You are invited to the exhibition of "in-site," a study of the occurrence of superfund sites in the USA, at the Zoller Gallery in the Visual Arts Building on the PSU campus from April 15th to the 19th, 10 am to 5 pm daily.

The opening celebration is: Tuesday, April 16th, from 5-7 pm
The Public artist talk is: Wednesday, April 17th, from 12-2 pm

'in-site' is a unique research-based study that visualizes the occurrence of local, state, and federal Superfund sites. The artworks serve as reconsiderations of data through various mediums, resulting in artworks that portray ecosystem contamination.

This project used publicly available data as artistic material. Digital data was deconstructed, organized, remixed, and physically reconstructed to communicate a reconsideration of how information is shared. All data used to create in-site was collected from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund site database.

Thanks to this project’s research and communication with the EPA, the Old Wilmington Road Superfund site webpage was updated. It now includes a Contamination List that was previously absent from its Health and Environment subpage.

This project brings visibility to the 235 contaminants occurring at Superfund sites in the state of PA, a significant piece of information that would require a citizen to review 127 separate web pages on the EPA's website.

Each artwork serves as a vessel to reframe overwhelming and separated data to provide a focused and united view of the occurrence of Superfund sites. The research conducted to create this project has found that the volume of information and its representation can obfuscate data.

Data design should provide clarity, empower, and embolden citizens to take actionable steps to support the sustainability of ecosystems and the communities that reside within them.

Locally, we have an active NPL Superfund site in our backyard. The Center County Kepone site has a complex history of contamination and remediation. This year, the EPA will conduct a five-year review, and your feedback as the public will be crucial during this time.

Pennsylvania has 127 Superfund sites, of which 91 are on the National Priority list.

Nationally, in 2023, there were 1,892 Superfund sites proposed to, currently on, and deleted from Superfund's National Priorities List (NPL), as well as sites being addressed under the Superfund Alternative Approach (SAA). Currently, that listing has expanded to 1,901 sites.

Alexis Oltmer is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice is research-based. Oltmer makes work to recontextualize relationships between society and environment.

Through the use of research, documentation, and collection, Alexis visualizes stories of occurrence to provide visibility. Oltmer assigns meaning to work through medium material and iconography. Motivated by lived experience, Alexis meticulously studies systems and their unfolding phenomena.

As an artist living in the Anthropocene, Oltmer visualizes biotic and abiotic narratives. Alexis's work promotes questions rather than providing answers. The need for creation derives from Oltmers desire to foster contemplation of our connection to and responsibility for the ecosystems we inhabit, inviting a deeper reflection of the complex relationships that bind us to our planet.