The Serpent Woodmere Art Museum 2015 An annual play installation that has become a community institution which celebrates seasonal change, the harvest and seasonal festivities.

“Twin Peaks” Woodmere Art Museum Straw Installation 2016 In its seventh consecutive year, the Annual Woodmere Straw Bale Installation has become a community expectation. In order to avoid the planing conflict with the scheduled sitework, the straw bale installation moved to the rear of the property. The compact rear property along Bell’s Mill Road presented a challenging proposition. Much of the rear property exhibits steep slopes, unsuitable or stacking bales. The design investigated a “mattress” strategy that consolidated the straw into a small footprint. Doing so enabled us to consider a matrix of circulation experiences such as: under, atop, above, below, beside, between, across and so on…

Coffee Buzz v2.0 This little parlor trick is a modification to Ian Gonsher’s “Coffee Shop Construction Toy” published http://makezine.com/projects/make-35/coffee-shop-construction-toy/. Our hack idea replaces the straw detail at each corner with short lengths of tubing. The tubing provides a connection detail that seems more stable and flexible to the original straw connection. Coffee Buzz is designed to be left behind as a table center piece and business card caddie; one of the tools of our grass roots promotional campaigns of 2013. BrownSprague LLC

The Bales of Woodmere Every fall, since 2010, the Woodmere Art Museum displays a straw bale maze (aka play sculpture) on their prodigious front lawn in celebration of the Harvest and Harry Potter Festival, the installation remains in situ from September to December. Located near the western boundary of Chestnut Hill, the Woodmere estate provides a rolling park like setting and a welcome destination for visitors from across the region. Its front lawn is bordered by Germantown Avenue and Bells Mill Road which are visually accessible to its stage like front lawn, in which the museum’s Victorian mansion provides a memorable backdrop. In five short years, the fall installation has grown from a humble hay maze into an anticipated celebration of folly. This annual play catalyst received its first sponsor after the 2013 season. Play Things A context such as a maze or game presents a prescribed form of engagement. It dictates experiences by presenting a path - Structured Play. A context with no explicit direction suggests an open engagement, the terms are decided by the user - Unstructured Play. Both types of play promote adaptive behaviors and mental states of happiness. Play can occur without props however environments and materials often act as a catalyst for play. Over time our generative element, the bale, has changed from a standard size bale (24x48x16) to a six string straw bale of enormous mass (48x84x36) each weighing over 800 pounds dry, almost a half ton. We deploy 84 bales each year, almost 34 tons (67,200 lb.) of straw. The enormous bales are well suited to withstand the elements and large crowds for an extended period of time. After closing, the exhibit is removed, the bales re-enters the local agrarian marketplace as an ingredient for mushroom mulch and animal bedding, remarkably they retain a value. The design is simply a set of blocks. 84 identical blocks that can be arranged into an infinite number of compositions. The assembly of blocks help to contain three elements: A large red ball, a group of inflated inner tubes and a large collection of rings (aka hula hoops) in varying diameters. There are no rules nor instructions. BrownSprague LLC

Woodmere Art Museum Straw Bale Installation 2013 The Woodmere proudly presents the fourth annual straw bale installation located upon their front lawn at Germantown Avenue and Bells Mill Road. The installation has become an annual tradition as Chestnut Hill prepares for its annual Harvest/Harry Potter Festival in late October and is open from mid September to November. The installation uses eighty 900lbs six string straw bales from a local farm arranged in a manner to promote play and inquiry. Patrons can move between, within and above the installation: climbing, running, jumping, chasing, bouncing, hula-hooping and touching is encouraged. Within each of the four major spaces are play accessories; a six foot diameter red ball, an array of inflated truck-sized inner tubes, twenty-five hoops of various diameters and a straw mattress for jumping into. Play is not scripted nor spoon-fed. Each participant is encouraged to find their comfort zone and hopefully move beyond to widen personal boundaries and increase self-discovery. Upon the closing of the installation in November, the straw bales will be repurposed as a mulch ingredient to local mushroom farms. http://youtu.be/xbE1Zkvtqb8 http://chestnuthilllocal.com/blog/2013/09/18/woodmere-museum-opens-fourth-annual-straw-maze/ http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2013/09/10/entertainment/doc522f73154a788097817016.txt

This proposal encourages complete interaction with park pedestrians of all ages: "Please tread on me and have fun."

Eighty enormous 850 lb. straw bales are incorporated into concentric squares, nesting one inside the other. Using bales twenty times the size of the 2011 maze offered new design opportunities as well as stability and durability. At the perimeter, bales are stacked to create post and lintel portals for access to magic markets. Beyond the portals is another square called the “commitment wall” – a diaphanous honeycomb wall of straw bales intended to challenge the visitor. At the center of the maze resides a mystical red sphere. The installation is not a maze in the traditional sense. Although some spaces are maze like, the installation is more a play apparatus that remains open ended to various imaginations and opportunities. The alternate title makes reference to the shared geometry of the pugilist “ring” - the square circle.

Socrates Sculpture Park and the Architectural League invite emerging architects and designers to apply for the opportunity to build and exhibit a full-scale project around the theme of an architectural Folly. This residency was established to explore the intersections between architecture and sculpture and the increasing overlaps in references, materials, and building techniques between the two disciplines.

Winner of design contest to create the Second Annual Woodmere Art Museum Hay Maze 2011. Duration: September to November 2011. http://www.woodmereartmuseum.org/