Urban Defense

September 12 - November 23, 2009

Temporary exhibit at The Schuykill Center's Second Site in Philadelphia, PA. Guest Curator, Amy Lipton, Co-Director of Ecoartspace.

Susan Leibovitz Steinman’s (Oakland, CA) 40’ square installation has at its heart a five-sided “Permaculture urban forest orchard.”

Urban Defense metaphorically refers to the political strength of the U.S. Defense Department’s Pentagon, and the historic stability of Philadelphia’s myriad columned public buildings, equating them with valuable civic assets inherent in a Permaculture urban landscape. 

Permaculture systems mimic nature’s principle of combining diverse compatible plantings that conserve labor, water and soil, to produce habitat, clean air, and abundant healthy food. 

Ecologically, Urban Defense honors another American symbol, the apple—its five seed chambers of diverse seeds can create an entire sustainable food forest.

Philadelphia University’s Sustainable Design Studio graduate students helped construct the raised bed structure using locally culled household salvage.  Its planted garbage cans attest to the accessibility of inexpensive materials for planting one’s own garden. 

Urban Defense includes more than a dozen varieties of trees, perennial bushes and annuals whose fruit will be shared in a public harvest this fall.

SECOND SITE, one of Philadelphia’s newest contemporary art venues, is uniquely sited on an historic 18th century farm, complete with house, barn and fields.  URBAN DEFENSE sat within a working field of growing pumpkins.