Artist Ed Levine has worked with the Pennypack Environmental Center Advisory Council to develop the public art project Embodying Thoreau: dwelling, sitting, watching, for Pennypack Park in Northeast Philadelphia. The project was inspired by the nineteenth-century author of Walden, Henry David Thoreau. The artist was struck by the similarity between Thoreau's values and those expressed by the park community: as Levine puts it, Thoreau "saw and expressed the dynamic relationship between culture and nature."

The project features a series of wooden structures, "between sculpture and architecture" that explore different aspects of humanity's relationship to nature. Located at different sites in the park, the structures are integrated into the educational programs of the Pennypack Environmental Center but also invite independent exploration.

The first structure, Thoreau's Hut, emphasizes humans' place within the natural world. Echoing the dimensions of Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond in Massachusetts, the structure is open to the elements and contains seating and a "symbolic hearth" to represent the hearth in Thoreau's cabin. At another site nearby, three Benches place visitors in a social and personal relationship to the park. Facing one another, the Benches suggest a family. Two of the three Benches are relatively big for their intended occupants, Levine explains, making "the sitter aware of the scale of the body in contrast to the surroundings." Finally, a Bird Blind encourages visitors to investigate human relationships with other animal life. To convey both our connection with and our separation from other creatures, Levine plans to use two structural systems for the Bird Blind: the interior or "human side" reflects standard architecture, but the exterior is woven like a nest. "The two systems," he notes, "establish the different worlds we inhabit and the means through which we form these worlds."

Ed Levine

Ed Levine has had a long and distinguished career as an artist, thinker, and educator. On his farm in Vermont, he has built a series of works that he calls Settlement: A conversation between art and water and the land. Settlement serves as a laboratory for his constructions, which use active water features to explore the physical and kinetic properties of air, landscape, and water. These structures heighten the viewer's awareness of the interconnectedness of water with our lives and the landscape. Levine taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he formerly served as director of the Visual Arts Program. He has exhibited in many museums and other venues throughout the United States, including the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; the Atlanta Arts Festival; the Artists Space in New York; and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His Floating Rocks: Looking into Time was commissioned for Pusan, Korea.

Pennypack Environmental Center Advisory Council

The Pennypack Environmental Center Advisory Council is a volunteer organization formed in 1974 to support the operation and growth of the Pennypack Environmental Center. Located on a 100-acre site in Pennypack Park, in the northeast section of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park system, the Center offers programs that foster respect for nature and provide opportunities to enjoy a protected natural area. As part of its mission to inspire future generations to conserve and protect our environment, the Center provides residents of Philadelphia with access to nature trails, as well as a wide variety of environmental programs, including stream exploration, botany walks, and wildlife observation. Through the Fairmount Park Commission's Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program, the Center has enlarged its facilities and expanded its activities.

Directions by Car: Via I-95: Take I-95 North to Cottman Avenue. Go West on Cottman to Roosevelt Boulevard Turn right onto Roosevelt Boulevard and continue until Rhawn Street. Turn left on Rhawn Street and continue for nine lights. Turn right on Verree Road. The Center will be on the left side of Verree Road.

Via Roosevelt Boulevard/Route 1: Take the Roosevelt Boulevard to Rhawn Street (a couple minutes past Cottman Avenue.) Turn left on Rhawn Street and continue for nine lights. Turn right on Verree Road. The Center will be on the left side of Verree Road.