Understanding Trees with Margaret Cronin and artist Gina SiepelMonday, September 29, 2025 @ 7 pm. Join the Samek Art Museum for an engaging interview as Margaret Cronin of Bucknell University speaks with Gina Siepel, the artist behind the To Understand a Tree exhibition. They will explore the biological understandings of forest interconnection, environmental philosophy, and queer ecology. A reception will follow at the Samek Art Museum.

A biology professor at the University of Utah, she has written 150 scientific papers and books, and has presented new insights on the importance of canopy plants in ecosystem processes — and the effects of human activities on forest diversity and function.

Gina Siepel: To Understand a Tree encapsulates 6 years in communion with a single tree. Bridging art, ecology, and queer experience, the project approaches wood as a living being and explores interconnection, habitat, and environmental responsibility. Organized by the Museum for Art in Wood and curated by Jennifer-Navva Milliken.

Star Gazing: Pennsylvania Quilts RevisitedThis exhibition – featuring quilts from Pennsylvania quilters and collectors – turns the eyes of post-internet contemporary art to look anew at traditional quilts and quilt making.

Security Blanket is a collaborative women's art project that stitches together a broad range of issues of concern to women and families. The organizers Lynn Estomin and Andrea Tuttle Kornbluh invited 30 artists and quilters to collaborate on an artwork modeled on a baby quilt. The quilt demonstrates how abortion rights are nestled within a range of needs which a just society would publicly fund, and which would benefit society as a whole. Each artist/quilter chose an issue of concern starting with a particular letter of the alphabet and then designed a block illustrating that issue. As a whole, the quilt offers an ABC guide to a more just and equitable society. The Security Blanket quilt is traveling to communities across the country, sparking dialogue and reflection on the interconnected needs of women and families in a just society. Each exhibition offers an opportunity for viewers to experience the artwork firsthand, engage with the issues it represents, and connect with others working toward equity and human rights. This project is sponsored by The Women's Film Project and is traveling across the US.

Gina Siepel: To Understand a Tree encapsulates 6 years in communion with a single tree. Bridging art, ecology, and queer experience, the project approaches wood as a living being and explores interconnection, habitat, and environmental responsibility. Organized by the Museum for Art in Wood and curated by Jennifer-Navva Milliken.