The Tang Museum at Skidmore College will launch the “500 Dams” exhibition on September 26, 2026, in Anaya Springs on the college’s Saratoga Springs campus. The show documents a twenty‑year project that built a network of stone dams across local grasslands, aiming to restore soil moisture and biodiversity.
Over the past two decades, volunteers and researchers placed five hundred small stone barriers in the rolling prairie surrounding the campus. Each dam redirects rainwater, slows runoff, and encourages native grasses to take root. Photographs, maps, and field notes assembled for the exhibition illustrate how the physical structures have altered the landscape, creating pockets of greener vegetation and supporting pollinators.
Curators present the work as a convergence of artistic practice, ecological science, and what the museum describes as “radical care.” By framing the dams as both functional infrastructure and visual objects, the exhibit invites viewers to consider how modest interventions can reshape ecosystems. The display includes large‑scale prints of the dam sites, video loops of seasonal changes, and interactive models that let visitors explore water flow across the terrain.
The opening coincides with growing interest in nature‑based solutions across the region. Organizers hope the exhibition will inspire other institutions to experiment with low‑tech landscape engineering as a complement to conventional conservation. The Tang Museum’s “500 Dams” therefore serves as both a retrospective of a long‑term environmental effort and a call for continued experimentation in the stewardship of New York’s grasslands.
School groups and local residents are invited to attend guided tours that explain the hydrological principles behind each dam and the artistic decisions that shape their presentation. Educational panels will also discuss how similar low‑impact techniques are being applied in other parts of the state.