Join us for the opening reception for the UC Santa Cruz Satellite Reef. There will be wine and snacks as well as the public unveiling of fantastical, stunning crochet sculptures created by community members.
The UC Santa Cruz Satellite Reef is part of the Crochet Coral Reef world-wide reefing project (2005-present). Created by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute for Figuring, the Crochet Coral Reef is a spectacularly beautiful, artistically complex, and socially powerful way to bring people together around a devastating ecological challenge—the survival of the coral reefs and marine ecologies throughout the world. Satellite Reefs have been hosted in cities across the U.S. and Europe, Australia, and the Middle East.
The UC Santa Cruz Satellite Reef is the latest addition to these efforts. It is the whimsical, fantastical result of hundreds of people crocheting for months with huge quantities of colorful yarn and unfettered imaginations. UCSC students, faculty, and staff stitched alongside community members from across Santa Cruz County and raised awareness about ocean health and collective action.
Come celebrate these efforts and gaze upon the stunning results of combining hours of loving labor with skeins and skeins of yarn.
This event is FREE and open to the public.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
100 McAllister Way
Santa Cruz, California
831-459-3800
Hours: Tuesday- Sunday, 10-5 pm
About the Crochet Coral Reef
Begun in 2005 by sisters Margaret and Christine Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring, the Crochet Coral Reef project resides at the intersection of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft, and community art practice. Through a process of collective creativity, 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 the earth's ecology, but also our power for positive action. The Crochet Coral Reef collection has been exhibited in art and science museums worldwide, including the Museum of Art and Design (New York), the Hayward Gallery (London), the Science Gallery (Dublin), and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC). The project’s Satellite Reef program has engaged thousands of people from all walks of life in more than a dozen countries. The Crochet Coral Reef is one of the largest participatory science + art projects in the world.
About the Institute For Figuring
The Institute For Figuring is a non-profit, Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the poetic and aesthetic dimensions of science and mathematics. Co-founded by science writer Margaret Wertheim and her sister Christine Wertheim, a member of the Critical Studies faculty at California Institute of the Arts, the IFF specializes in creating participatory projects in which communities build large-scale artworks inspired by discoveries and techniques stemming from scientific and mathematical research.
The exhibition is being collaboratively produced by the Institute of the Arts and Sciences and the Seymour Marine Discovery Center
The Institute of the Arts and Sciences is part of UC Santa Cruz’s Arts Division. It is an interdisciplinary programming unit, which creates public exhibitions, public events, publications, and collaborations with faculty and students, aligning with UCSC’s teaching and research.
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is a self supporting part of UC Santa Cruz, dedicated to educating people about the role scientific research plays in the understanding and conservation of the world’s oceans.
Press about the UC Santa Cruz Satellite Reef and the Crochet Coral Reef exhibition at the Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery:
Ideas.Ted.Com "Gallery: What happens when you mix math, coral and crochet? It’s mind-blowing"
Scientific America "How to Crochet a Coral Reef--and Why"
One Green Planet "This Interactive Exhibit is Encouraging People to Crochet … to Save Coral Reefs"
Santa Cruz Good Times "Crochet Coral Reef Exhibit Combines Crafts and Conservation"
UC Santa Cruz Newscenter "Crochet coral reef exhibition to open Feb. 10 at Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery"