Wool and Water: A Collaborative Data Art Project

What is the Wool and Water Project?

Wool and Water is a data art project that blends fiber art with scientific data to create visual representations of changing water quality conditions in the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain Basin. In association with the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute has embarked on a collaborative fiber arts project supported by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership to showcase the legacy of protecting clean water in the Lake Champlain Basin and beyond. The physical collection was created by Michale Glennon, who serves as the Science Director for AWI. She has conducted ecological research in the Adirondack Park for more than two decades and has been knitting for almost four. 

The idea is to represent water-related information and trends using fiber art. Each piece incorporates a concept or a dataset and we invite you to explore them, in person or virtually. Many were improvised but based on existing patterns and tools readily available. The exhibit is traveling around the region and interested participants are creating their own pieces.