Satellite Reefs
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 citizens of various cities and countries construct their own local reefs. As of early 2020, more than 40 Satellite Reefs have been made worldwide, including in Chicago, New York, London, Melbourne, Santa Cruz (California), Scottsdale (Arizona), Madison (Wisconsin), England, Ireland, Latvia, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. More than 10,000 people – mostly women – have contributed to this ever-growing woolen archipelago. The first Satellite Reef was constructed in 2007 by the citizens of Chicago, hosted by the Jane Addams Hull House Museum and the Chicago Humanities Festival. Below is a chronological list of all Satellite Reefs, along with their hosting institutions.
If your organization would like to start a Satellite Reef, please send us a formal inquiry. We welcome queries from different types of institutions at different scales. Some reefs are gigantic, others are small and intimate. Some involve a few dozen participants, others have engaged nearly a thousand people. At the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, more than 900 people contributed models 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, plus people in the Netherlands, participated in the project. Far-flung contributors send in their models by post. Satellite Reefs have been made at museums, galleries, civic centers, universities, colleges, libraries, and schools. The project has also been enacted in a women’s prison and in a girl’s juvenile detention center.
