Six environmentally minded artists are busy preparing their installations for a site-specific exhibit at Germantown Academy called Woods to Water: Temporal Sculpture on the Land. Sponsored by the Art Across the Academy program, Woods to Water takes inspiration from the natural woodlands and wetlands along the section of the Wissahickon Creek that runs through the campus of the independent PreK-12 school. The public is invited to meet the artists as the exhibit is unveiled on Saturday, October 20 during the school’s Preserve Day community event, starting at 11am.

Jessica Killo and Sara Krupnick-Ritz, Co-Directors of Art Across the Academy, designed this community-wide project to highlight the natural spaces on campus and promote a message of sustainability about our environment. All of the art exhibits use either repurposed materials or materials that degrade over time and return to nature.

“We are so fortunate to have direct access to the native woods, water, and wetlands right in our backyard at GA,” said Killo and Krupnick-Ritz. “On Preserve Day and throughout the subsequent months, we hope these artist installations invite moments of deeper connection and awareness between our community and the environment.”

After a call for proposals in January 2018, five exhibits were chosen for the Woods to Water exhibit, to be installed or peak by October 20. Participating artists include:

Leah Frankel (GA class of 2003) will install “Weavings: an exploration,” using natural manila rope in the traditional wrap and weft method to create spiderweb-like weavings among the trees in intricate geometric constructions.

Nancy Agati’s “Forma Fiore” will see unfired clay slabs imprinted with plant life collected from The Preserve placed along the edges of paths and within the butterfly garden, arranging the materials into patterns that accentuate the repetitive nature of growth and decay.

Logan Schulman and Rachel Ceciro’s interactive mirror sculpture “(Behind) You !” will rise from a grassy clearing surrounded by cattail reeds, simultaneously focusing the viewer’s understanding of their presence among the life forms of The Preserve while decentralizing the surrounding flora.

Damini Celebre’s “PrayerPod” is meant to draw attention to the 300,000 species that go extinct each year, represented in the 300 clay ‘seed’ pods that contain wishes for healing the Earth, hand-written by the Germantown Academy community.

Rachel Eng’s “Growth VI” uses unfired clay to create a microcosm of organisms that grow in inhabitable places, showcasing amazing adaptation within a finite lifespan.

Each of the artists will be on hand during Germantown Academy’s Preserve Day on Saturday, October 20, 11am – 1pm. This shine-only event features children’s activities like face-painting, bird-watching, beeswax candle-making and zip line rides.  The Preserve Day map below indicates where various pieces of art will be installed and the day’s schedule:

Visit www.germantownacademy.net/woodstowater for more details.