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Travels of William Bartram Reconsidered

Bartram's Garden

A segment of the Bartram’s Mile Trail, a 1.55-mile paved recreational trail running throughout Bartram’s Garden. Photo courtesy Bartram’s Garden.

Bartram's Garden commissioned artist Mark Dion to create Travels of William Bartram Reconsidered, a project based on the travels of John and William Bartram, noted early American explorers and naturalists. Dion retraced the Bartrams' travels from Philadelphia to northern Florida, collecting natural specimens and man-made artifacts along the way. Dion then shipped his findings to Philadelphia, where they were displayed at Bartram's Garden, a 45-acre garden and a National Historic Landmark on the banks of the Schuylkill River. The project was curated by Julie Courtney and included a web-based digital publication featuring drawings, photographs, video, audio, and Dion's personal journal.


Recipient
Bartram's Garden

Bartram's Garden

Bartram's Garden is a home for horticulture, the first nationally landmarked landscape, and the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America. The site encompasses the 1728 John Bartram House and farm buildings, a 12-acre historic garden, a 15-acre meadow reclaimed from a former concrete factory, a recreational trail and public dock, community farm, orchard, and food resource center, plant nursery, and the only tidal wetlands on the lower Schuylkill River.

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Explore Connections
Larry W. Cook, Untitled.
National Media Spotlight on Philadelphia’s Cultural Scene
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Video Tradition & Translation
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Video Social & Community-Based Practices
Sonia Sanchez. Photo by Erika Vonie.
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Pew Fellows Candice Iloh and Armando Veve. Photos by Neal Santos.

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Interview Cross-Disciplinary Practices
Enrique Bostelmann, Portrait of Cora Flores, 1980, part of Mirages series.

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Sinta Penyami Storms, 2022 Philadelphia's Cultural Treasures fellow.
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EgoPo Classic Theater, rehearsal for Ramayana with Papermoon Puppet Theatre and Kalanari Theatre Movement, 2023, Java, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of EgoPo. 

Projects in Process: Wilma Theater and EgoPo on Creative Collaborations
Essay Co-Authorship & Collaboration