NEWSLETTER
Saratoga Springs, NY (December 1, 2021) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College invites the public to contribute to the Saratoga Springs Satellite Reef, a community-created coral reef composed of hundreds of crocheted specimens that will go on view as part of the exhibition Radical Fiber: Threads Connecting Art and Science, which opens January 29, 2022.
For the Saratoga Springs Satellite Reef, anyone can participate by crocheting structures with coral-like ruffles, which represent hyperbolic geometry, an area of mathematics, either on their own or through upcoming events. The Satellite Reef is part of the worldwide Crochet Coral Reef project by Christine and Margaret Wertheim and the Institute For Figuring.
To inspire crafters, the Tang will conduct an online workshop on Tuesday, December 7, at 7 pm. Hosted by Associate Curator Rebecca McNamara, this program introduces the Saratoga Springs Satellite Reef and includes instructors who will lead beginners in the single crochet stitch, which is all you need to make your very own coral! We will also learn from one another about our experiences with fiber craft, underwater corals, and other topics. The instructors are Lucy Beizer, a New York City-based fiber artist whose work focuses on nature, memory, nostalgia and conservation; and Victoria Manganiello, a textile artist and educator working primarily with weaving, dying, spinning, and e-textiles, who is also based in New York City. People are invited to register via Zoom. [Full link: https://skidmore.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvdOGorzIsGdGiEV2qNMCG4nnHdn7x3V-L]
In addition to the workshops, the Tang offers weekly drop-in, Zoom craft circles on Wednesdays through December 15 from noon to 12:30. Registration is required for the craft circle is require and more information can be found at http://tang.skidmore.edu.
The project draws on the long historical connections, especially in the United States, between fiber practice and community building and will connect hobby crafters, art professionals, and novice crocheters from Skidmore, Saratoga Springs, and global communities. Download the PDF brochure How to Crochet Hyperbolic Corals, which includes patterns for a variety of corals. [Full link https://cdn.filepicker.io/api/file/YzJam4EYQAKJlL3sNcWB]
For all events, participants are encouraged to craft, but anyone is welcome to join to listen and learn. Any style, material, or color of yarn can be used, and creativity and experimentation are encouraged! If you are brand-new to crochet, we recommend purchasing medium-weight (4) yarn and a 4–5.5mm (G/6, H/8, or I/9) crochet hook.
The deadline for the Museum to receive crochet corals is Friday, January 15, 2022. Participants can mail them with their name and email address and phone number to: Elizabeth Karp, Senior Museum Registrar, Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, 815 N. Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. We recommend postmarking your corals by January 5.
Participants in the region can also drop their corals off at the Museum during open hours through December 19 and during regular business hours through December 19 and from January 3 through 15. The Museum’s open hours are Thursdays noon to 9 pm and Fridays–Sundays noon to 5 pm; the Museum’s regular business hours are 9 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. The Tang will be closed during Skidmore College’s holiday break as we prepare new exhibitions to open on January 29.
The Zoom events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://tang.skidmore.edu or email tang@skidmore.edu or call the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080.
About the Crochet Coral Reef
The Crochet Coral Reef is project created by sisters Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring. Residing at the intersection of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft, and community art practice, the project responds to the environmental crisis of global warming and the escalating problem of oceanic plastic trash by highlighting not only the damage humans do to earth’s ecology, but also our power for positive action. The Wertheims’ Crochet Coral Reef collection has been exhibited worldwide, including at the 2019 Venice Biennale, Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh), Hayward Gallery (London), Science Gallery (Dublin), and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC). The project also encompasses a community-art program in which more than 10,000 people around the world have participated in making more than 40 locally based Satellite Reefs—in New York, Chicago, Melbourne, Ireland, Latvia, UAE, and elsewhere. The Saratoga Springs Satellite Reef is the latest addition to this ever-evolving wooly archipelago.
About the Artists
Margaret Wertheim is a science writer, artist, and author of books on the cultural history of physics. Christine Wertheim is an experimental poet, performer, artist, and writer, and a faculty member at the California Institute of the Arts. Margaret and Christine conduct the Crochet Coral Reef project through their Los Angeles–based practice, the Institute For Figuring, which is dedicated to “the poetic dimensions of science and mathematics.” The IFF is at once an art endeavor and a framework for innovative public science engagement.
About the Tang Teaching Museum
The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for college and university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics, to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. The Tang is open Thursdays to Sundays from noon to 5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm on Thursdays. http://tang.skidmore.edu.
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Media Contact
Michael Janairo
Head of Communications
Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College
518-580-5542
Caption for attached image: Crochet Coral Reef workshop at the Van AbbeMuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Photo courtesy VAM and the Institute For Figuring.