves and working wherever the projects take them. Most were not trained in this practice, but created methods that allow for a new way of creating sustainability. Since this approach is different from what is commonly understood as “art,” it’s difficult to find institutions who teach it, or venues to see it. It is a growing movement in art: to make, as Buster Simpson calls it, “work that works.” But what if there was somewhere to learn about this sort of work? What if an institution could bring artists together with scientists, naturalists, ecologists and biologists, and find innovative solutions to ongoing environmental pressures that threaten the natural world? Given our unique assets, the Schuylkill Center can serve as a laboratory for scientists, artists and the public to investigate ecological sustainability. As an educational institution, the Center would seek out projects that engage the public not only as audience members, but as participants in the creation and maintenance of the work. It is our hope that this collaboration would result in tangible, lasting solutions that serve as prototypes for larger projects installed far and wide. The only one of its kind in Philadelphia, the Environmental Art Department presents its activities through two interrelated program areas:
You can learn more about environmental art by visiting our resources page |
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