Art Exhibitions

Events And Programs

Awbury Arboretum regularly hosts free public art exhibitions featuring local artists, both within the parlors of the Francis Cope House and outside in the Arboretum’s landscape.

The galleries of the Cope House are regularly hung with revolving shows and are open in Spring-Fall 2022: Monday through Thursday, 10:00am – 4:00pm, Sat-Sun 10am-2pm (unless there is an event at the Cope House). (Please see our Hours and Admission page for holiday closings, etc.)

The grounds of the Arboretum are open every day, dawn to dusk.

Now on View:

Forager

An Exhibit featuring selected works by Katie VanVliet

“Found and collected materials are the main component of my work – graphic elements of prints and physical building blocks of sculptures and installations. Leftovers of daily routines that accumulate over time and collections of those I hold dear have always been the sources of my practice. Collections of used tea bags become quilted paper. Eggshells are repaired from the morning’s breakfasts. Endless numbers of no.11 knife blades become new absurd tools. These constantly increasing multiples serve as tally marks of the days’ passing. The specimen as both the multiple (a remainder of routine) and as an individual (a foraged treasure) weaves narrative through the work that is both extremely autobiographical, yet familiar to many.”

On display September 2nd through October 30th, 2022

Artist Bio & Statement:

Katie VanVliet (she/her) is a sculptor and printmaker practicing from her home studio in Elkins Park and at BYO Print in Philadelphia. She studied fine arts at Moore College of Art & Design before co-founding BYO Print in 2010; BYO Print is a collective studio for emerging and established independent printmakers. She was a resident at Vermont Studio Center in 2017 and the 2018-2019 printmaker in residence at Cheltenham Arts Center. She occasionally teaches workshops about using reclaimed objects in an art practice, and teaches non-toxic printmaking at Cheltenham Arts Center. Her work can be collected through Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, PA.

Outdoor Paintings by Ann Hopkins Wilson

We invite you to walk the Beech Hollow Trail to see the outdoor paintings posted in the beech grove.

On display April 22 through October 31, 2022

Artist Bio:

Ann Hopkins Wilson received her MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. Her undergraduate work was a double major in Art and Biology from the University of Delaware. Ann has been a professional artist for over 40 years, exhibiting regularly throughout the region. She taught Fine Arts at various institutions and art centers including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Bryn Mawr College and Temple University for fifteen years. Following this, she worked as an art therapist for over 20 years.

An abstract painter for many years, focused on universal geometric patterns binding nature and man, her work has recently moved to incorporate animal imagery. It is an urgent response to the depletion of species and habitats locally and worldwide. The paintings are prayers to protect, honor and preserve our natural world.

Artist Statement:

Working intuitively as an artist often makes it difficult to find words that will illuminate the art. The end result is a painting I can show you. It is a record of an activity that has occurred over time, sometimes months. It has often been a struggle. It is this action that is the art, not the actual painting. The painting is the witness to a journey and exploration. The painting hopes to provide a journey for others, but it will be their journey.

The art process for me is an attempt to move beneath consciousness into our core of being that moves deeply back towards our creation. There is reverence, joy, fear and awe. There is an urgent and impossible pull to grasp the interconnectedness of all life. With this, my most recent work has moved to touch other beings we share the earth with.