The gallery talk by Michale Glennon and Carolyn Twomey is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Wool and Water, on display at the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery from March 6 to April 12, 2023.
Dr. Michale Glennon is a senior research scientist at the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute. She an ecologist and studies threats to ecological integrity and watershed health. In her role, Glennon provides leadership to AWI's scientific research program, supports high quality research opportunities for students, and advocates for AWI's science to shape the management and stewardship of the natural resources of the Adirondack Park. She has authored more than 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters and is a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Field Ecology. She is also a board member for the Adirondack Council and Traditional Arts in Upstate New York. Glennon obtained her B.S. in environmental and evolutionary biology from Dartmouth College, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental and forest biology from SUNY-ESF.
Glennon leads the data art project Wool and Water, which blends fiber art with scientific data to create visual representations of changing water quality conditions in the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain Basin. This collaborative project uses knitting, crochet, weaving, and other fiber arts to illustrate concepts and trends related to our waterways, and to provide inspiration for their protection.
Dr. Carolyn Twomey is a visiting assistant professor at St. Lawrence. She received her Ph.D. from Boston College in 2017 with a project on the history and material culture of baptism in the early Middle Ages. After receiving her B.A. in medieval and Byzantine studies and English literature with a minor in theology and religious studies from the Catholic University of America, she pursued an interdisciplinary M.A. degree in medieval studies at the University of York, UK, concentrating in history and art history. Her interdisciplinary research and teaching interests focus on the history of cultural and religious change in the premodern world as seen through the rituals, visual and material objects, and environments of conversion. In relation to the exhibition, Dr. Twomey and students in her spring HIST 213 / ENVS 215 Global Environmental History course will interpret modern and/or historical water data through fiber art or a creative expression of their choosing.