Forgotten Creeks Cyanotype: Ritual with Fabric, with Artist Ingrid Raphaël

Join WaterShed Resident Artist Ingrid Raphaël for a cyanotype image transfer public workshop using archival images of waterway and creek burials from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries, adding your own cyanotype designs.

The event will begin with a short introduction of the artist’s research on flooding in Germantown, and a meditation/ceremony at the only remaining vestige of the Wingohocking Creek, flowing through Awbury Arboretum.

Informed by Ingrid Raphaël’s storytelling and research for their upcoming film weaving together the history of flooding in Philadelphia with Black Memory, this workshop will provide a space of contemplation, reclamation, and collaboration, and experimentation as twin forces of ecological repair and human intervention.

Join us on May 16 from 2–4 pm for part two of the workshop series, where we will collage and sew the prints together, culminating in a piece of collaborative artwork that will be publicly displayed at the WaterShed as part of their Resident Artist Program.

Directions: Pedestrian entrance at 6336 Ardleigh Street or East Washington Lane. Parking available on both streets.

About Ingrid Raphaël:

Ingrid Raphaëls art, films, teachings & research weave ecology, technology, images and landscapes as objects of memory, temporality, and Blackness. They are an award-winning filmmaker, educator, and exhibiting artist, and the co-founder of NO EVIL EYE CINEMA and founder of NSISIM Studio: a slow burn study of ecological embodiment.

During their residency at the WaterShed, Ingrid will expand development research for their upcoming film, weaving archival history of buried rivers in Philadelphia and Toni Morrison’s literary references to water with recorded oral storytelling from impacted residents in NW Philadelphia.

About The WaterShed:

The WaterShed is a climate hub empowering flood resilience in Germantown through community-driven art, resources, education, and science. Opened in November 2024 in partnership with the Philadelphia Water Department, Mural Arts Philadelphia, and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the WaterShed is a community-based hub offering flooding resources and free educational programs focused on empowering flood and community resilience.

About Awbury Arboretum:

Awbury Arboretum is a free public garden and farm serving Northwest Philadelphia. Building on the social justice values of our Quaker founders, we make a positive environmental impact, educate children and adults, and nurture an inclusive community.

About Lightning House:

Created in 2023 out of a former stone carriage house, the Lightning House serves as a collective woodworking, performance and gathering space. Follow @streetworkprojectphilly for updates on this summer’s Lightning House activations, including the Sensory Sessions series, an Artist-in-Residence and fungal/birding/whittling workshops.