Philadelphia Trip-Brooke Knepp

I was very excited to participate in the Philadelphia trip because Philly is so close to my hometown and also because I love the city. Philly is full of life and history, which makes it so exciting to visit. I had a very hard time deciding which museums to go to but I think I made the right choices. The first museum I chose was The Academy of Natural Sciences. The main reason I chose this museum was the traveling exhibit that was advertised on the front of the building, which I will later talk more in depth about. The second museum I chose was The Franklin Institute. One of the reasons I chose this museum was because of the memories I have of going there when I was a child. I wanted to relive my childhood trips to the city and see what The Franklin Institute had today and if it had changed.

When I first walked up to The Academy of Natural Sciences I noticed they had an exhibit called A Many-Colored Glass. It intrigued me because it said that the exhibit was Ethereal Images of Microscopic Marine Life. My first impression of this exhibit was that it was going to be an exhibit displaying actual sea glass, something that people collect from different oceans/shores. I didn't take into consideration the "Images of Microscopic Marine Life" description on the advertisement, so when I saw what the display actually was, I was surprised.

Although the exhibit wasn't exactly what I had pictured in my mind, it was still very interesting and I enjoyed studying the art that can be made from these tiny little creatures that no one would ever think to exist. Many of the pieces resemble things that are so familiar to me, such as flowers, shells and jewels. It was also neat to learn that this collection of pieces has been created by an artist and a scientist.

The artist of these beautiful creations is Fay Darling. Fay is a photographer, colorist, freelance writer, and a former art gallery owner. She now resides in Rhode Island. The scientist is Dr. Paul Hargraves, an oceanography professor at the University of Rhode Island. He now studies diatoms and other microscopic marine organisms at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute of Florida Atlantic University in Fort Pierce, Florida.

Hargraves and Darling first met in 1960 when they were students at the University of Rhode Island. Recently, they reconnected through e-mail when Hargraves ran across some of Darling's photographs online. He sent her some images of diatoms and she began colorizing them. The two have been collaborating their work ever since. What I found so interesting about this exhibit was how an artist and a scientist could combine their completely different forms of work into art that is so beautiful. I love the colors Darling uses for the organisms because they are so bright and vibrant. The colors are so strong that they draw you in to take a closer look at the piece. I also enjoyed learning about these microorganisms that no one really knows about but when they are put under the microscope and tampered with, they are beautiful.

The second museum I chose to visit was The Franklin Institute. As I mentioned earlier, I chose this museum because it reminded me of when I was a child taking trips into the city with my parents or with school to visit different museums and historical monuments. The Franklin Institute always kept my mind thinking. There is so much to learn from the multiple and life-like exhibits in this museum.

Between all of the fun and activities the museum has to offer, I did manage to find some very interesting artwork that I had never seen before. I walked into Sir Issac's Loft because it said, "Where Art and Physics Collide" which caught my eye because I was curious to see how this was possible. I couldn't figure out where the actual "art" was when I first walked in because there were all kinds of activities in this room. As I walked to the back of the room I noticed quite a few pieces of very different art.

The piece I found the most significant was a piece called Fides: Goddess of Good Faith and Honesty. The piece was made in 2002 and is a solar photogram. The artist is Martha Madigan and she is known for "capturing the sun". Madigan makes photographs without a camera, and these images are called photograms. What you need is photographic paper, objects and sunlight. After several minutes in the sun, the paper darkens from exposure. Processing the paper in chemicals makes the image permanent.

I liked Fides because it is an image of a young woman looking to the side with her hair blowing in the wind. It is a peaceful image to me and reminds me a little of myself just relaxing on a windy day outside looking at the world around me. I love how she uses images of humans to develop in the sun because it brings out the true nature of our being. I also enjoyed this piece because the techniques seemed similar to the solar plate project we are currently working on in class. It was really neat to learn about the techniques Madigan uses and comparing them to what we have done in class and turns me on to learning more about the techniques she uses so I could possibly use them with what I have learned in class in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip to Philadelphia. I think I chose two very unique museums and I learned from them. I learned that the smallest things in life could turn into something so beautiful with a little bit of color and by using real objects like humans and flowers to develop their true beauty in the sun is such a meaningful piece of work. I also really enjoyed being able to relate to Fides in more than one way.