very large sculpture of a crochet coral island

Baden Baden Satellite Reef, with over 40,000 coral pieces, at Museum Frieder Burda, Germany 2022.

Photo courtesy Museum Frieder Burda, Nickolay Kazakov

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 citizens of various cities and countries to create local “Satellite Reefs”. As of early 2023, 50 Satellite Reefs have been made including in Chicago, New York, London, Melbourne, Ireland, Latvia, Finland, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. More than 20,000 people (mostly women) have contributed to this ever-growing woolen archipelago. At the end of this page is a chronological list of all Satellite Reefs and their host institutions.

Reefs in the time of COVID

With the world still reeling from the pandemic, several Satellite Reefs were completed in 2022. The Baden Baden Satellite Reef in Germany, the largest-ever, was exhibited at Museum Frieder Burda as part of a museum-wide retrospective of the Crochet Reef project. Satellite Reefs were also presented at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto; the Tang Teaching Museum in Saratoga Springs, NY, as part of the exhibition Radical Fiber: Threads Connecting Art and Science; and at the North Carolina Museum of Art, as a component of Fault Lines, which showcased artists’ response to climate change. In 2023, two new reefs are underway: the Austrian Satellite Reef at the Schlossmuseum Linz, and the Pittsburgh Satellite Reef at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Local Satellite Reefs

If your organization would like to start a Satellite Reef, please send us an inquiry. Some reefs are gigantic, others small and intimate. Some involve a few dozen 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, for which 4,000+ people throughout the German-speaking world contributed over 40,000 corals.

Crochet Coral Reef at Tang Museum screen full of rainbow colored crochet corals Person standing in a giant room of crocheted coral Three women standing among reef scultures in an overhead shot very large sculpture of crochet coral island Reef sculptures in gallery Crochet coral reef installed at Oodi Library in Helsinki Smiling woman in front of colorful reef sculptures large island of crochet corals with wall of names in background Large white Crochet Coral island Crochet Coral Reef at Tang Museum with reflections in glass A group of women crocheting Person among reef sculpture in overhead shot

Satellite Reefs have been made at art galleries and museum, science centers, universities, colleges, civic centers, and schools. The project has also been done in an Indiana women’s prison, and at a girl’s juvenile detention center in Denver. Each new site adds further layers of social complexity, extending an experience of art making to citizens in diverse communities and settings.

See links here for a dive into a few select reefs, followed by a list of all Satellite Reefs in chronological order.

Chronological List Of Satellite Reefs

2023 – Currently Under Construction

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)
Reef sculptures in gallery

Irish Satellite Reef at Science Gallery, Dublin.

Photo © Institute For Figuring.

Lehigh Satellite Reef (detail).

Photo by Mark Wonslider for Lehigh University Art Galleries.
Group portrait of women

Crochet reefers at the Indiana State Women’s Correctional Facility, with their contributions to the Indianapolis Satellite Reef.

Photo courtesy Indiana State Museum.