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Destination Frankford: A Renaissance

Beneath the clamor of the El and beside the tides of the Delaware lies the neighborhood of Frankford. Centuries ago our neighborhood had a mansion on every block. Decades past, Frankford Avenue bustled with business and we prospered. Unfortunately, everything is not as it once was. But residents of this historical corner do not fear, Destination Frankford is here.

Through the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and with the help of the Frankford Community Development Corporation, Philadelphia Sculptors, and the Globe Development Group, Destination Frankford plans to “reclaim, rediscover, and reanimate” the neighborhood. Every Saturday until July 26th visitors can witness this rebirth of Frankford through events such as the Destination Frankford art gallery.

On the corner of Frankford Avenue and Paul Street, music could be heard as patrons beat the heat with cold beers and good food. Outside, Mayor Michael Nutter posed for pictures with attendees, while inside, the pristine white walls were donned with art pieces by a host of different sculptors. Art Director Leslie Kaufman still believes that Frankford has a lot to offer and that it can be seen in these artists’ works. “All the artists use their art to add dynamism, spirit, and wonder to common and overlooked materials”, she says. Events likes this gallery will hopefully do the same and bring attention to the commonly overlooked neighborhood.

Having also been deeply involved in Philadelphia Sculptors, Kaufman knew that when she sent word about the project to the organization, many talented artists would join the movement. Inspired by the idea of reanimating a community, one such artist,

Deanna McLaughlin with her repurposed wooden door at the Destination Frankford: Reanimate gallery opening.

Deanna McLaughlin with her repurposed wooden door at the Destination Frankford: Reanimate gallery opening.

Deanna McLaughlin, answered the call. The artist who says her work is, “at times meditative, but always inspiring” presented two pieces at the gallery opening. What was once an old shopping cart was born again as a colorful chaise lounge. And a simplistic rocking chair showed more depth when its roots as an old wooden door from the very neighborhood of Frankford were revealed. McLaughlin understood and identified with the concept of bringing new life to the old in order to shepherd in modernity as many of her pieces carry the same idea.

Both Kaufman and McLaughlin know that galleries and renaissance are not things often seen in Frankford. However, Destination Frankford is not planning to stop here. Unafraid of unconventionality, the organization plans to bring a pop-up park to the neighborhood by the spring of 2015. Also on the corner of Paul Street, the vibrant park will be a center of entertainment, relaxation and a sign of progress. As the neighborhood grows, the hot pink detailed park will be a sign to those inside and outside the community that Frankford is not to be forgotten. Along with hot pink astroturf the park’s design was inspired by a megaphone. Frankford is no longer a quiet neighborhood. Architectural and Landscape Designer Alexa Bosse describes how the lights that crisscross above the park will be

Destination Frankford's next project, the Frankford Pause pop-up park.

Destination Frankford’s next project, the Frankford Pause Pop-Up Park. Photo Courtesy of destinationfrankford.com

sound activated. Knowing that one huge, unmistakable, part of Frankford is the El, Bosse and the other volunteers utilized the noise in the neighborhood to light up the park. Bosse says that as a band plays on one end the lights will illuminate, following the sound. And as the El passes overhead, the lights will follow its tracks. Dubbed the Frankford Pause, Bosse and the other contributors hope this park will make residents and visitors alike stop, and take another look at Frankford.

The neighborhood of Frankford, though it’s had its setbacks, refuses to be held back. With the help of many organizations and the support of the community, Destination Frankford can definitely take this neighborhood anywhere. Thanks to innovative ideas by creative individuals such as these, Frankford has finally entered its renaissance.

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Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory Boat Launch

It’s “About Time” to christen this boat!

The Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory has been around since its founding in 1996 and on Saturday June 21st the organization continued its lengthening legacy of spreading the smiles on the faces of its students with their boat launch. Students from all over Philadelphia came together after school for an entire year to build nothing other than sailboats. This past weekend, their hard work finally came to fruition at the Frankford Arsenal Boat Ramp on the shores of the Delaware River.

Three boats, Atlas, About Time and the Purple Lady set sail on Saturday as proud parents and mentors looked on from the dock. But for these kids and the Executive Director of the innovative after-school program, Brett Hart, sailing had not always been so breezy. “I grew up in Frankford,” Hart expresses, and although he was afraid of the activity when it was first introduced to him at the age of seven, he says he’s “also really intrigued by the things that frighten [him]”. Hart believes that everyone should “live at that moment where things have to push you to be outside of your comfort zone”. “I think that’s where you grow” he says.

Hart and the other staffers at the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory (PWBF) encourage their 23 students to find that very moment. From budgeting, fundraising, building, painting, and sailing, students like Anisha Ellis, 16, a junior from George Washington Carver Engineering and Science High School, earned every bit of pride they felt as their boats were christened on Saturday. Philadelphia high school students and boat building aren’t necessarily two things that most people would put together. Ellis knows from the reactions of those around her that what she’s doing is “something different and fun. It’s not something you would normally get involved in”. The uniqueness of the program, Ellis says, means “you have to talk to the right people” in order to get them involved, “because if they aren’t about hands on activities, group work and communication, then it won’t be fun for them”.

“I came into this program knowing nothing about boats”, Ellis says, but the relationships the students have with their mentors is “comfortable… you could talk to them and they’d help you”. Hart agrees that, “we’re at our best as staff when we’re acting as a resource”. And just as Ellis and the other students benefit from the wealth of knowledge the PWBF staff offers, Hart says the staff learns from their students as well.

If the kids take anything away from the program, Harts says he hopes that the “connections [they’ve] established with [their] students will allow them the strength and resiliency to take risk and to fail and to recover from that failure”. “Thats the most important part”, he adds.

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The Frankford Pause

The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program is working with the Turning Points for Children Community Umbrella Agency to create a mural along Frankford Avenue near SEPTA’s Margaret Orthodox El stop.  The subject matter of the mural is the Frankford Pause and the artist, Cesar Viveros, is looking for additional input for this public space that will reflect what “pause” means to the community.  In the middle of our busy lives we need to pause to take time to stop that allow us to keep moving forward.  Cesar wants to know what pause means to you.

Some comments from folks at the last block party at the Destination Frankford art gallery on Paul Street:

  • Being with my wife when I haven’t seen her for several hours
  • I listen to music , classical and jazz
  • In one word: clouds
  • Sharing friendship with the people …
  • Skateboarding
  • Bring beauty to the empty grass with music, a hard life needs beauty to feed the soul
  • Smell…
  • Dance 
  • Hip Hop 
  • Strength from God
  • Work out of the office

What is your moment of pause?  Please email Laure.Biron@muralarts.org to share what your moment of pause looks like.

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Mural Arts Community Meeting

The first community meeting to plan the murals for the pop up park on Paul Street next to the Destination Frankford art gallery will be held at 6:00 PM tonight, May 27th, at the Turning Points for Children office at Griscom and Church Street.  This is the St. Joachim Rectory.  This is your opportunity to have a voice in shaping what goes up on those walls.

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