Category Archives: Public Art

Art events, installations and creations by Philadelphia area artists in public spaces

handmade by the homeless – Kathryn Pannepacker & Leslie Sudock Art Street Textile Studio, Art on South Street

Shag Tapestries, $100,00 @ Arts Street Textile Studio: handmade by the homeless, Art on South Street initiative master-minded by visionary artist Isaiah Zagar of the Magic Garden. Fantastic galleries have opened up along South Street including the Art Street Textile Studio, an ongoing weaving project begun in a homeless shelter where people were taught to weave on a loom as well as crochet, knit, sew and embroider; the administrators found the activity therapeutic and many of the weavers have followed the program even after the shelter project was complete. Now on South Street the team has a beautiful storefront where people can come in and see the looms and the fabulous results.

Arts Street Textile Studio: handmade by the homeless, 6th & South Streets, Philly. Hours of operation are Wednesday through Sunday from 3:00 to 8:00PM. For more information please contact: Kathryn Pannepacker via email: kpannepacker@gmail.com or phone 215.769.1016. Leslie Sudock via email: la.sudock@verizon.net or phone 215.735.3978.

This guy isn’t homeless but he was being instructed by Robert,”the only homeless guy left in the group.” Sparkles, one of the artists, was out front encouraging people into the packed gallery on the hot Autumn night to see the cool looms and good folks. When DoN got home from the event, the beautiful hand-loomed scarf he bought for only $20.00 is signed,”Robert.”

Even when the project was homeless itself, for a while they were a living installation in the Free Library, this simple loom was placed near food distribution points for homeless people and weavers would continue making the fabric, the device was never damaged by vandals, simply chained to a bike rack.

Hand loomed winter scarves @ Arts Street Textile Studio: handmade by the homeless. Hours of operation are Wednesday through Sunday from 3:00 to 8:00PM. For more information please contact: Kathryn Pannepacker via email: kpannepacker@gmail.com or phone 215.769.1016. Leslie Sudock via email: la.sudock@verizon.net or phone 215.735.3978.

Through My Window @ Perkins Center for the Arts

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Lilliana Didovic, Boat House Row, mixed media with crystals @ The Perkins Center for the Arts presents Through My Window, a Da Vinci Art Alliance Event. Lilliana is one of the artists who painted the Philly Phanatics which were waving to us from all over the city last summer – Lilliana Didovic & writer Ronnie Norpel‘s piece sold at a charity auction for a bundle, Congratulations!

Lilliana’s painting with crystals representing the iconic lights outlining the architecture of the houses glitters in the huge, open gallery at the The Perkins Center for the Arts in Collingswood, NJ. Didovic’s window on the world finds glamor and glitz among the darkness of the night and the intimidating rushing river; the crystals as LEDs is genius, both forms will send us light far longer than the old incandescent bulbs stretched across the boat houses. DoN misses the old lights, though, with the hidden narrative of guys climbing high ladders and walking along rooftops to replace light bulbs but the new lights are totally groovy.

Through My Window @ Perkins Center for the Arts. DoN is honored to have his drawing featured in the catalog for this exciting art venture, the adjunct to the more famous Moorestown art center, is riding the renaissance wave of artistic and cultured lifestyle that is washing down Haddon Avenue with plush restaurants and historic architecture.

Executive Director, Alan Willoughby told DoN that the town has been very supportive offering the building to be renovated into an art space with workshops, galleries and vitality. As the center goes through it’s first round of renovation, Willoughby sees a positive potential for growth in a small town with a lot of character. Watch for a review in this week’s Philadelphia Inquirer, Da Vinci Art Alliance board members Dave Foss & Alden Cole were interviewed about their perspective on this unique exhibition.

Perkins Center for the Arts, Collingswood, NJ.

Michael DiPrinzio, mixed media @ Perkins Center for the Arts, Through My Window, A Da Vinci Art Alliance traveling exhibition through November 11th, 2010 with a special event today called Creating the Poem- 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Hurry up, get over there!

Photos by DoN.

Inside/Outside, Art by Prison Inmates & Ex-offenders – Art in City Hall

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Morning Sun, Darrel Van Mastrigt, acrylic on canvas, courtesy of SCI Graterford.

Inside/Outside @ Art in City Hall is a juried exhibition of art created by Philadelphia prisoners and ex-offenders in cooperation with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Jurors Ona Kalstein and Michele Marcuse traveled to Graterford Prison several times to evaluate and select art created within the high walls of the prison system. DoN was immediately drawn to the immediacy and sense of detail many of the pieces incorporated as if every little bit of the world around us is so important it must be memorialized. The painting above is a typical street scene to any Philadelphian, just close your eyes and think about how much we ignore on your own street and what you would remember if you were not allowed to go home.

Mayor Michael Nutter explained how over the years prisoners have gifted him with portraits as thanks for visiting the prisons on New Years Day each year. After the collection grew the Mayor suggested the Art in City Hall team take on the challenge of displaying the work resulting in an emotional, beautiful, historic and unique exhibition of art.

Bugs, Thomas Schilk, melted plastic spoons. Using found objects, prison artists must glean materials from their environment, Schilk’s Bugs are fun, fantastic and subtle with realism and wit.

E. Sherman Hayman, Inside/Outside, Art by Prison Inmates & Ex-offenders @ Art in City Hall.

Glamorous guns depict the emotional reliance on weapons and the signification of the silhouettes is contemporary and on trend with embellished frames. Showing images of guns in the show is a display of courage by the Art in City Hall team; guns are glamorized in pop & rap culture from Lady Gaga & Beyonce’s Video Phone music video to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal to movies, TV and games – guns are sexy and scary. By not editing content, the show offers a glimpse into the psyche of those attracted to weapons and violence.

A simple thing like watching a dog play at the beach is a pleasure lost when you’re incarcerated. DoN can’t imagine being kept away from watching KaTy the ArT DoG & Lady Doofus play in the water. DoN believes this painting is by Bernardo Ruiz, the label slipped – if incorrect, please comment.

J. Johndi Harrell, Young Weezy, anyone who knows rapper Lil Wayne knows this portrait is superb with a hard look at a pop culture hero who’s spent time in jail yet is super-successful in the entertainment world creating a conundrum for young people who worship pop heroes.

Thanks so much to Tu Huynh, Art in City Hall Program Manager, the art shows in City Hall put a spotlight on the creative talent in Philly both Inside & Outside. Kudos to Jane Golden and The Mural Arts Program for their outreach into the Philadelphia prison system and Mayor Nutter for connecting the dots in a way that helps prisoners and ex-offenders as well as the citizenry at large. The show is free through October 29th, 2010 – go see some great art today.