LandLab Residency Names Artists, Recommended for NEA Grant: Innovative art to restore land and educate the public
April 21, 2014
PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (SCEE) announced today the selected resident artists of LandLab, a new artist residency program designed to address local environmental issues through art installations and public engagement.
LandLab, a joint project of SCEE and the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), is funded in part by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. LandLab is one of 48 winners of the prestigious Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia. "At its core, great art inspires us, to be better people and to build stronger communities," said Dennis Scholl, VP for arts at Knight Foundation. "We hope that by using the arts as a lens to look at our greatest challenges, like the Schuylkill Center is doing, we can draw more people into designing creative solutions."
This week, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa announced that the Schuylkill Center is one of 886 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. The Schuylkill Center is recommended for a $20,000 grant to support the LandLab residency. Shigekawa remarked, "The NEA is pleased to announce that the Schuylkill Center is recommended for an Art Works grant. These projects will not only have a positive impact on local economies, but will also provide opportunities for people of all ages to participate in the arts, help our communities to become more vibrant, and support our nation's artists as they contribute to our cultural landscape."
With this generous support, the LandLab program will bring artists' creativity and curiosity to the question of solving environmental problems and fostering environmental stewardship. Artists will collaborate with environmental scientists to create real solutions to local environmental problems, such as invasive plants and loss of native pollinators. Each project works directly with the public, either actively involving them in the scientific and creative process or with educational components in the final project.
"It's exciting to think about art as something that can do more than hang on a wall. Art can actually work for the environment, engage a community, and address an issue," said Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art at the Schuylkill Center. "Artists and scientists offer different perspectives and skills, and bringing them together can foster new, creative solutions to an issue." Catanese emphasizes that the kind of art fostered by the LandLab residency will allow people to "connect with their environments and the issues we face in a personal, meaningful way that typical presentations of scientific information often can't."
The projects include a site-specific installation constructed from invasive vines by WE THE WEEDS, a collaboration of artist Kaitlin Pomerantz and botanist Zya Levy, simultaneously encouraging dialog about the global movement of plants and removing hazardous invasive species from the forest. In another LandLab residency, Marguerita Hagan, B.H. Mills, and Maggie Mills will build a pollinator-focused series of raised beds, accompanied by sculptural installation to engage the public in learning about native plants, chemical-free gardening, and sustainable practices, as well as the crucial relationship between humans and bees. Jake Beckman will explore the detritus cycle of a forest and its disruption by invasive earthworms, creating sculptural installations that make these hidden processes visible to visitors, and Leslie Birch's #MyPhillyWater will bring students of all ages into an investigation of water quality issues by engaging them in data collection and communication of that data through diverse modes of exhibits, social media, and text messaging.
The selected artists will conduct their projects through six-month paid residencies, where they will engage with the Schuylkill Center's property, conduct research, and develop and create installations which intervene with the land and demonstrate ecological solutions. Residencies will run through the spring, summer, and fall of 2014. The final artworks will be on view at the Schuylkill Center free of charge, and all four projects will be presented at the 2015 Philly Science Festival. In addition, an exhibition documenting the LandLab artists' process will be on view in the gallery at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists in the spring of 2015.
The public and press are invited to meet the LandLab artists and get a preview of the projects at an outdoor reception at the Schuylkill Center on June 6, 2014 at 6pm.
LandLab is supported by in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support also provided by PECO. This program is administered regionally by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Support for LandLab is also provided by the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation and the William Penn Foundation.
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For more information about LandLab: please see https://www.schuylkillcenter.org/departments/art/LandLab-Program.html or contact Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art, 215-482-7300 x 111, christina@schuylkillcenter.org or Ann Peltz, Director, Studio Tours & Exhibitions at CFEVA, 215.546.7775 ext. 13, Ann@cfeva.org.
About the Center for Emerging Visual Artists
The Center For Emerging Visual Artists�, formerly Creative Artists Network, was founded in 1983 by Felicity R. "Bebe" Benoliel to encourage the career development of emerging visual artists. Since then, the organization has worked to provide the support essential to talented individuals building careers in the visual arts. The Center dedicates itself to making art careers viable for those who choose them, helping emerging artists reach their audiences, and promoting interest and understanding of emerging visual art among citizens of the community.
About the Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.
About NEA Art Works:
Art Works grants support the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and enhancement of the livability of communities through the arts. The NEA received 1,515 eligible applications under the Art Works category, requesting more than $76 million in funding. Of those applications, 886 are recommended for grants for a total of $25.8 million. For a complete listing of projects recommended for Art Works grant support, please visit the NEA website at arts.gov.
