Dear 2040: Riverbend Environmental Education Center Imagines the future

Posted on December 10, 2015 by Schuylkill Center

By the staff of the Riverbend Environmental Education Center

Dear Friends of 2040,

We at Riverbend Environmental Education Center in Gladwyne, PA, hope the future finds you well. Living in 2015, we hear reports of melting polar ice caps and experience an increasing number of violent storms. Perspiration trickles down our necks as we work through higher summer temperatures. Climate scientists tells us that global climate change will have accelerated over 25 years. While the Western United States and many parts of the world are projected to be drier and hotter, we imagine our already very-green corner of Southeastern Pennsylvania will be even warmer and wetter.

Yet we like to think positively. After all – we’re in the business of investing in children and our future. Riverbend’s mission is to teach children environmental principles through a direct connection with nature. Our goal is to inspire respect for the natural world and action as aware, responsible, and caring citizens. In 2014, our center had nearly 20,000 visits from and to school students — 65% of whom were from underserved communities in Norristown, Philadelphia, and nearby communities. If we did our work well, we will have inspired a lifetime passion in others for protecting the natural world. It is our hope that many of our diverse young learners are now diverse young leaders — actively working to solve the environmental problems of 2040. Environmental educators, scientists, and policy advocates are predominantly white in 2015. Yet at Riverbend we believe that increasing this movement’s diversity will strengthen it and give us the wider perspectives needed to tackle tough problems affecting all of us.

With fossil fuel used for transportation at a premium and with global issues of water scarcity and food costs likely to be of even greater concern in 2040, we imagine that environmental education may now be a requirement in schools. Those of us who deliver this education well will be called upon to provide expertise and proven education methods to all children in the region with in-school curriculum and teacher training complemented by on-site visits for experiential learning. Outside of school, environmental education centers and nature centers, will be sought-after havens for the many families who long for authentic nature experiences and who seek respite from an increasingly artificial world.

In 2015 Riverbend launched our Aquaponics Program, the first of its kind in the region. Aquaponics is the science of growing food crops and fish in an integrated, self-sustaining system. Perhaps we don’t need to explain to you what aquaponics is. Perhaps it is as common as gas stations are in 2015. It is our dream that our aquaponics program, aimed at facilitating scientific inquiry, has inspired the implementation of larger-scale projects that address food security. Aquaponics, for example, uses only 10% of the water used by traditional agriculture and it can be done in compact, indoor growing spaces. This makes aquaponics practical for urban and suburban farming. It is our hope that growing food locally on a much larger scale will reduce high transportation costs and negative environmental impacts.

As we zoom out from our corner, we imagine that abundant water resources will make Pennsylvania attractive to businesses and employees. Perhaps some of you relocated to this region in order to benefit from lower costs associated with plentiful water and compact, walkable communities. We imagine public transit and zoning laws will need to keep pace with increased population density – and dense it will be. Most new developments will consist of apartment-style housing with electric car hookups, green roofs, geothermal heating, trail connections, and public courtyards with native plantings. The current trend of spending less time on yard work and more time in public spaces will increase the use of public parks, nature centers, and environmental education centers.

Blessed with water and even more abundant vegetation, the population will grow in the city center and Philadelphia will be celebrated and visited for all things green and water-related including the Water Works, Fairmount Park, Wissahickon Valley Park, and the canals of Manayunk and Mont Clare.

We hope you are enjoying expanded parks, creeks for kayaking, and an extensive network of trails. They were already pretty good in 2015, a year when Pennsylvania has the second highest number of trails in the U.S. We are third in fly fishing waters, ninth in kayaking arenas, and fifth in the number of national parks. The Schuylkill River Trail was voted the number one urban trail in the U.S. We hope you are enjoying its completed route from Philadelphia to Pottsville, with spur trails taking travelers to parks, cafes, and best of all — to environmental education centers.

Best wishes to all,

Riverbend Environmental Education Center

Editor’s Note: Dear 2040 is a series of blog posts containing some of the letters included in our 50th anniversary time capsule, buried in October 2015. Throughout the rest of 2015 we’ll be posting some of those letters, sharing what our leaders, thinkers, artists, and Schuylkill Center staff are thinking about the year 2040. You can read all the posts here.

Interview with Deenah Loeb: Art in the Open

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Schuylkill Center

By Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art

Editor’s note: Deenah Loeb is a Schuylkill Center trustee who also serves as the Executive Director of the City Parks Association and was on the founding creative team for Art in the Open, a citywide event in which artists create their work outdoors on the Schuylkill Banks for three days in May. This summer, nine artists from Art in the Open 2014 will present their work in the Schuylkill Center gallery and on the trails this summer in the show Open Spaces. Director of Environmental Art Christina Catanese recently sat down with Loeb to get her insights about Art in the Open, and its extension to the Schuylkill Center context. Open Spaces features work by Nancy Agati, Harry Bower, Ellen Brooks, Josh Harris, Aaron Lish, Pazia Mannella, Sandy Sorlien, Susan Wilson, and Wendy Wolf.

Christina Catanese: When and how did Art in the Open (AiO) get its start? How did the idea come about?
Deenah Loeb: The original idea came from local artist Ed Bronstein, who wanted to create a plein air festival in Philadelphia. He reached out to Mary Salvante [EN: Schuylkill Center Environmental Art program founder], who brought me into the process. We began to think beyond only painters’ engagement to a program that created an outdoor studio space for artists working in all mediums. It was also important that the program be integrally linked with the environment– it was an interesting opportunity for artists to work with the river within the public realm, as a source of inspiration, recognizing the power of the urban river and urban context, and enhancing public access to the river. Continue reading →

Wildlife Clinic Rescues Owl Tangled in Net

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Schuylkill Center

By Ezra Tischler, Public Relations and Environmental Art Intern

As the seasons transition from winter to spring we are fortunate enough to witness the flora and fauna of our region busily prepare for warmer weather and new beginnings. This time of year also brings many patients to the Schuylkill Center’s Wildlife Clinic, sometimes harshly illuminating the clash between our own activities and those of the natural world. Over the weekend the Wildlife Clinic dealt with one of those clashes when a great horned owl was brought in after being tangled in a soccer net.

Michele with the distressed patient.

The owl was rescued from the net by Springfield Police, but they could only cut the net around him. When the owl arrived at the clinic he remained bound by the net’s string, wrapped around his neck, legs, and wings preventing him from flying. Michele Wellard, assistant wildlife rehabilitator at the clinic, doesn’t know how long the owl was trapped, but due to its level of dehydration she can only assume it was ensnared for quite some time.

Michele, along with clinic volunteer Dan Featherston, worked to cut the string from the owl’s body and administer subcutaneous fluids to treat the dehydration. Needless to say, the owl was not happy with these entirely foreign circumstances and the apparent indignity of being kept from flight. But, by Monday morning the great horned owl was in better spirits. He was getting more fluids, perching, and enjoying the mice provided by the clinic. His treatment means a swift and successful release back into the wild.

Unfortunately soccer nets are a constant hazard for these nocturnal hunters. A quick Google search turns up numerous results with videos and news articles detailing instances like this. In spring many owls may be expecting the arrival of eggs and new chicks, leading them to increase their hunting activity and furthering the risk of a run-in with a soccer net. Simple precautions like taking down nets when not in use could mean a great difference for these animals.

The great horned owl free from the soccer net, awaiting its release.

Michele with the remnants of the soccer net

Weaving Art into Nature

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Schuylkill Center

By Ezra Tischler, Public Relations and Environmental Art Intern

LandLab resident artists Kaitlin Pomerantz and Zya Levy, of WE THE WEEDS, have been busy collecting invasive plants like oriental bittersweet, mile-a-minute, wisteria, Japanese stiltgrass, and bush honeysuckle at the Schuylkill Center. These gathered vines are then woven together using hand-built looms, creating beautiful tapestries of varying color and texture. Be sure to check out their guest blog post detailing the process and progress of their botanical weaving project.

Zya, taking full advantage of her resident artist title, recently spent some time exploring the Schuylkill Center’s property. Her exploration resulted in some impromptu land art capturing the transitory nature of autumn. Dried grasses and fallen vines clumped together in mounds may not catch the eye of most meadow visitors. Zya, however, saw the mounds as an opportunity to create temporary nests. Here is a gallery of some of the nests, but they won’t last long and are certainly worth seeing in person:

Zya also met with visiting groups from Nature Preschool, inviting the children to try their hand at botanical weaving:

Fall Festival at Nature Preschool

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Schuylkill Center

By Shannon Dryden, Nature Preschool Manager and Lead Teacher

October and November are a time of transition and growth here at Nature Preschool. The leaves are changing, the children are growing and bonding, and the environment is preparing for the colder temperatures to come. This is the time when I hear, “Does my friend John come today?” or “Miss Shannon, look what I found, it’s the fur from a milkweed plant!” The children are becoming more aware of each other and even better observers when it comes to the outdoor world.

Perhaps one of the times when this is most apparent is during our Fall Festival. Each year, we mark this exciting time, with our very own pumpkin patch accompanied by pumpkin painting and nailing (with real hammers and nails), sensory explorations like shaving cream and plastic insects or cornstarch and water, a fall obstacle course, “pin the face on the pumpkin,” and stories with families, teachers and friends. It is such a heartwarming event and I love to see smiles on the faces of children; engage in conversations with parents and teachers; and watch as the children accompany one another or their parents to the various activities.

The greatest part of the morning is the “Mask Parade” which allows each child to show their creativity with their black and orange attire and hand-crafted masks full of color and texture. They march along with their teachers talking about how they are going to sing to Miss Bea or cannot wait to get downstairs to see Miss Gail. They walked around the visitor center discussing what costume they would be wearing while trick-or-treating and how much fun Halloween Hikes was last week. This year, I was overwhelmed with emotion as I watched two classes engage with one another and share observations with teachers from their fellow class. These new experiences lead to excitement and curiosity and stronger friendships and bonds with teachers and parents. Take a look at all the fun…