ART MEETS SCIENCE:
ROCKLAND “CORAL” REEF AT BARTLETT WOODS
Bartlett Woods Retirement Community is honored to host a unique, fiber art installation that brings important attention to a grave topic. The Coral Reef Project, an effort led by Bartlett resident Jill Schoof, is currently on view on the second floor of the apartment house, located at 20 Bartlett Drive (off Talbot Avenue) in Rockland. Regular business hours are Monday – Friday, 8am to 4pm. There is no admission fee.
Coral reefs are beautiful but fragile — and ocean pollution, climate change, and reckless fishing is killing them worldwide. A major effort is underway to restore these reef gardens, and to make the public aware of the damage. Over one-half of the Australian reefs are now dead, and the Maine cold-water reef is also endangered.
Local fiber artist Jill Schoof re-creates the creatures of the coral reefs using a crochet technique invented by mathematician Daina Taimiņa — these models celebrate the remarkable beauty of the reefs and explore the science and mathematics of corals. Crocheted coral reefs have been exhibited at major museums throughout the world, and a new exhibit has been launched here in Rockland by residents of the Bartlett Woods Retirement Community.
Jill, a retired engineering professor from Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, has turned to fiber arts and to the fascinating intersection of mathematics, science, and art. The beautiful exhibit at Bartlett Woods in Rockland is the result of a winter fiber arts workshop with a group of eight joining Jill to crochet and knit these colorful re-created coral reefs.
For more information about this project, contact Jill at downeastfiberarts@gmail.com.
