Mapping Movements (detail-middle panel), Etching and Chine colle, 60”h x 14”w, 2018
Mapping Movements: The Invisible Highways of Urban Birds at the Waters Edge
Ecotopian Toolkit Award 2018
Deirdre Murphy has been awarded a grant by the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Program in Environmental Humanities department to create a large-scale print entitled, Mapping Movements, that illuminate the invisible highways in the sky by which birds, living at the urban waters edge of the Delaware watershed travel.
Research and data visualization is in collaboration with John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge and ornithologists, Lisa Kiziuk and Allison Fetterman at the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Audubon as well as Drexel University’s Academy of Natural Science. A public engagement component will be held in the Fall 2018 in conjunction with Dr. Bethany Wiggin's, “Liquid History and Floating Archive” Seminar. The print was generously produced by C.R. Ettinger Studio in Philadelphia.
Click here for article.
John James Audubon and His Influence Today
Biggs Museum of American Art
Dover, Delaware
August 3 - November 25, 2018
Red Bud
The exhibition features over 50 images from Audubon's iconic Birds of America and Viviparous Quadrupeds organized along themes relating to the naturalist's embrace of artistic technologies, his mixed relationship with natural preservation, his imaging of American regionalism, his heightened interest in scientific observation and others. The work of contemporary artists will be mixed into the exhibition to illustrate these notions and to emphasize Audubon's lasting influence upon the arts.
Deirdre Murphy will be serving on an Audubon panel on November 18th at 10:30am. The panel will be moderated by Jeffrey Gordon, President of the American Birding Association and panelists will include Dr. Jean Woods, Curator of Birds at the Delaware Museum of Natural History, and Dr. Stephanie Delamaire, Associate Curator of Fine Arts at Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library.
Star Cluster/ Stainless Steel and LED light/ 30" x 30" / in collaboration with Scott White
photo credits: Rebecca McAlpin Photography
BioArt Residency
July - September, 2018
Opening Reception for the New Science Center and preview of Deirdre’s BioArt work will be held on November 9, 6-9pm
Deirdre Murphy has been awarded a 3 month artist residency at Integral Molecular. The University City Science Center has partnered with biotech company and uCity Square resident Integral Molecular to host an artist-in-residence program focused on biotechnology. Based in Philadelphia, the goal of this program is to provide access, opportunity and awareness for artists to explore the ever-changing world of biotechnology. Click here for weekly blog post on the BioArt residency.
Time in the Garden
Morris Arboretum
May 5 - October 28, 2018
100 E. Northwestern Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118
Through a six-month exhibition, 17 artists showcase sculptures, paintings, photographs, and more that explore varied interpretations of the passage of time in the garden. Time is the essence of gardening and the natural world. Whether counting tree rings, or planting seeds, the passage of time marks the life of the garden. Sunflowers bend to follow the path of the sun throughout the day. Leaves turn colors in autumn as day length shortens. Common names of flowers often express the essential essence of time’s import: daylily, nightshade, four o’clock. Click here to read more about the exhibition.
Spring Jewel / 48" x 36" / Oil on Canvas / 2015
CONODOGUINET: A LONG WAY WITH MANY BENDS
Conodoguinet mural design motif is based on the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Conodoguinet translates from the Native American word meaning "A long way with many bends". Mural artist, Deirdre Murphy celebrates the beauty of the watershed and the birds of the Carlisle area while raising awareness about local water pollution and threatened bird species. The scattering of color-coded lines is a visual data interpretation of indigenous migratory birds. The small red and green dots signify songbird’s feeding and breeding zones. The large red circle is Carlisle & Dickinson College. Embedded in the mural is Spencer Fullerton Baird’s, bird research from 1840, who was a Dickinson alum, professor and head of the Smithsonian. We hope draw conservation attention to life at the banks and within the Conodoguinet Watershed and inspire viewers to a call to action; to protect our environment and species. Murphy will give a lecture about her research and process on October 12, 2018 at Dickinson College.