Sculptor Steve Tobin has installed 50 large-scale works across Tyler Arboretum near Media, turning the 650-acre grounds into the largest art exhibition the Delaware County institution has ever hosted.
The yearlong show, "Steve Tobin: In the Light," opened Oct. 16 and runs through October 2027. For Tobin, who grew up on the Main Line, the project carries personal weight.
"I grew up half an hour from here. I went to Haverford School," Tobin told WHYY. "This is a real homecoming for me."
The exhibition marks the first time Tobin has presented his work in his native Philadelphia region, according to the arboretum's exhibition page. The Quakertown-based artist is known internationally for "Trinity Root," a bronze cast of the roots of a sycamore tree that shielded St. Paul's Chapel at Trinity Church in Manhattan from debris when the World Trade Center towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.
The sculptures span 24 sites inside the arboretum's deer fence, which encloses about 100 acres of cultivated trees, pathways and historic structures. The pieces are made from steel, bronze and highly reflective stainless steel, shaped into root systems, twisting branches and cloud formations.
One work is a polished golden egg, set into the hollow of a fallen tulip poplar stump. Another, a 25-foot-tall steel piece inspired by root systems, towers over a meadow near a stand of conifers, visible from across the grounds.
Tobin, who studied theoretical mathematics, physics and materials science rather than art, said he shaped some steel pieces into forms of Japanese calligraphy so their shadows on the ground can be read on a bright day, WHYY reported.
Kathryn Ombam, Tyler's interim executive director, called "In the Light" the most ambitious art installation in the arboretum's 82-year history as an institution. She said the arboretum is in a strategic planning phase, seeking a permanent director, and the yearlong show will test what the site can support.
Ombam added that the changing seasons will reshape how visitors experience the sculptures, from fall foliage through winter snow to the summer tree canopy.
Chris Lauf, Tyler's director of education, said visitors come to be immersed in nature, and a well-placed sculpture can sharpen that experience.
No special exhibition ticket is required. The show is included with regular Tyler general admission: $18 for adults, $15 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for ages 3 to 17, and free for children 2 and under.
Members enter free.
"Steve Tobin: In the Light" is on view at Tyler Arboretum, 515 Painter Road, Media, through October 2027.
