Starting a 
Satellite Reef

Satellite Reef – Introduction to the Program

If your institution would like to host a Satellite Reef, please read this page and submit an Inquiry. We require all institutions to sign a Partnership Agreement and pay a Programming Rights fee before you begin. 

As of early 2025, 52 Satellite Reefs  have been made around the world – in New York, London, Melbourne, Finland, Ireland, Germany, Austria, the UAE, and many other places. More than 30,000 citizen-crafters have contributed corals, making this one of the largest community-art projects in the world.

Creating a Satellite Reef means your institution gets official inclusion in the Crochet Coral Reef community and affiliated media. A Satellite Reef is usually conducted over 6-12 months, plus an exhibition of the finished Reef. We only partner with institutions, and do not do Satellite Reefs with individual artists or artist collectives. We do not give permission to any organization to do this project without first signing an official  agreement.

Partnership Agreement and Programming Fee

A Satellite Reef begins with a host institution – usually a museum, gallery, college or university. The Institute For Figuring (IFF) determines a programming fee based on geographical scope of the project. Host institutions are required to sign a Partnership Agreement before you begin. The project is truly grassroots and tends to be exponential, so the longer you go, the bigger your Reef will become. The host institution must provide dedicated personnel to run the local project.

IFF Support

The IFF has worked with many different types of venues and we advise on all aspects of the project from community planning to final exhibition design. We also provide a beautiful How-To Crochet Hyperbolic Coral brochure, plus wall texts describing the mathematics, environmental impact, global warming, and community art practice. Official Satellite Reefs are acknowledged on our website and related materials, including in our books. The contextualization of your Satellite Reef within the larger Crochet Coral Reef community is paramount to its strength.

To Get Started

Please send an email with the following information:

  • A brief introduction to your institution and proposed timeframe for your Satellite Reef.
  • Name of venue where your finished Reef will be exhibited.
  • Name, position, and contact for person making the inquiry

Send email to: mail@theiff.org