Stephanie Vance is an artist and educator born in Southwest Michigan and currently based in Philadelphia. She received her BFA from Albion College in 2011, and her MFA from Visual Studies Workshop in 2015. As an artist, Vance explores notions of memory, biography, and map-making through various strategies in alternative photographic processes, installation design, fibers, and new media tools. As an educator, she has taught fabric works, photography, and exhibition practices since 2008 at various institutions including Albion College, International Center for Photography, SUNY Brockport, NY, Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. Stephanie Vance is currently an artist-in-residence in The Print Center's Artists-in-Schools program. Vance’s broad range of experience in education, collections management, exhibition design, and studio production has also led her to consult and assist on projects for many internationally known artists and museum professionals.

I will be working on a community-based collaborative fiber arts project that explores our relationship to, and usage of, the Schuylkill River. We will be using a combination of wet and dry felting techniques and water from the Schuylkill River to create a large felted map of the Philadelphia water systems. Wet felting is an accessible and easy-to-learn technique, which makes it a great community art medium. People from ages 5 to 85 can participate in the making of this project. The resulting map will be approximately 5 x 6 feet, and will be created collaboratively by anyone willing to participate. My interest in this topic stems from my roots in Southwest Michigan, where I grew up with a great fondness for water. My parents owned a marina, and I swam in the lake every day. The lake was recreational, therapeutic, and our livelihood. Later, when I moved to New York City, I quickly realized people’s relationship with the Hudson River was much different. The Hudson was a business highway with a rapid current and a reputation for being polluted. No wonder people didn’t find it accessible. Here in Philadelphia, I learned that organizations like Fairmont Water Works are tackling this issue head-on. The organization believes that the health of our watershed is inextricably linked to informed and engaged citizens. Through grant support, the organization is exploring the ways we currently engage with the Schuylkill River; they envision more public access and environmental stewardship of this great shared resource. Having a casual and simple conversation about the water surrounding us in Philadelphia, and using a fun and immersive artistic activity to invite participation in this conversation, can help us understand our intentions for the watershed and its future.