WINDOWS ON THE PARK II

WINDOWS ON THE PARK II
Public Space - Private Space
Exhibit opens May 8, 2010

The Teaneck Creek Conservancy is delighted to announce the opening of Windows On the Park II, an exhibit that examines the boundaries between public and private space. The exhibit is made up of window frames that have been removed from the walls of homes — the walls that claim to protect an individual’s privacy — and have been transplanted into the imaginary and elusive walls of the public exhibition space within Teaneck Creek Park

Viewers who look through these window frames have to decide whether the images they see are reflected in the windowpane or if the images are photographs taken in the park and mounted to replace the glass. The images may contain a tangible as well as intangible frame-within-a-frame, thereby eluding the viewers’ perceptions of the boundary between private and public space. The images’ subjects, colors, shapes, and other formal features, as well as their combinations, provoke additional scrutiny of this uncertain limit.

Said curator Rachel Banai: “Is there a separation between public space and private space? Can we employ our mind to define our private space? Is our mind our only private space? This exhibition challenges the myth that there is a separation between public and private spaces. It unsettles our belief that we can use our mind to separate between the public and the private. It argues that we do not enjoy privacy even in the supposed intimacy of our mind. Public and private spaces are interwoven, and they are the results of our imagination, education, and belief systems as well as the consequences of technology, government, religious, and commerce control and indoctrination.”

This exhibit will run from May 8 through May 31. It is sponsored by the Teaneck Creek Conservancy and Puffin Forum Photography Club members.

The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation visits Teaneck Creek Conservancy

The Teaneck Creek Conservancy is maturing from it's community based roots to a recognitionzed EcoArt innovator. We were fortunate to be invited to apply for a grant with The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and a subsequent site visit by Wendy Liscow, Program Officer. She shared her experience at TCC in her blog http://blog.grdodge.org/2010/02/03/notes-from-the-road-teaneck-creek-conservancy/. Her comments are copied below as well.

"Notes from the Road: Wendy Liscow, Program Officer Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

The conversation with Dodge Foundation grantees about our new guideline themes Creativity and Sustainability has stimulated a wonderful investigative journey, but the real satisfaction has come from experiencing the two concepts coming together in action. As my colleagues and I travel the state visiting current and potential grantees, we have the honor of witnessing passionate leaders making these connections. Recently, I met some board members of Teaneck Creek Conservancy, a group of environmentalists, artists, educators and community advocates who shared a vision to save 46 acres of land, but in a manner that utilized eco-art to strengthen the community’s connection to and experience of the park.

This marriage of sustainability and creativity was brought to life during a January walk in the woods.The hike into Teaneck Creek Park was not long, but the path was still covered with splotches of ice and snow and the air was brutally cold, so it felt like we would never reach our destination. Just as I was longing for my scarf left back in the car, we turned the bend and five bright patches of color emerged from the bleak winter landscape to grab my attention. There sat five beautifully painted massive cement storm water pipes: spherical murals in nature, telling the story of nature. If you had ventured down the same path this past spring you would have been distraught to discover five graffiti-covered storm pipes that had been littering this otherwise pristine slice of nature since the 1960’s.

Strolling later in the buggy heat of summer you would have found lead artist Eduardo Alexander Rabel, students from a variety of Teaneck schools, and community volunteers sketching, then painting, the visual stories of the vibrant local flora and fauna, and the impact of humankind on nature over time.The artistry took my breath away, but the depth of the community art process was what impressed me most, and it is all captured in this wonderful video that I urge you to take the time to watch. www.youtube.com/teaneckcreekconserva

This is not Teaneck Creek Conservancy’s first marriage of art and nature. In April 2009 members of the Puffin Photo club led by professional photographer Rachel Banai put together an unique outdoor art exhibition called “Windows on the Park” that utilized old sash windows to frame photographic works that told the story of the seven year transformation of this brownfields-to-greenfields track of land. Many people would agree that nurturing creativity, supporting public art projects and protecting our environment are worthy endeavors, but they approach each task separately. But when they combine these laudable goals, something larger than the sum of the parts occurs, as Dodge Program Director Michelle Knapik noted in her recent post about The Voices From the Land project.

We are interested in knowing if you have participated in or seen creativity and sustainability in action, experienced the flow of these two forces coming together, and if so, what was it that made this connection meaningful?"

The Five Pipes Are Open

After painting all summer in the muggy, buggy heat lead artist Eduardo Alexander Rabel, the students of Thomas Jefferson Middle School, and community volunteers both young and old, are proud to present the final product of hundreds of hours of creative artistry.

On October 21st we celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony officiated by County Executive Dennis McNerney.

“This unique artistic project involved the transformation and beautification of five graffiti covered storm pipes that had been abandoned in the 1960’s on what is now the 46 acre Teaneck Creek Conservancy in Teaneck, NJ. The murals painted on the pipes are educational in nature, addressing the theme of human relationship to nature throughout different eras in local history.” Lead Artist, Eduardo Alexander Rabel.

Sneak Preview

So what is it about being around creative people? They are like flashes of bright red in gray landscape. I always feel elevated in their presence.

This weekend the Creek is opening a photography exhibit that features the work of members of the Puffin Camera Club. An eclectic bunch, led by professional photographer Rachel Banai, they have been documenting the environs of the Teaneck Creek Park for over seven years now. Their collective work has captured the metamorphosis of this 46-acre brownfields-to-greenfields site with amazing clarity and beauty.

In the "Windows on the Park" exhibit PCC members have used old wooden window sashes to frame some of their most striking images. In the exhibit the frames will be hung from the black walnut trees in the meadow area of the park during the month of April.


We had a great time hanging the work. Each piece was more incredible than the next. I couldn't help thinking about what people see when they come to our park. It is intentionally a wild place, without the outward trappings of formal gardens or trimmed and groomed green spaces, but that does not mean it is without great beauty. The photographers in this group can see it, and catch it. Can you?

Come on out and see for yourself:

Windows on the Park / Artists' Reception

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Noon to 2:00pm / Teaneck Creek Park / 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck NJ

For directions or more information, visit our website, and follow the programming links.

See you on the trails!

Come out, come out where ever you are

Now that spring is officially here my mind is racing with thoughts on green and growing things. I was buoyed by the announcement that the Obamas are going to Eat The View and grow their own veggies on the White House Lawn. Raised beds, organic seedlings, bee hives, and fifth graders - who wouldn't be excited!

It sent me in search of a project I heard about several years ago called Edible Estates where homes across the country were ditching their carefully groomed and trimmed front lawns in favor of fruit and vegetable producing gardens of Eden. Check out this Maplewood yard that was transformed.

When I looked further, I see the good work has continued, and this spring the same initiative is putting in a Lenape Children's Garden in New York City. This from their website:
:
This landscape will simulate how the native Lenape people lived off the land on the island of Manhattan 400 years ago, with native edible plants and cultivars such as beans, corn and squash (three sisters).

How great is that!

One of the very captivating parts of our history here at the Teaneck Creek Park is that our 46-acre parcel was once home to a thriving Lenape community. They used these lands and waterways to hunt and fish. Fycke Lane, which borders our northern edge, pays tribute to the Lenape hunting device called a "fycke", and the grounds of the creek were part of a parcel of land that the Lenape Leader Oratam gifted to Dutch translator Sarah Kiersted back in 1669. (visit out history page for more details).

So even though it seems it way too gray and cold outside, I know this too shall pass, as spring advances undeterred. Anyone up for a little Guerrilla Gardening in the park??!!?

See you on the trails!

Ready, set, go!

The park is like an orchestra just before a performance. All the musicians are getting settled, instruments are being tuned, and the hum of the expectant concert-goers fills the air.

When I saw this photo from the Puffin Camera Club of these crocuses, upright and ready to burst, I thought of bows posied over stringed instruments, just waiting for the conductor's signal.

If you are poised to leap too, consider joining us this weekend when we host:

The Second Annual Weed Warrior Breakfast & Training
Saturday, March 14th @ 10:00am / 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck

Teaneck Creek's Weed Warriors are part of an all-volunteer force that works throughout the spring season to manage the non-native invasive plants in our 46-acre park. Come on out and spend some quality time with your favorite non-profit, you'll feel better, enhance the environment, and develop new friendships too!

To RSVP, email Shelly at weedwarrior@teaneckcreek.org .

I'd like to think that I was one of those gardeners that has spent the last several months pouring over seed catalogs and dutifully starting trays of seedlings in my basement six weeks before the last frost, but alas, such forethought and energy usually eludes me.

Wintertime does find me yearning for green growing things though, especially on a day when March reminds us that winter is still king. So I was pleasantly stoked when I read a posting from Kitchen Gardeners International today about the cost effectiveness of growing your own veggies. They're the organization behind the campaign to persuade the Obamas to plant an organic vegetable garden on the front lawn of the White House. Just the kind of awe-inspiring energy and "outside of the box" thinking that inspires me to hug something green. Good for us and good for the planet! See you on the trails!