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The Lower Merion Conservancy relies on member support, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help us continue our work. We appreciate your generosity!
Registration is not required but your RSVP helps us make sure we have enough cider and snacks! This event does not have a rain date.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support the Lower Merion Conservancy.
We invite you to join the Conservancy and Bob Thomas, a noted architect, preservationist, planner, greenway designer, and avid cyclist (among many things!) on a bicycle tour of the Great Minquas Trail and Early Dutch Sites in Philadelphia and Tinicum Township. More details about the itinerary (including start and end points, stops along the way, and options for eating) will be forthcoming soon! If youâve been on a ride with Bob in the past, you know to expect an entertaining and edifying experience. If you have not, donât miss this chance to be part of the adventure!
Limit: 20 participants. The Lower Merion Conservancy relies on member support, please consider making a tax-deductible donation when you register.
More event details to come, here is the press release for the exhibition:
Philadelphia, PA â Chimaera Gallery is pleased to announce, Gradients of Growth, a solo exhibition by Deirdre Murphy, will be on view from September 6 to October 28, 2024. The gallery invites art enthusiasts and the public to the opening reception on Saturday, September 14, from 6:00 PM to 8:30 PM, as well as a closing reception and artist talk on Saturday, October 26. (More events will be announced on the Chimaera website throughout the run of the exhibition).
Gradients of Growth delves into the impact of the Anthropocene climate on tree cavity-nesting birds and East Coast pollinator species through Murphyâs abstract paintings and monoprints. The exhibition emphasizes ecological hope and the potential for environmental healing, offering a unique perspective on the resilience of nature in the face of climate change.
Visitors to Gradients of Growth will have the opportunity to witness how art can serve as a powerful tool for ecological awareness and action. Tree cavity-nesting birds and pollinators are vital to maintaining the balance of our ecosystems. These species are not only indicators of environmental health but also crucial contributors to biodiversity. As climate change accelerates, their survival becomes increasingly precarious, making it more important than ever to understand and protect them. Murphyâs work invites viewers to contemplate the interconnectedness of life on Earth and to consider their role in preserving it. This exhibition is a call to action, encouraging all who attend to reflect on the importance of ecological stewardship in the face of our planetâs changing climate.
Murphyâs new series of paintings presents abstracted portal views of natural scenes, inspired by nest cavities discovered during her residency at the Lower Merion Conservancy. Her explorations in Rolling Hill Park have led to these vibrant and thought-provoking works, which capture the essence of these natural sanctuaries.
Complementing the paintings, Murphyâs print series, titled Contemporary Herbarium, draws from the Lehigh University Trembley Herbarium collection. These monoprints provide a hyperlocal view of East Coast pollinator species, highlighting their critical role in sustaining migratory birds even as temperatures rise. Through these works, Murphyâs studio practice embodies the ecology of hope, focusing on collective efforts to heal and repair our warming planet.
This exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of Lehigh Universityâs CORE grant.
Exhibition Details:Â
Dates: September 6 â October 28, 2024Â Â
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 14, 6:00 PM â 8:30 PMÂ Â
Closing Reception: Saturday, October 26Â Â
Gallery Hours: Saturdays 12:00 PM â 4:00 PM and by appointment
For more information, please visit Chimaeragallery.com or contact the gallery at [email protected].
Media Inquiries:
Kirsten Werner, Senior Director of Communications
610-353-5587 ext. 267
267-222-0072 (mobile)
Â
Amy Buckman, Director of School & Community Relations
610-645-1978
267-473-1131 (mobile)
Presented By: The Lower Merion Conservancy and the Wynnewood Civic Association
We will gather at the yellow cottage in Rolling Hill Park then divide into four groups to count birds at Rolling Hill, Saunders Woods, Riverbend Environmental Education Center, and Dove Lake or Flat Rock Park. After the count, we will reconvene back at the yellow cottage for coffee and bagels and the final tally of all birds seen and heard.
Birders of all experience levels are welcome to join! Please bring binoculars.
Join us for our Annual Meeting to vote on our new and renewing slate of officers and board members, and a change to our bylaws. A light picnic dinner and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP, as a headcount is needed for the dinner.
The Conservancy relies on member support, please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
Place your cursor on the bee video clip below to scroll through our newsletter. You can also read a PDF version of the newsletter here.
The Lower Merion Conservancy relies on member support; please consider making a tax-deductible donation. We appreciate your generosity!
Join the Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail, the Lower Merion Conservancy, and other community partners for a family-friendly, stream-centric event. No registration is required. Some self-guided activities will be available throughout the day so consider coming by even if you cannot be there during the event. Read more about the activities below:
Native plants are more likely to be beneficial to animals that live in and near streams. They are important sources of food for both larval and flying forms of many insects. Michele Detwiler from Wild About Native Plants will be on hand to talk about the Pollinator Pathway and help you choose your plant.
You will be able to take a virtual tour with QR-coded links using your smart phone. Walk the tour from upstream (at the Cynwyd Station) down to where Vine Creek goes under the trail, past the Barmouth Trailhead and near the beginning of the unimproved Connelly Woods trail. If you donât want to do the walk youâll be able to access the same information from a copy of the watershed map, pictured to the left, which will be at the Barmouth trailhead. Click on the image for a sample of the watershed walk.Â
Among the most recent improvements along the trail is extensive planting done in collaboration with the Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail and funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; take a guided tour of these plantings. You can read more about the riparian plantings as well as the meadow plantings on other FOCHT web pages.
Sprays used to control adult mosquitoes also kill bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. We are handing out information and FREE materials to help you control mosquitoes in ways that donât harm other animals. Read more here.Â
Dr. Steven Goldsmith from the Villanova University Department of Geography and the Environment and his team will present some of their research on plastics in streams. They have sampled dozens of streams in the area (including Vine Creek) and have interesting insights to share.
We are constructing a touch tank that will allow participants to touch and view up close the kinds of creatures found in Vine Creek. Our creek is home to fish, frogs, turtles and other large animals, but they require small animals like insects and worms in order to survive. These are what you will see in the tank! Come by to learn about these amazing members of the stream food chain.Â
We are modeling our tank on the ones used by the Stroud Water Research Center.
Educators will be at the creek to help you take samples and learn about streams by seeing them up close!