Nancy Cohen's "Hackensack Dreaming" to be presented in the gallery at the Schuylkill Center
October 9, 2015
PHILADELPHIA � Next month, New Jersey artist Nancy Cohen will display a new installation in the environmental art gallery at the Schuylkill Center. With a reception on Thursday, November 5th, Hackensack Dreaming explores what nature means in an urban context and in a changing global environment, using a quiet, nearly forgotten marsh as an inspiration and reference point.
Tucked between a Walmart, outlet malls, and a wastewater treatment plant, yet within view of the New York City skyline, the wetlands of the Hackensack River spoke to artist Nancy Cohen as an "isolated puddle of the organic in a deluge of the human-made." Remnant stumps of an ancient cedar forest emerge from the water, with the hum of the greater metropolitan area forming a backdrop. Yet, nature has adapted and carried on despite this disturbance, with plants and birds making unlikely homes in this space full of contradictions.
Cohen's installation will transform the Schuylkill Center's gallery, creating its own environment and transporting viewers to a wholly new space. Made of glass, handmade paper, rubber, and other materials, Hackensack Dreaming explores fragility, perseverance, and the new realities produced by the human and natural colliding in unexpected ways. Cohen hopes viewers of her work will be "compelled by the beauty and the strangeness, thinking simultaneously of the made and found worlds."
Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art at the Schuylkill Center, explains that the artist explores contemporary meanings of nature in multiple ways, saying, "When I first saw Nancy's work, I was struck by how she was able to creatively convey scientific information through intricate, constructed forms. Her work opens the door to a much more intuitive understanding of ecosystem processes, revealing connections that might go unseen. Artists like Nancy present novel ways to ask questions, and help spur our thinking about how we can more sustainably work with these natural forces for a sustainable future."
Hackensack Dreaming will come to Philadelphia from New Jersey City University, and will travel to Duke University after a six-week run at the Schuylkill Center. The public is invited to an opening reception for Hackensack Dreaming, including a chance to meet the artist, see the installation in the Schuylkill Center gallery, and enjoy light refreshments on Thursday, November 5 from 6 � 8 pm. Hackensack Dreaming will be on view at the Schuylkill Center from November 5 � December 19.
For more information about artist Nancy Cohen, visit: www.nancymcohen.com
About the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
The Schuylkill Center was founded in 1965 as the nation's first urban environmental education center. Its 365-acres of fields and forests serve as a living laboratory to foster appreciation, deepen understanding, and encourage stewardship of the environment. Reaching over 36,000 Philadelphia-area residents each year, the Schuylkill Center offers a diverse collection of educational programs, including programs for school, continuing education for teachers, Pennsylvania's first Nature Preschool, and a full calendar of events for the public. In 2015 the Schuylkill Center is celebrating 50 years of connecting people and nature, with a series of events highlighting the Center's work and vision for the future. For more information: www.schuylkillcenter.org.
