“Vincent D. Feldman, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, has been photographing architecture and the urban landscape for three decades. In the early 1990s his photography came to concentrate on the conflicts and questions that often surround historic buildings in Philadelphia. Feldman’s photography helps uncover the stories attached to buildings, thus revealing the nature of the societies in which these structures were built—and then neglected.
Feldman received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2001. His work is held in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and in museums and private collections internationally. He is a Master Lecturer in photography at the University of the Arts.” – Vincent D. Feldmanwebsite
“The Photographic Society of Philadelphia is the oldest active photography society in the country. We have been looking at the world through the camera lens since 1860!”
“Since 1897, The Plastic Club has been devoted to the promotion and preservation of the visual (plastic) arts in Philadelphia. The busy gallery schedule offers several annual exhibitions for members and non-members, as well as invited artists in solo and group exhibitions. Members include well-known Philadelphia artists.”
The PHS Fall Festival on Saturday, September 20, at The Navy Yard will offer fantastic new attractions, including shopping at the popular Franklin Flea and toasting the start of autumn in the beer garden. Hosted by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and sponsored by Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, this family-friendly event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Navy Yard parade grounds on Broad Street, and is the perfect time to become a member of the region’s leading organization for building beauty and community through horticulture.
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society members and anyone who joins the PHS family at the festival will be entitled to discounts throughout the event, including free plants at the Plant Dividend tent. Additional member benefits include tickets to the 2015 PHS Philadelphia Flower Show, “Lights, Camera, Bloom.”
The beer garden will be open on Saturday, September 20, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will serve beer from Yards Brewing Company.
For the first time, the festival will include Franklin Flea, a curated, upscale collection of more than 50 vendors selling vintage furnishings, upcycled objects, handmade items, and gourmet food.
The PHS City Harvest Market will offer a wide variety of fresh produce from local gardens. Young ones will be kept busy at the PHS Kids Zone, a space filled with a variety of races, crafts, and activities to entertain and engage children.
The Fall Festival Marketplace will feature plants, tools, garden accessories, home décor, craft items and keepsakes from the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show. Visitors can also stop by the PHS Store for an assortment of exceptional plants and
products from PHS Meadowbrook Farm in Abington Township. Choose from a colorful selection of vegetables, flowers, and plants for fall.
Gardeners can show off their own prized produce in the Fall Festival’s harvest-time contests. They can compete in “Garden Giants,” a showcase for beautiful, large tomatoes, squash, and other veggies. Or they can create a stunning arrangement of seasonal flowers, vegetables, fruit, and herbs for the “Garden Bounty” contest. For information on entering these two contests, contact Betty Greene at 215.988.8826 or bgreene@pennhort.org. Judging for Garden Bounty will be at 11 a.m., and judging of Garden Giants will be at noon.
The PHS Fall Festival is made possible through the generosity of its sponsors: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Acme, Cape May Tourism, Gold Key Resorts, Green Mountain Energy, LeafFilter, Linvilla Orchards, Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing, New York Times, Power Home Remodeling, RainSoft, Renewal by Andersen, and Yards Brewing Company.
For more information on the PHS Fall Festival, visit www.phsonline.org.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1827, dedicated to creating beauty and building community through gardening, greening and learning. With more than 64,000 members nationwide, PHS offers programs and events for gardeners of all levels, and works with volunteers, organizations, agencies and businesses to create and maintain vibrant green spaces. Proceeds from the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show and donations from foundations, corporations, government and individuals support PHS programs, including Plant One Million and PHS City Harvest. For information, visit PHSonline.org.
Media Contacts: Alan Jaffe, 215.988.8833, (m) 267.968.0859, ajaffe@pennhort.org
LXG, The Producer’s Guild and The Community Education Center presents Second Friday Concert Series on Lancaster Avenue, 35th Street and Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia. Friday, Septembet 12th, 8:00 – 10:00pm, $10.00
“The LXG is a group of Philadelphia’s up and coming premiere jazz musicians. Each individual of the group has world renowned status playing all over America and covering five of the seven continents on earth. LXG plays a unique style of music consisting of originals and standards, deeply rooted in the tradition of Jazz with the flavor and relevance of today’s popular music of Hip-Hop, R&B and Neo-Soul. Is LXG the best band you’ve ever heard? I don’t know, quite possibly, guess you’ll just have to come, listen and find out for yourself.” – LXG
“The Producer’s Guild is a brainchild of Philadelphia natives Leo Gadson and Jerome Gethers. With the collective efforts of patrons of the arts, their mission is to ensure that the appreciation and enthusiasm for the rich cultural heritage of African American Arts continues to thrive in Philadelphia, especially Black Classical Music, commonly known as JAZZ.” – The Producer’s Guild
The Community Education Center is a nonprofit performing arts center and artists incubator space. The Center is known and respected by artists and audiences alike for its support of the local arts community and its presentations of outstanding dance and performance. The Center also offers the community opportunities to explore their creativity through classes in the performing arts as well as performance opportunities. – The Community Education Center
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You ART What You Eat, The Plastic Club, 247 South Camac Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107. Juried group art show September 7th through September 25th, artists reception and awards Sunday, September 7th, 2:00 – 5:00pm. New! Open Gallery Hours Sundays 12:00 – 5:00pm.
You ART What You Eat is a group art show, each artist has one entry, with works based (loosely) on the theme of food. Of course there are still life paintings and drawings, photographs and sculpture but there are Dada-ist twists like flying toast, lacquered mushed food, and a portrait titled, ‘Food for Thought’. Tasty!
“Social practice is a theory within psychology that seeks to determine the link between practice and context within social situations. Emphasized as a commitment to change, social practice occurs in two forms: activity and inquiry. Most often applied within the context of human development, social practice involves knowledge production and the theorization and analysis of both institutional and intervention practices.” – Wikipedia
An artist friend of mine asked, “You’re really into this ice bucket challenge thing. Aren’t you?” Yeah, I am. In June I learned that a friend from college was diagnosed with ALS. Jay Smith is young, smart, creative with a successful business and a beautiful family, the news was unbelievable and incredibly sad. Have you ever wept so hard tears literally shoot out of your eyes? The feeling of helplessness, the unfairness of the diagnosis, the mystery of what had happened was shocking, stultifying and confusing. There is no known cause for ALS and no treatment. Jay needed a miracle.
Then, something miraculous happened. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge became a social media phenomenon like nothing else before. Within a few weeks people all over the world became aware of this insidious disease through social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter with silly, wacky and funny videos of people dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads, donating money and challenging their friends to do the same. The modern miracle of the internet and social media has raised awareness and money to unprecedented levels not since Lou Gehrig, the baseball heart throb, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 1939.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is one of the biggest Social Practice art projects the world has ever known. And like other art movements there are enthusiastic early adopters and those who doubt the authenticity of the art form. Even when some of the greatest minds on the planet opt in to dump ice water on their heads and gasp, there are some who are annoyed by the pervasiveness of the project and choose to throw a wet blanket on the idea.
Imagine if you as an artist create an art project that is so successful, so pervasive, so entertaining and popular that critics will pounce on it with lies, fear and distrust from out of nowhere? The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is like the Jeff Koons of Social Practice art, either you love him and get it or you don’t. Either you delighted in the expressions of support or you doubted. I was kind of shocked when the signs of social media fatigue started to set in, the first complaint I noticed was a popular Philly DJ who’s voice reaches far and wide on the radio and internet. I tried to explain to him that dumping ice water on your head is a metaphor for living with the disease that literally takes your breath away. He decided to double down on his gripe and said he had already donated and was tired of the videos in his facebook newsfeed, with a smily face emogi 🙂
Facebook rage and rants, charity envy, misleading info-graphics, religious interference and science deniers have emerged from the social media troll layer like crazed zombies eating brains. From Pam Anderson placing the life of the poor little mice, worms and fruit flies used in efficacy testing over the lives of suffering humans to supposedly charitable institutions like churches spreading lies about stem cell research the disinformation being spread is stunningly ignorant. I can only imagine the rage in the minds of people trapped inside a non-responsive body while adrenaline surges though their brains listening to uninformed, narcissistic boneheads blabber and mouth off. I’m talking about you Bill Maher. But many ALS patients can’t speak for themselves and their advocates and caregivers don’t have time for this shit from the haters because they are too busy caring for their loved ones.
Now is a time when art, creativity, performance, science and technology have shined a light on what is hard to look at and not shy away. The ugly/beautiful Social Practice art movement called The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is challenging the people of our world to open their eyes to a very difficult sight to see. Some are wondering what the next gimmick, meme, trick, game or challenge will be? Maybe a cure for cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, autism, Alzheimer’s…? Through Social Practice art we can make real miracles happen in the real world. Suck it ALS!
Vincent D. Feldman, Dignity for the Devastated, Photographic Society of Philadelphia at The Plastic Club, 247 South Camac Street, Philadelphia, Tuesday, September 16th at 7:00pm, Guests are welcome.
