Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
I tried to think of a clever way of presenting this but thought better of it. Adelya Shagidullina is a violist who played at the Advent service at St. Mark’s on December 1st and I was able to do a short video. It is a rare pleasure to experience great music in Frankford. If she returns to St. Mark’s, make it a point to be there.
From our friends at the Flying Kite Media, Frankford artists who would like to be featured in a show. The deadline for the application is December 9th. See below.
ON THE GROUND: Four Corners Art Exhibition Call For Artists in former “On the Ground” neighborhoods We are accepting proposals for art for an upcoming exhibition being coordinated by Flying Kite Media, Painted Bride Art Center and Small But Mighty Arts.
This opportunity is open to artists: – who live or hold a studio in one of the following areas: Mantua, Philadelphia Frankford, Philadelphia Germantown, Philadelphia Camden, New Jersey – working in any medium – interested in showing work that is responsive to the theme of community or is reflective of their experience in the areas listed above.
Deadline for submissions is MONDAY, DECEMBER 9. Opening exhibition and receptions will be held on First Fridays on January 3 and February 7 from 5-7pm at Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine Street. The exhibit will run from January 3 – February 16. Artists will be notified by Friday, December 13 and can make arrangements to install during designated times, which will be shared upon invitation to participate. We have space for about 20+ artists (dependent on size of pieces, etc) and will likely ask participating artists to submit 1-2 pieces (dependent on size). This exhibition is being presented by Flying Kite’s On the Ground program, Painted Bride Art Center and Small But Mighty Arts.
Follow this link to apply.
On October 14, the architecture firm DIGSAU of Philadelphia was presented with a 2013 Award for Design Excellence for Frankford Friends School’s new Margaret Passmore Trickey Building.
The award, conferred by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, was one of three received by DIGSAU in this year’s competition.
In his remarks at the awards ceremony, Awards Jury Chair Peter Pfau, a San Francisco architect, said that the building felt “very Quaker, quiet and modest…but welcoming to the energy of children.”
The jurors, who visited the building in person, admired the building’s elegance and simple use of materials, and said that the “overall strategy shows great restraint.”
The jury appreciated the simple use of materials and loved the weathering cedar cladding. Looking from the porch of the historic Frankford Friends Meetinghouse to the entry of the new building, Pfau said one could understand the timeless quality of archetypal spaces like porches, and called it “an example of lovely place making; fostering a sense of community.”
In closing, Pfa
u said that the jury was impressed by the quality of light in all the spaces, important to Quakers as a symbol of each person’s direct connection to God.
The Margaret Passmore Trickey building, constructed in 2012 on the school’s historic Orthodox Street campus, has allowed the school to offer its high-quality Friends education program to more families through additional middle school classrooms. In addition to the classrooms, the building provides a multipurpose space and a music room, and reduces energy use through a variety of innovative strategies.
Frankford Friends School, serving grades PreK-8, enrolled 156 students this year, the highest in its 180-year history. For more information, visit www.frankfordfriendsschool.org or call 215-533-5368.
The five finalists competing for the opportunity to create a sculpture in Womrath Park visited the site for the first time on November 25th. The weather was ideal but cold as the group, along with city representatives and members of the public, heard some of the history of the park and its present condition. The sculpture is intended to become the central feature of the park.
The group then met at the Globe Dye Works for further discussions. Final proposals from the five will be presented to the selection committee on January 27th, 2014. On the same evening, they will give shorter presentations to which the public will be invited. The winning proposal will be unveiled to the public in February. The contract for the successful artist will be finalized in April and installation is scheduled to be completed by November of next year.
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
The finalists are: Jake Beckman, Pete Beeman, Jim Galucci, Robert Roesch and Christine Rojek. Click on the names to see samples of their past work.
Funding for this project, the central component of the Destination Frankford initiative, is 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
Thanks to Ian Litwin, Project Manager, and the City Planning Commission for making this a reality.
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.
