Panel reviewing artists
Destination Frankford is a creative placemaking project supported by a grant from ArtPlace America, a collaboration of leading national and regional foundations, banks and federal agencies accelerating creative placemaking across the US.
Creative placemaking has been employed across the nation by public, private, and community partners to shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood around the arts, cultural activities, and the principles of walkable urbanism. Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired. Destination Frankford embodies these principles and welcomes artists to work collaboratively with the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and the Frankford community. Destination Frankford seeks to capitalize on Frankford’s industrial heritage and its growing arts and design community to create a distinctive, clear image of Frankford as a place for creative, entrepreneurial businesses.
100 artists responded to the Request for Qualifications by the November 1st deadline to participate in the competition to design and install the gateway sculpture. A review by a panel of experts winnowed the possible finalists down to 18. At a meeting on November 19th, with input from the Frankford Community, 5 finalists and 1 alternate were selected.
These finalists will now work on a design for the final competition. They will make a site visit to Womrath park on November 25th at 1PM where the public is invited to meet the artists. This is an opportunity to talk about Frankford with them and hopefully provide some input to the process. After the tour of Womrath park, the group will then move to the Globe Dye works for more discussion and light refreshments.
Their design proposals are due on January 25th and will be unveiled to at a public meeting in February. The installation is due to be completed in November 0f 2014.
