Exhibits & Events

Charting Presence: Wissahickon Trails Perry MeigsExhibition Dates: April 9 – June 1, 2026 Artist Reception: April 9, 5–6: 30 PM Artist Walkthrough: April 11, 5–6 PMLocation: LÄETE 8436 Germantown Ave Philadelphia, PA 19118LÄETE presents Charting Presence: Wissahickon Trails, an exhibition by artist Perry Meigs that explores memory, movement, and landscape through mapping-based abstraction.The exhibition brings together two bodies of work that map the artist’s lived experience of place: new paintings inspired by Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Valley and selections from Mapping Palo Alto, created after Meigs relocated to the Bay Area.The Wissahickon paintings emerge from a lifelong relationship with the trail system of Fairmount Park. Meigs began running through the park as a teenager and continues to return whenever she visits her hometown of Chestnut Hill. The landscape also holds deep family significance: her grandfather served as president of the Friends of the Wissahickon, and multiple generations of her family have been recognized for their stewardship of the park.

Working on raw linen and canvas, Meigs traces the routes she travels between family homes and the park, transferring these streets onto the surface as black linear paths. Within these mapped structures, she layers photographs, park materials, and color fields drawn from vivid moments of observation, such as seasonal shifts in foliage, and remembered encounters along the trails.

Presented alongside these paintings are works from Mapping Silicon Valley, which chart the artist’s daily movements using a similar process of mapping, observation, and color memory drawn from the surrounding environment.

Together, the works transform movement through landscape into a visual record of presence, memory, and return.A portion of proceeds from artwork sales will be donated to the Friends of the Wissahickon to support the park’s ongoing care and stewardship.

About the Artist:

Perry Meigs is a Palo Alto–based artist whose work explores mapping as a way to track movement, memory, and lived experience through landscape. Working across drawing, painting, collage, and stitched media, she transforms maps, travel routes, and observations of place into layered visual records of presence and passage. Meigs earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited nationally, and she has attended residencies at Skowhegan, the Cubberley Artist Studio Program, and The Experimental Television Center.

About the Location:

LÄETE (pronounced LAYT), opened in 2023 by Jennifer Spaeth, reflects her love of beautiful clothing, the arts, and meaningful connection. An accomplished landscape painter and trained as an art therapist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Spaeth brings a lifetime of retail experience to creating a space that feels both personal and welcoming.

For more information:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shoplaete/

Website: https://shoplaete.com

‍Friends of the Wissahickon: https://fow.org/visit-the-park/information/