Gravy Studio and High Pastures Present: ‘Blues of the Mountain Hills’
at Cherry Street Pier Gallery
Work by Yannick Lowery and Emily Carris-Duncan
Oct. 2 – Nov. 1 / Opening Reception: Friday, October 2nd, 6-8pm
Workshop Dates:
Saturday, August 8th with Yannick Lowery at High Pastures in Vermont
Saturday, September 12th with Emily Carris Duncan at Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia
Gravy Studio is launching a photography artist exchange that fosters creative connections between photographers in Vermont and Philadelphia. The inaugural program will bring artists together through cyanotype and anthotype workshops held at High Pastures in Vermont during the summer of 2026 and at Philadelphia’s Cherry Street Pier as part of the 20/20 Photo Festival in September 2026. Artwork created through these collaborative workshops will be presented in an exhibition at Cherry Street Pier during the Collective Futures Festival in October 2026.
Gravy is partnering with former Fishtown gallery owner and artist Emily Carris-Duncan, who currently runs High Pastures Studio and Retreat in Vermont with her partner and musician Corey Carris Duncan. High Pastures is an artist retreat and cultural conservancy offering respite, collaboration, and inclusive space for artistic exploration in Whitingham, Vermont, supporting the work of creatives, particularly artists of color and those in the LGBTQ+ community. For Gravy, maintaining relationships with artists we have collaborated with over the years—even as they pursue new opportunities elsewhere—is an important way of strengthening creative networks and sharing the vitality, creativity, and opportunities of Philadelphia’s arts community.
Visiting artist Yannick Lowery will be hosting his ongoing “Blue of…” workshop series, which explores historic narratives of site-specific locations. Lowery’s practice has focused on unearthing histories of communities and preserving the fleeting nature of memory that these spaces hold. His workshop at High Pastures, “Blues of Mountain Hills,” will guide participants in using cyanotypes to explore the history of the drowned town beneath Lake Whitingham. Participants will work with archival imagery to develop their own speculative prints.
Returning to Philadelphia, Emily Carris-Duncan will help participants explore the photographic possibilities of plants in this hands-on anthotype workshop. Using light-sensitive pigments extracted from flowers, fruits, and vegetables, participants will create unique photographic prints powered only by sunlight. Drawing from her interdisciplinary practice in natural dyeing and textiles, Carris-Duncan approaches botanical materials as vessels of history, memory, and connection. Reflecting on her work, she writes, “Fiber arts in general and working with quilts specifically has been a way to deepen my relationship to Black history in America and therefore to myself… from dyeing fabric to designing and stitching, the work feels protective and ancestral.”
Photo by Ellen Mitchell from the 20/20 Photo Festival