Frankford Community Blog | Local News, Events, Community Resources
There is a good story on Hiddencity Philadelphia about the Globe Dye Works with an update of where they stand in the massive renovation and repurposing of the complex. Take a look at this link.
There will be some events this year at the Globe that will be open to the public. If you have the time, it is well worth a look at this hidden treasure in our midst. Both sides of my family worked in the textiles mills in Frankford and the Globe is a significant part of that history.
If hearing the name “Globe Dye Works” sends a shiver of recognition up your spine, Philadelphia Sculptors would love to hear from you. Philadelphia Sculptors will be producing a video portraying the history of Globe Dye Works and the role it played in the Frankford community. This will be shown in conjunction with ”Catagenesis”, a large exhibition of sculptural installations to be exhibited on Globe’s premises on Worth Street during September and October 2012. The focus of the video will be on the people whose lives were affected by the factory.
This will be an opportunity for former Globe workers, people who live(d) in the neighborhood and had a connection to Globe, or friends and relatives of Globe workers, to tell their stories and have their voices heard. Interviewers will visit the community and speak with all those interested in sharing their experiences, stories, mementos, and viewpoints on camera. No prior experience is necessary and all who are interested will be interviewed. Interviewing is set to begin immediately in order to complete the production before the show opens in September.
The video will be shown at Globe during the seven week run of the show and other venues will be sought after the show closes to make it available to a larger audience.
Anyone who is interested in being interviewed or otherwise involved in the project, or who has additional questions, should contact Leslie Kaufman at 215-413-9126 or by e-mail at lesliekaufman@verizon.net. For additional information about Philadelphia Sculptors and the upcoming exhibition, go to www.philasculptors.org.
The Center for Emerging Visual Artists is presenting Philadelphia Open Studio Tours. It’s the largest tour of artist studios and creative spaces in the Philadelphia region and will feature Globe Dye Works artists and artisans. The tour for studios east of Broad Street will take place Saturday and Sunday, October 15th and 16th.
Several artists with studios in the Globe Dye Works will open their studios for display. Along with them, the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Company, which according to their website:
Operating out of a newly renovated light industrial site in the heart of Frankford, our boatbuilding and sailing programs – which include school day, afterschool, and summer sessions — help middle and high school age students develop self-esteem, improve academically, and learn valuable real life lessons.
Research shows that kids learn best by doing. When they have meaningful opportunities to make vital connections between what they learn in the classroom and what happens in the real world, they become more engaged and successful students.
Also included will be metalworker Jason Robert‘s new digs down at Duncan and Melrose inside the Bermuda Triangle that I call Frankford Valley. His work includes Silk City’s Beer Garden and Northern Liberties’ Community Center. His work is second to none and he’s settled his trade in Frankford. It’s a must see.
The one downer is that the studio tour’s website calls both Jason Robert’s shop and the Dye Works Port Richmond. boo.
[link] Post Studio Tours
The Globe Dye Works complex gets a hefty nod from the city’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. The Three-Year index of Creative Vitality in Philadelphia tries to measure Philadelphia’s creative economy against the nation.
Check out these awesome quotes from the report:
Creative entrepreneurs of all kinds—from a renowned steel drum maker to painters and art framers to a wooden boat company—are heading north. Not to New York, but to Frankford, the once-thriving, historically working-class neighborhood just six miles north of Center City Philadelphia. What’s drawing them there is Globe Dye Works, a former textile manufacturing site-turned-creative compound.
The complex is considered a great example of industrial reuse and adaptation by the city, which itself is considered to be ahead of the curve nationally in the creative economy.
We attended the opening of the Endangered City Art Exhibit at the Globe Dye Works (4500 Worth Street) on Friday night. This exhibit was an event by the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia.
The intent of this show is trifold: to deliver a challenge to local artists, architects, historians, and urban explorers to express the inherent inspiration to be found in Philadelphia’s physical history; to encourage public awareness of endangered historic architecture; and to donate 50% of proceeds from sold artwork to The Preservation Alliance’s Advocacy Fund. Artworks will be bid on through a silent auction during the opening reception. Work will relate to a building that is either on a Preservation Alliance Endangered Properties List, a historically significant building that has been demolished or will soon be demolished in the Philadelphia region, or any historical building(s), neighborhood, landscape, detail, or space which resonates with the artist.
As you can see by the pictures, the event was very well attended. Lot’s of stuff to see. Lots of music, finger food and a bit of beverage. Lots of younger folks to make me feel really old. My favorite were the black and white images by Alanna Ralph but there was much to enjoy in a variety of styles and media. When the time rolls around again, come on out to this event. Bonus point is you get to see the Globe.
