Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
This Saturday, September 19th from Noon to 3 PM, the Friends of Overington Park will present their chalk art contest. Kids from 2 to 18 are welcome to particiate. Prizes will be awarded, refreshments will be served. This is an annual event and a great time for the family.
Pope Up
Despite the impending descent of Pope Francis on Philadelphia (you may have heard about it),Pope Up is somehow the only papal entry in this year’s Fringe Festival. A medley of artists across various mediums will display their vision of his visit. Deanna McLaughlin addresses the commercial side of the event in creating the Pope Tote, Pope-pourri, Pope Soap, etc. Sculptor Joan Menapace’s “Tend Your Flock” is concerned with the lack of attention given to transgender Catholics. Clifford Bailey’s church steeple, made with rebar, represents lost churches that were once proud symbols of their communities. Several artists use a feminist lens to examine the Catholic Church through sculpture, painting, even a “Pope Binder.” Sept. 5-6, 12-13, 19, free, Globe Dye Works, 4500 Worth St. —SJ Punderson
Source – Philadelphia CityPaper: Fringe Picks!
Syiedah and Tim Walker came to Frankford in 2013 and opened a day care center at 4454 Frankford Avenue. You probably have seen the big purple sign “All Star Kids Learning Factory”. The couple had careers before day care but they saw the opportunity to build something of their own in this community. Even though they live in West Oak Lane, they jumped right in to Frankford.
Syiedah and Tim Walker
In the competitive day care environment of Frankford, the business has been successful. The Walkers strive for a family atmosphere and treat everyone, children and parents of this multi-cultural community, with respect.
The building that houses the day care was known to generations of Frankford residents as Schwarzman’s dry goods store where they bought their linens and curtains. The ground floor houses the day care and the large second floor room overlooking the El is the dance studio.
When the Walkers first set eyes on the second floor space that is what they had in mind for it. So in the summer of 2014 the All Star Movements School of Dance started up with another dance school providing the services and ran successfully all Summer. This year they decided to do it on their own.
They have hired a Christina Castro-Tauser as Artistic Director. She has most recently been Junior Company Director for the Gainesville, Georgia Ballet Company and a principal instructor with the Gainesville School of Ballet.
The school will offer a summer dance camp from June 22nd to August 14th with Ballet, Modern, Hip Hop, Jazz and Musical Theater. Michael Nguyen, West Chester University graduate, will be the Hip Hop instructor. You will find more information at this link. If you read this after the date the camp has begun and are interested, give them a call anyway. It is never too late to dance.
So the arts are coming back to Frankford and much of it is happening on 4400 block of Frankford Avenue. Over at St. Mark’s you have the Garden of Eden theater company and the Philadelphia Community Arts Network. Not to be forgotten is the drama class up at McIlvain playground at Pratt and Penn. Sometime next year, we should be seeing live performances by some of our arts groups at the Frankford Pause park at Paul St. and Frankford Ave.
John Neugebauer looms larger than life looking down from the mural at the intersection of Kensington and Frankford Avenues.
He was the model for the Civil War soldier, for artist Cesar Viveros, during the Destination Frankford project. He has been a civil war re-enacter and is an amateur historian of that era.
You are likely to find John in Frankford at Overington Park on one of the monthly events they sponsor. He will be the tall guy with a smile and always something interesting to say. Last year, when I was doing some research on another story, I asked my friend Jack Hohenstein, whose son Frank is a potter, if there were any other artists in Frankford. Jack referred me to Neugebauer and said he was also a potter.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since he is married to Diane Kunze, the founder and leader of the Friends of Overington Park. Those arty people tend to stick together, don’t they?
They live in a nice Victorian twin overlooking the park and it was there that I finally sat down with John, a few days before Christmas, to get some more of his story.
He is a local guy, grew up in the Northeast, went to Father Judge. He grew up in the hardware business since his father owned Loretto Hardware.
His heart was in art but thinking he had to make a living, he went to Temple and graduated with a business degree. He subsequently ended up back in the hardware business.
The hardware business changed quite a lot with the entry of the big box stores and after working in the industry for many years he found a way to capitalize on his sales skills in the education field.
His current job with the Art Institute of Philadelphia in the culinary department is as a recruiter. He talks to students about opportunities for a career in the culinary arts and how the Art Institute can help them achieve those goals. It’s the perfect gig for him.
All those years while making a living, he still found time to pursue his interest in art and took a first pottery class that got him started.
It is an ongoing learning process of working with the clay and glazes.
Making something of beauty and utility seems to have combined the artistic side with the practical hardware guy.
Each artist brings something of himself to the craft. John’s pieces often incorporate forms and patterns from nature. He would rather use an actual leaf than draw an abstract form.
Of late he found a way to combine his interest in the Civil War and pottery by making some unique items commemorating the war.
Below is a picture of a flask that might have been carried by a Union soldier, interpreted in pottery. The artwork is from the 13th New Jersey
Volunteer Infantry Regiment monument at the Gettysburg .
His pieces are now showing at Hohenstein Pottery in Glenside and Gallery 30 in Gettysburg.
Tuesday, February 10 | 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Frankford Branch Library, 4634 Frankford Avenue
Pamela Thomas (crafts workshop leader) and Janet Bernstein (of the Frankford Garden Club) will help you make your Valentine’s Day beautiful. Join us and learn flower arranging for your Valentine, and enjoy a demonstration of how to make a Fascinator.
Space is limited – to save your spot, call 215-685-1473, email baxterb@freelibrary.org, or stop in to the library. This workshop is designed for adults and all materials will be provided.
