Join Friends of the Wissahickon and the iconic Philadelphia artist behind the Wissahickon’s own Fingerspan Bridge, Jody Pinto, to close FOW’s spring Valley Talk series. If you’ve walked along the Orange Trail south of Livezey Dam, you’ve been transported by the wonder of form and function of Fingerspan, a landmark structure in the park since 1987. Discover its inspiration, design, and the passionate community members who collaborated to build and install this steel bridge.

Jody Pinto lives and works in New York City, but she was born into a family of Philadelphia artists. After receiving a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art, she studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts (PAFA), where she was a critic in its graduate program, started the first visiting artist program to bring contemporary artists to speak at the school, and taught for 40 years. In 1983, Jody was among the recipients of the Thomas Hazlett Memorial Awards for Excellence in the Arts in Pennsylvania. In the years since Fingerspan’s installation in 1987, Jody has made public works in Japan, Israel, and across the United States. Her work is represented in many collections, including PAFA, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Locks Gallery, Woodmere, the Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the National Gallery of Art. Today, Jody, 83, is working on an upcoming museum show. She recently completed a video archive project with the Smithsonian.

This lecture is generously sponsored by Doug Schaller and David Barquist.

Register to attend in person at the Valley Green Inn

Register to attend virtually on Zoom