ART ON THE TRAILS Samantha Kanelstein If a Tree Falls in the Woods... cloth and yarn on Woodcock Trail
Led by Professor Jeanne Jaffe, Fine Arts Department Chair, the students:Laurie Berenhaus, Sarah Blake, Renata Gordon, Alex Hollenbach, Samantha Kanelstein, Sean Langan, Ian Patterson, Marianna Peragallo, Eric Presendanz, Julia Rexon, Olatunji Richardson, Emily Schumacher, and Joe Williams each created a site-specific installation in response to the land and current environmental topics using a variety of materials such as fabric, steel, wax, branches, plaster, and cement. The project began with a presentation by Executive Director Dennis Burton on issues and concepts important to the Schuylkill Center. A tour of the trails followed, with a discussion of the historical and physical characteristics of the land. Students were then asked to create artwork with a meaningful connection to the Center’s land preservation, wildlife, and environmental concerns. To be successful in this endeavor the students had to confront issues of sustainability in art materials, connection of image to site, and conceptual relevance.  Alex Hollenbach We Are All Relatives mixed media in Pine Plantation on Gray Fox Loop This program provides a unique opportunity for University students to work in a professional venue that offers real-world experience in site-specific and environmental art processes that cannot be duplicated in a traditional classroom or studio setting. By creating artwork in the public realm, the students had to consider the technical and logistical challenges of working outdoors as well as respond to a wider, more diverse, non-traditional audience. These challenges inform and influence decision making and problem solving with fresh and innovative representations. Creating site-specific environmental art at the Undergraduate level introduces a new level of discourse to the standard art studio coursework, and sets the stage for young artists to consider environmentally engaged art as one of many directions that they may take in their creative careers. Find out more about The Center’s Environmental Art Dept  Jeanne Jaffe (center) and her art students with Zoe Cohen, Art Program Manager (center left)
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