Philadelphia, PA November 2017 – For the past seven years, the Woodmere Art Museum has drawn capacity crowds on the day that the Straw Maze appears, overnight, on the grounds in front of the historic building.
Designed each year by Converse Winkler’s Peter Brown and fellow architect Barbara Sprague, the maze is composed of 84 bales of straw, weighing upwards of 800 pounds each. The straw comes from Hougar Farms in Coatesville on two flat-bed trucks and is removed one bale at a time via skid loader. The installation is the culmination of weeks of planning and preparation.
“For me the opening night is the most exciting, it’s when I can finally let go, it is not mine anymore…” says Peter, There is no right or wrong here, so it’s fun to see the kids interact with it, to see if our ideas hold water.” Architecture is fun but the process takes so long, this is like fast food, practically instant gratification.”
Joe Pompilii, head of guest services for Woodmere, says that the Straw Maze is a boon for family programming. “We can see two- or three-hundred kids on a sunny day. The most delightful thing is that even pre-teens and parents have a blast and no one is looking at a phone.”
When the maze completes its six-week run on Halloween, the straw is delivered to farms in Kennett Square for mushroom mulch and animal bedding, completing a cost-effective cycle of sustainability. The maze opens after Labor Day each year and closes at the end of October. For now, Peter and Barbara are plotting next year’s design.