Be a part of more Arts in the Park! Friends of Glen Providence Park and Media Arts Council are delighted to announce a new mural for the main entrance to Glen Providence Park in Media, PA. The mural will be in six panels, on the cemented windows and doors of the overlook at the State Street entrance. The four windows will depict the four seasons in the glen with native woodland plants, while the two doors will depict live music… in view of concerts this summer at the park’s WPA stage!

Help us reach our goal of $2,700 to cover the cost of this art installation that will brighten and transform the main entrance – donate to our Glen Providence Mural GoFundMe!

Thank you for your support! 

The mural designer is Laurie Kirkpatrick Doran.  She will paint the mural with Shannan McConnell, whose grandfather helped build the main entrance in 1935 as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)! They are both Media Arts Council Gallery Artists. The funds will cover the cost of the materials and payments to the artists for design and implementation. 

The mural is a joint project of Friends of Glen Providence Park and Media Arts Council. It’s an exciting year for the project – it’s the Friends’ 10th anniversary and MAC’s 15th anniversary! The mural will be painted in June, in time for the Friends’ first Arts in the Park concert this summer on June 26. 

We are grateful to Delaware County Parks and Recreation for making this project possible, including power washing the cement to prepare it for painting.

Paintings by Laurie Kirkpatrick Doran. Those shown are a portion of a musician panel for one of the two doors, and the Spring panel for one of the four windows.

We held two cleanups this spring in Glen Providence Park as part of our 2016 monthly events. First, it was a cold (but beautiful) morning for our Early Spring Cleanup on March 5! This early spring cleanup enables us to see and access trash that has blown into the woods, before the vegetation obscures it – our yield this year was 6 bags.

We had a great turnout, and resulting haul, from the 19th Annual CRC Streams Cleanup on April 30! There were at least 22 adults and 11 kids clearing trash and invasive plants from the trails and stream, in addition to weeding and mulching our streamside buffer plantings. Our yield was 9 bags of trash, 8 bags of weeds and invasives, and assorted items including lumber, a railing, a cooler, a truck brake drum, cables, wires, and a vintage milk crate!

New this year, the CRC Cleanup was followed by nature-inspired art by the stage – a free art project run by Art For Everyone. Kids and adults used paint and yarn to transform sticks and rocks into art – some of the whimsical creations were left to adorn the park. It was a lovely addition to the event! 

Thank you to all of our fantastic volunteers, to Seven Stones Cafe for donating carafes of delicious coffee, to Art For Everyone for the wonderful art project, and to CRC Watersheds for coordinating its 19th Annual Streams Cleanup, removing a cumulative 600,000 pounds of trash from the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek watersheds!

Click on any photo for a closer look! Photos by Shannon Davidson, Holly Hoffmann, and Marcia Tate. 

Friends of Glen Providence Park is proud to be helping the Chester-Ridley-Crum Watersheds Association (CRC) with their 19th Annual Streams Cleanup! This year CRC volunteers will remove trash at more than 30 sites along Chester, Ridley and Crum Creeks and their tributaries, including Broomall’s Run in Glen Providence Park.

19th Annual CRC Streams Cleanup Day

Saturday, April 30
9:00-11:30am
Glen Providence Park – main entrance
* Lunch & t-shirts provided for registered volunteers – more information below *

The Annual Streams Cleanup is just one of many activities that CRC undertakes to further its mission “To protect, conserve, and restore the natural resources of the Chester, Ridley, and Crum Creek watersheds.” This is our fifth year coordinating the CRC Streams Cleanup for Glen Providence Park.

2016 Stream Cleanup information:

• ** Please register for the cleanup through the CRC website to get a free participant t-shirt and picnic lunch, and so that CRC can plan for supply quantities. **
• Meet at the Glen Providence Park main entrance on West State Street in Media at 9:00 am.
• Rain or shine.
• Gloves and bags will be provided.
• We recommend long pants and long sleeves to protect against poison ivy and ticks.
• If you’d like to tackle trash along the streambank, wear water shoes, boots, or old shoes!
• In addition to stream cleanup, we may have other projects for you to choose from – such as clearing invasive plants along the trails.

Bonus for volunteers of all ages: Nature-Inspired Art!

11:00-11:30
Before the cleanup finishes at Glen Providence Park, volunteers can have an additional reward – an art project under the majestic oak tree by the stage! Use yarn and acrylic (permanent) paint to transform sticks and rocks into art. Once dry, the art will be placed around the Park to add to its beauty.  Come back throughout spring and summer to see how many you can find on your explorations! Free and open to all ages. Led by Art For Everyone & Media Arts Council.

The CRC lunch will be held at:

Ridley Creek State Park
Pavilion 8
11:30 am

We hope to see you April 30!

Since the park’s beginning, school classes have visited the park to study its plants and wildlife.

That tradition continues today- Media Providence Friends School already held a science class in the park this year!  They wrote an article about how their Elementary and Middle School students visit the park throughout the year to learn about science, art, environmental studies, and even Spanish! 

Media Elementary School studies in the park have included conducting a food web analysis of a pond ecosystem.

We even met a college student majoring in Environmental Studies who spent this summer studying the ecology of the park!

10/6/2011 update:

We learned that Penncrest High School conducts ongoing ecology studies at the park.  As we learn of more schools, we will list them here.  If you know of other schools involved with the park that are not yet listed, please let us know!