By Naomi Leach, The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education

Challenges to our local ecosystem have ripple effects for all of us: stormwater runoff floods our roads and depletes groundwater reservoirs; invasive plant species steal nutrients and resources critical to native wildlife, upsetting the essential balance of nature.

Landlab, a collaboration between the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (SCEE) and the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), invites professional artists to create projects which operate on the multiple platforms of artistic creation, ecological restoration and education.

Four paid residencies, taking place from April – October 2014, will grant selected artists resources and space on SCEE’s 340-acre property to engage audiences in the processes of ecological stewardship through scientific investigation and artistic creation. LandLab projects will result in innovative, art-based installations that prevent or remediate environmental damage while raising public awareness about our local ecology.

LandLab seeks artists engaged in environmental exploration and discovery, who work well collaboratively across disciplines, have a working understanding and/or awareness of the ecology of Eastern Pennsylvania region, and are committed to deepening public awareness of environmental issues through their artistic practice.  LandLab projects will prioritize time spent on site and a process of investigation.

Professional visual artists who fit these criteria and are able to work on-site at SCEE for the summer of 2014 are invited to apply before October 15, 2013.

The Schuylkill Center creates meaningful connections between people and nature by using our forests and fields as a living laboratory to foster appreciation, deepen understanding and encourage stewardship of the environment.  The Center for Emerging Visual Artists provides career development services for professional visual artists, helps artists reach their audiences, and promotes interest in and understanding of the visual arts among citizens of the Philadelphia region.

Click here for more information and to visit the Schuylkill center’s website.

Click here to apply to the LandLab residency.

Stacy Levy, Kept Out, 2009