Sally Week: Urban Hopes

PhillyEarth: https://phillyearth.org/ Village of Arts and Humanities: http://villagearts.org/ Phildelphia Orchard Project: https://www.phillyorchards.org/ Day five was unexpected. I knew we would be focusing on more city systems but wasn’t ready for what we came into contact with. I found the work being done in the North Philadelphia around Germantown and Temple University area really meaningful. It was inspiring to hear the stories of the area…

Sally Week: A Bird’s Farm Song

Rushton Preserve: https://wctrust.org/rushtonwoodspreserve/ Day four was delightful. The class traveled to Rushton Preserve to observe both the catching and banding of birds and a tidy urban farm nestled into habitat and research. The process of catching, tagging and releasing the birds was something I had never seen before. The bird nets were so light I couldn’t believe that they held such vigorous birds. But…

Sally Week: A Snake’s Tale

Day three was long only due to the soreness from Day Two’s hike. We went many places this day of which I will only discuss two. I cannot discuss the wonderful things we saw and learned about the wildlife in this area to protect them from others. As such no photographs will be included or linked to this post. The first trail through the…

Sally Week: A Day of Revitalization

The Lehigh Gap Nature Center: http://lgnc.org/ Day two was a day of difficult terrain. The class traveresed up the mountainside of a superfund site. This location, once barren, had been brought back to life and is now a thriving parkland with many trails. Of these trails the one up over the ridge is quite spectacular but physically draining. The superfund site, ie the Lehigh…

Sally Week: Day on the Water

  ReTURN The Favor: http://returnthefavornj.org/ Day one focused on shorelines and water-based ecosystems. We were scheduled to visit three locations. The first a farm protected by dams and dikes built all around it. The second a shoreline protected for the variety of species it is home to. The third a unique area, a mix between commerce and parkland centered around crabbing and shellfish. The…

Spring Finals

Where did it all go?!? Time is passing like crazy and I can’t believe that so much has happened in such a short time. Finals week is here and gone. Studio review happened yesterday. Despite a tiring round of all-nighters and the most anxiety to present than I have felt in a while (probably since undergrad 1) I learned a lot from my review….

Construction on Campus

As past jobs have finished up and opened to the public new jobs start construction. It seems like campus will never cease building, or at least not in my time here. There are four projects that I walk past daily on my way to class. One project has recently put up test pieces for facades. It is hidden between buildings on campus facing Spruce…

LARPERS: Winterthur

Winterthur: https://www.winterthur.org/ Winterthur, originally a private estate, is now a museum and garden. The grounds are extensive holding a number of different gardens and amusement spaces. While we were there a portion of the grounds were being set up for some sort of summer fair. To give a sense of scale, the fairground activity could not be detected from the gardens we visited. I…

Surprise Food!

It is always nice to hear that an event is going on in Meyerson hall for two reasons. The event could be educational and helpful in furthering studio work. The event is also likely to have food, of which the leftovers get donated to studio students still in the building. The second reason is probably the main reason that events get such quick word…

PCDC Performance

PCDC: https://sites.google.com/site/pennchinesedanceclub/Home The Pennsylvania Chinese Dance Club is a non-profit dance organization that explores creative dance choreography focused on Chinese culture. Two of my classmates participated in this years performance showcase, including dance and live music performances. The dances were stunning. While I found it difficult to tell traditional moves from inovations, not having any prior viewing or knowledge of Chinese dance culture, I…