Happy Memorial Day!!!

Hope your day is full of frosty beverages, BBQ and sculpture!

Image from The Compleat Sculptor

Big thanks!

A big thanks from Justin and I to Nancy Robbins Henderson and Leo Voloshin for their donations to the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym fund this week!!

We really appreciate your support! Thank you!!!

Our goal is to raise $20,000 and so far we have raised $1,875!!

For anyone interested in making a tax-deductible donation, here is more info:

As part of the grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is required to match the funds we are being given. Our goal is to raise $20,000 and while doing so the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is being fiscally sponsored by The Miami Foundation. What does that mean? That your donation is tax deductible! To make a donation online, please visit the Miami Foundation website and click on 'Give Now'. This will take you to a secure Pay Pal donation page. Under 'Purpose' please type "Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Fund". It's that easy!

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about donating. And thanks again to Nancy and Leo!!!

Location, location, location...

So we've been looking at buildings for a little while now and have seen some really amazing ones (some of which are shown below) and a couple of really bad ones (which we didn't bother to photograph). Here's a quick peek inside some of the spaces we've seen...Some are already ruled out (no heat, no running water, not enough electricity, among other deal breakers) while some are still in the running. We also have some more spaces to look at and will keep everyone posted on the progress!

#1 - The Old Bank...



#2 - The Old Hardware Co.




#3 The Giant Warehouse...



#4 The Old Tobacco Factory...



#1 and #2 both had AMAZING natural light on the 2nd floors, but both needed a TON of work that we have neither the time, nor money to do (especially for a rental property). #3 and #4 are great possibilities and are still very much in the running...Stay tuned.

Philadelphia Sculpture Gym 2011 Events

Here's the list of our 2011 events:

6/18 Summer Solstice Event at the Kimmel Center 12-6pm - We'll be here promoting the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym and POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours). We will also have t-shirts and tote bags available for any donation of $25 or more!

7/16 Make your own Sculpture Tool Workshop 2pm - Our first workshop! We'll be making modeling tools from various wood scraps (feel free to bring some of your own but we will have wood available) using a bandsaw and belt sander. The cost is a $10 donation per person that will go toward matching our funds for the Knight Arts Challenge Grant.

8/13 Art Packing Workshop 2pm - Learn to pack your art for travel and shipping. We'll cover box making, soft packing and more for a variety of types of artwork. Each technique will be demonstrated and a resource list for materials will be provided. The cost is a $10 donation per person that will go toward matching our funds for the Knight Arts Challenge Grant.

9/17 Art Raffle Fundraiser - Our big fundraising event of 2011! More info to come. If you are an artist interested in donating work please contact us at philadelphiasculpturegym[at]gmail.com

10/15-16 Philadelphia Open Studio Tours 12-6pm both days - Come check out Darla and Justin's current studio and learn more about the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym!

11/12 Mold making Workshop - More info to come soon! The cost is a $10 donation per person that will go toward matching our funds for the Knight Arts Challenge Grant.

12/17 Holiday Party and Casting Workshop - More info to come soon! The cost is a $10 donation per person that will go toward matching our funds for the Knight Arts Challenge Grant.

To sign up for any of the above workshop, please email us at philadelphiasculpturegym[at]gmail.com!

And the winner is...

Nicole McNulty!!! Congratulations Nicole...when we open you will have a free 1 month membership waiting for you!


And for anyone who wasn't at Trenton Avenue but wanted to fill out a questionnaire, we are offering a chance at a free 1 week membership if you answer the following questions and email them to us at philadelphiasculpturegym[at]gmail.com by Midnight on Monday, May 30th.

Artist Questionnaire

Name:
Address (Optional):
Email:
Phone (Optional):

1. What type of Art/Craft do you make?
2.What tools do you consider most useful/needed in making your work?
3. What hours do you create your work most often?
4. Do you have a studio? If not, are you looking for one?
5. Would you use the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym if it was in this area (Fishtown/Kensington)?
6. What is a reasonable price per month for access to a metal/wood/mold making/sculpture shop? For classes?
7. Would you use/need storage space?
8. Would you be interested in a studio space if they were available?
9. Would you be more likely to join the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym if it had a gallery space?
10. What equipment would you like to see in the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym shops?
11. What classes would you like to see being offered?
12.What skills would you like to learn or need help with?
13. Please list any additional comments/questions/suggestions.

Thank you!

Check back tomorrow for our calendar of upcoming events and workshops in 2011!

Weekend Recap

A HUGE THANKS to everyone who stopped by our booth at Trenton Ave. Justin and I had an amazing time talking to everyone about the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym and were blown away by all the excitement and great feedback we got! We also raised $525 toward our goal of $20,000 to match the Knight Arts Challenge grant! Thanks so much to Fran Graham, John Grant, Tom Homer and Nora Fuelner, Jake Henry and Sue Grobels-Henry (and Lemon!), Kara LaFleur, Michael Konrad, Jonah Baldwin, Mackenzie McAlpin, and the 1 other guy whose name I didn't catch (if you see this, let me know your name and I would love to give you a shout out of thanks!) And another big thanks to Michael Phillips, Justin's long-time friend that he hadn't seen for 10 years (!) who came up for the day as a surprise to help us with the booth. He gave out about a zillion postcards and he and Sally helped us pack up and we all got inside before the rain hit!
Check back tomorrow because we'll announce the winner of the free 1 month membership!!

Clamps, vices and hammers, oh my!

Thanks again to everyone who filled out a questionnaire!

We used Square to accept credit card payments and it worked out amazingly!

Yup...we brought our drill press.

!

His and Hers Philadelphia Sculpture Gym T-shirts, modeled by Homer and Nora!

Layla and Olivia show off their PSG Tattoos

And this is how we all felt after the day was over...

On Sunday, after a giant breakfast (Breakfast Nachos at One Shot...amazing, for the record) and a fabulous birthday party, we headed over to the 5 into 1 show put together by Philadelphia Sculptors. It was a really varied show in terms of medium/media but this piece by Colin W. O'Neill was my favorite.

The broken clamp on the floor is intentional...(I double checked.)

...and it was needed because otherwise the viewers might never believe that these are all made of PLASTER!

PLASTER!

PLASTER!!!!!!

The show runs through June 18th, 2011, so if you have a chance, stop by and check it out. Check the Philadelphia Sculptors site for more details.

TODAY!!!!!!! TRENTON AVENUE ARTS FEST!

Come on out to the Trenton Ave Arts Festival where we will be set up in booth 102 with Philadelphia Sculpture Gym T-shirts and Totebags available for donations of $25. And if you fill out our artist questionnaire, you'll be entered to win a free one month membership (when we open)! The event runs from 12-5 and there will be great vendors, awesome food and drink, a Kinetic Sculpture derby and bands playing...what more could you want!?

Weekends: Past and Upcoming

We had a great weekend and its taken until now (Wednesday) to have a second to recap...

On Friday, we started at PAFA's Annual Student Exhibition. It was a really good show with lots of amazing work. Unfortunately I didn't get many good photos (cell phone cameras are just real camera wanna-be's).

This piece by Brendan Keen was pretty great. According to the title, it was made from trash from the convention center... These photos do it no justice. It's beautiful.

Brendan Keen, Convention Center Trash

Brendan Keen, Convention Center Trash (detail)

Another bunch of good sculpture that I got atleast 1 photo of was by Blaise Goldman. He had a number of nice figures that were pretty interesting. After speaking with him I found out that he worked for a summer with Javier Marin, whose work I think is fabulous.

Blaise Goldman

O'Rae and Justin in the Sculpture Gallery

After the ASE, we headed over to Pterodactyl to check out To-Day is Another Day, Make Art (Art in the Great Recession), an exhibition curated by Steven Earl Weber. The exhibition included work by Leroy Johnson, Doug Herren, Abbey Gates, Daniel Petraitis, Steven Earl Weber, Roger Petersen, Jerry Kaba, Stephen Kent and Ira Upin. Stop by to check it out! And pencil in the closing reception, which is Saturday June 25th 8pm-12am.

Daniel Petraitis, Sphere, Cast Plaster, Plywood Pedestal, 2011


Steven Earl Weber, Sweat Equity, Ceramic, underglaze, glaze, 23K gold luster, wax, 2009

Stephen Kent, Monument to My Failures, Earthenware

The rest of the weekend was filled with looking at buildings for the future sculpture gym (more on that soon), the Art Star Craft Bazaar (which was great despite a bit of rain), and our sculptor potluck that happened on Sunday. The potluck was great and a big thanks to everyone who came... aside from the good things that showed up to eat and drink, my favorite moment was when we were all sitting around, troubleshooting technical issues in sculpture... Justin and I both felt that it was exactly why we wanted to get people together...to share ideas and offer insights and suggestions to one another. Sculpture is hard enough already, so its nice to have some people around to help out from time to time! We plan to do another potluck in the fall which I'm already looking forward to. I'll be sure to post the details here.

Next generation sculptors Olivia and Rowe chilling at the Sculptor Potluck

And upcoming THIS weekend, on Saturday May 21st, is the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival, which Justin and I are extremely busy getting ready for...! I'll post a full list of all our planned excitement tomorrow...!

Fun stuff for Trenton Avenue

Whew! We've been busy prepping for Trenton Avenue Arts Fest (which is this Saturday! May 21st! 12-5pm!) and have had a little time to sneak in some fun things...like Philadelphia Sculpture Gym temporary tattoos!

Logo 3.0

Here is our finished logo! A huge thanks to Thomas Homer, Jr. aka Homer for all his patience with our craziness and for his magical Illustrator skills (really and truly, how does he do it?) Be sure to keep an eye out for some Philadelphia Sculpture Gym "stuff" at the Trenton Ave Arts Fest on Saturday May 21st that we'll be selling to raise money to match the Knight Arts Challenge Grant funds.

This Weekend: PAFA ASE, Art Star Craft Bazaar and Sculptor Potluck!

Wow! There is a lot going on this weekend, starting tonight with the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art's 110th Annual Student Exhibition. I got a sneak peek last night and there is some really great work, so be sure to stop by the public opening tonight: May 13, 5 - 8:30 p.m.


And this Saturday and Sunday is the Art Star Craft Bazaar, with about a zillion fabulous artists and crafts people (ok, its over 100) . Saturday, May 14th from 11-6pm & Sunday, May 15th from 11-6pm RAIN OR SHINE at Penn's Landing Great Plaza - on Columbus Boulevard between Walnut Street and Chestnut Street (click here for directions)


And on Sunday we are having a Sculptor Potluck at our studio space from 3-7pm. Come on over, bring some food/drink and talk about art and/or the excitingness that is the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, and such. Our studio is located at 3237 N. Amber Street, 3rd Floor North, Philadelphia, PA 19134. We hope to see you there!

City Paper! Knight-o-Scope!

We were featured in the City Paper!!! Check out this week's issue for the article featuring 4 Knight Arts Challenge Winners: Tiny Dynamite, Mighty Writers, Dance/USA Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym! Congrats to all!

A HUGE THANKS

A huge thanks from Justin and I to our first three donors:

Debi and Andy Jackson
Sam Wilson
Eric Jackson

We are so excited and appreciative of your support! Thank you!!!

Our goal is to raise $20,000 and so far we have raised $1,200!!

For anyone interested in making a tax-deductible donation, here is more info:

As part of the grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is required to match the funds we are being given. Our goal is to raise $20,000 and while doing so the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is being fiscally sponsored by The Miami Foundation. What does that mean? That your donation is tax deductible! To make a donation online, please visit the Miami Foundation website and click on 'Give Now'. This will take you to a secure Pay Pal donation page. Under 'Purpose' please type "Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Fund". It's that easy!

Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about donating. And thanks again to Debi, Andy, Sam and Eric!!!

Daily News!

Save the Date: Trenton Ave Arts Fest!

Saturday, May 21st we'll be set up at the Trenton Ave Arts Fest! Stop by our booth (#102) to say hi, ask questions about the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, make a donation, check out our calendar of workshops and/or fill out our artist questionnaire to be entered into the drawing for a free month of membership (once we open)! We're really looking forward to participating in this event and to seeing the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby!

Video from the Knight Blog

The Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia Winners from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

WE WON!!!!!

It's OFFICIAL!! The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is going to happen with the help of a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge!!! A HUGE thanks to everyone at the Knight Foundation for believing in this project and for giving us an amazing opportunity!!! Justin and I are insanely excited (and scared out of our minds) to make this dream a reality! Now...we just have to raise $19,900 (my mom gave us the first donation of $100...Thanks Mom and Dad (aka Debi and Andy Jackson)!!!) to match the grant! Anyone interested in donating (we love you!) please feel free to contact us at philadelphiasculpturegym(at)gmail.com to find out more about doing so.


Also, exciting news is that we are being fiscally sponsored by The Miami Foundation, a non-profit company based in Miami. What does that mean? That your donation is tax deductible! To make a donation online, please visit the Miami Foundation website and click on 'Give Now'. This will take you to a secure Pay Pal donation page. Under 'Purpose' please type "Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Fund". It's that easy! Be sure to send us an email letting us know that you donated so we can be sure to thank you profusely!!

Stay tuned for upcoming community based fund-raising events (Art Raffle anyone?) and Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Workshops (One day workshops that will give people a feel of what Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Classes will be like, while learning a new and exciting skill such as mold making, casting, animal sculpture, art packing, etc...)

Thanks again to everyone for your support!

Who the heck are we...

Darla and Justin casting a life-size sculpture, 2002

The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym is the idea of a husband and wife combo team, Justin Grant (husband) and Darla Jackson (wife). They also have a cute baby named Olivia. Darla and Justin are both sculptors who met at Moore College of Art & Design while Darla was a 3D Fine Arts major and Justin was the shop tech. They fell in love over Spring Break while making a waste mold on/casting Darla's first life-size figure (awww). Since their first collaboration went so well, they decided to go ahead and do a few more...many more molds, setting up a live/work studio space together, lots of casting, buying a house, setting up a new studio space, making 12 six foot high Victorian boots, getting married, making a cute baby named Olivia...and now the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym!

Darla with the giant boot (Footsteps Commission for Moore College), 2008

Darla makes mostly animal sculpture and installations. She teaches sculpture classes at the Fleisher Art Memorial and just finished up a year as a visiting professor at PAFA.

They were clawing… (Squirrel), (In progress) 2010

Surprise Party (Raccoon), 2009

You can't take it with you (Wealth), 2007

Justin and Olivia, 2011

Justin does a little bit of everything; sculpting, casting, welding, forging, woodworking, construction, packing art, shipping art, installing art, etc....kind of a jack of all trades. Currently he is co-manager of Crozier Fine Arts' Philadelphia branch.

Untitled, (In progress), 2009

Two Rattles and a teether that Justin made, 2009

Giant rolling wall he built for Rowan University Art Gallery (before it got its drywall...), 2010

Giant anvil for Mother Bethel AME Church, 2010

Olivia, our best work yet, 2011