In addition to the “Core Collection” of reefs constructed by Christine and Margaret Wertheim, the Crochet Coral Reef project encompasses a community program in which the Wertheim’s work with people in various cities and countries to create local “Satellite Reefs.” As of early 2025, 52 Satellite Reefs have been made around the world, including in Chicago, New York, London, Melbourne, Ireland, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Austria and the UAE. Over 30,000 citizen-crafters have contributed to this ever-growing woolen archipelago. At the end of this page is a list of all Satellite Reefs and their host institutions.
The most recent Satellite Reefs have been the Baden Baden Satellite Reef hosted by Museum Frieder Burda (Germany, 2022), the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef hosted by Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, 2023), and the Austrian Satellite Reef hosted by Schlossmuseum Linz (Austria, 2023/24). A new Satellite Reef will begin in mid-2025 at Williams College (NY state).
Some reefs are gigantic, others small and intimate. Some involve a few hundred participants, others engage thousands. The first Satellite Reef, in 2007, was in Chicago, hosted by the Jane Addams Hull House Museum and the Chicago Humanities Festival. At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, 900+ people contributed from all 50 US states and a dozen other countries. At the Museum Kunst der Westküste on the island of Fohr off the coast of Germany, over 700 citizens across Germany and Denmark participated. Far-flung contributors send in their models by post. In Dublin, a reef was hosted by the Science Gallery at Trinity College, Ireland’s foremost academic institution, while in Melbourne, the project was enacted at the Burranja Cultural Center, which serves women subject to domestic violence. In the UAE, the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute hosted a reef constructed around traditional Emirati fishing baskets, and at the Hayward Gallery in London, UK crafters fabricated their reef around a series of giant plaster ‘reef balls’ emulating the concrete structures scientists build to encourage growth at sites of living reef destruction. The largest reef to date is the Baden-Baden Satellite Reef, hosted by Museum Frieder Burda, to which 4,000 people throughout the German-speaking world contributed over 40,000 corals.
If your organization would like to create a Satellite Reef, please send us an inquiry.
Satellite Reefs have been made at art galleries, museums, science centers, universities, colleges, civic centers, and schools. The project has been done in an Indiana women’s prison and at a girl’s juvenile detention center. Each site adds further layers of social complexity, extending an experience of art making to citizens in diverse communities and settings.
Following is a list of all Satellite Reefs, then links to a deep-dive into a few select Reefs
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Chronological List Of Satellite Reefs
2025 – Currently On Show
2023/2024
2021/2022
2021
2020/2021
2019
- Lehigh Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Lehigh University Art Galleries (Bethlehem, PA)
2018
- Eindhoven Satellite Reef – Hosted by Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
- West Valley College Satellite Reef – Hosted by West Valley College (Saratoga CA.)
2016
- UC Santa Cuz Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Institute of the Arts and Sciences, UCSC (Santa Cruz, CA)
- UW La Crosse School Reef – Hosted by University of Wisconsin, La Crosse (WI)
- Del Rio Satellite Reef – Hosted by Del Rio Council for the Arts (Del Rio, TX)
2015
- San Antonio Satellite Reef – Hosted by Southwest School of Art (San Antonio, TX)
- Minneapolis Satellite Reef – Hosted by Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minnesota)
- St. Michael’s Collegiate School Reef – Hosted by St.Michaels Collegiate School (Hobart, Australia)
2014
- Föhr at Deustches Museum Satellite Reef – Created by Fohr Satellite Reef crafters at the Museum Kunst de Westkust, for the exhibition After the Anthropocene at the Deutsches Museum (Munich, Germany)
- Zagreb Satellite Reef – Hosted vy Ocsana (Zagreb, Croatia)
- Sunshine Coast Satellite Reef – Hosted by Caloundra Regional Gallery (Queensland, Australia)
- Methodist Ladies’ College School Reef – Hosted by Methodist Ladies College (Melbourne, Australia)
2013
- Manchester Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Manchester Museum (Manchester, UK)
- Baltimore Satellite Reef – Hosted by Gallery CA and Neighborhood Fiber Co. (Baltimore, PA)
- Denver Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Denver Art Museum (Denver, CO)
- NYU Abu Dhabi Satellite Reef – Hosted by the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute (Abu Dhabi, UAE)
2012
- Föhr Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Museum Kunst der Westküste (Fohr, Germany)
- St. Petersburg FL. Satellite Reef – Hosted by Florida Craftsman (St. Petersburg, FL)
- Roanoke Valley Satellite Reef – Hosted by Roanoke College (Virginia)
2011
- Melbourne Satellite Reef – Hosted by Tracy Hallyar for the Burrinja Community Center, (Melbourne, Australia)
- Asheville Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design (Asheville, North Carolina)
- Lake Bonneville Satellite Reef – Hosted by Brolly Arts (Utah)
- Pennington School Reef – Hosted by the Pennington School (NY)
- Maine Satellite Reef – Hosted by The West Oxford Agricultural Society (Maine)
- Roanoke Valley Satellite Reef – Hosted by Roanoke College (Virginia)
- Vassar College Reef – Hosted by Vassar College (NY)
- RiAus Adelaide Satellite Reef – Hosted by Royal Institution of Australia (Adelaide, Australia)
2010
- Irish Satellite Reef – Hosted by Science Gallery at Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland)
- Cape Town Satellite Reef – Hosted by Woodstock Art Center (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Indianapolis Satellite Reef – Hosted by Indiana State Museum (Indianapolis, IN)
- Gainesville, Florida Satellite Reef – Hosted by University of Florida Library (Gainesville, FL)
- Smithsonian Community Reef – Hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.)
2009
- Scottsdale Satellite Reef – Hosted by Scottsdale Public Art (Scottsdale, AZ)
- Scarsdale Middle School Reef – Hosted by Scarsdale Middle School (NY)
- Sydney Satellite Reef – Hosted by In Stitches art collective (Sydney, Australia)
- Fukuoka Satellite Reef – Hosted by Museum Lab (Fukuoka, Japan)
- Latvian Satellite Reef and Latvian Schools Reef – Hosted by Gallerie Consentio (Riga, Latvia)
- Albany Satellite Reef – Western Australia – Hosted by MIX Artists collective (Albany, Australia)
2008
- New York Satellite Reef – Hosted by the New York Institute of the Humanities, New York Crochet Guild, and Harlem Knitting Circle. (NYC, NY)
- UK Satellite Reef – Hosted by the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Center and the UK Crafts Council (London,UK)
- Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School Reef – Hosted by Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School (San Jose, CA)
2007
- Chicago Satellite Reef – Hosted by Jane Addams Hull-House Museum and the Chicago Humanities Festival (Chicago,IL)
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See links below for a deep-dive into a few select Satellite Reefs.
