POST: West of Broad - Oct 1 & 2

This weekend is the first weekend of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours! You have a chance to visit Artist Studios and Work Spaces in Center City West, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Germantown, East Falls, Manayunk, Roxborough, Fairmount, Francisville, and West Philadelphia. Need to plan your tour? Check out their website and search for artists by area.
We highly recommend checking out the following artists:

Philadelphia Traction Company
Michael Konrad
NextFab Studio
Zoe Cohen
Genevieve Coutroubis and John Karpinski
John Phillips and Gina Michaels
Elisabeth Nickles
Philadelphia Sculptors at UArts

Have fun!!!

Peg and Awl: Waxed Canvas Totes and Pouches

 

 

Waxed Canvas Tote in Autumn Spice by Peg and Awl

It is rare that a bag of any sort can stand up to all the shit I put it through...life, sculpture, Olivia (She put a pound of rocks in my bag the other day and I didn't notice until I was already out of the house...awesome.) So when I heard that Peg and Awl was coming out with a waxed canvas tote made from antique military leather, I was so excited. Not only would it be able to hold all my day to day shit, but it would be able to stand up to the random tools I need to throw in my bag (I have been known to pull needle nose pliers or screw drivers out of my bag on occasion...and once a whole handful of cut nails.) So yesterday was the day! They have it in both spice and coal and the bags are beautiful. They also have pouches that I am thinking of using to store my modeling tools. Both bags are made from antique and reclaimed materials AND made locally. Check out their Etsy shop for more info...!

 

  

 Waxed Canvas Pouch in Coal 

 

And we gave them a human skull a few weeks ago (long story) and he's already made it into some photos!

Images from here

Kathleen Ogilvie presents... Katherine Fraser at Le Cochon Noir

We know, we know...it's not sculpture, but we like other art too and both Kathleen and Katherine are friends of ours so we thought we'd spread the word! Check out the details below:

Katherine Fraser ~ Paintings

September 28 to October 23

Opening Reception, Friday September 30 , 6 pm to 8 pm

The exhibition is located at Le Cochon Noir, a Zagat rated bar-b-que restaurant with live jazz and fantastic food. The restaurant is located on the first floor of the Philadelphia Business & Technology Center on Parkside Avenue, between 50th and 51st Streets. Free parking is generally available on Parkside Avenue with limited gated parking directly in front of Le Cochon Noir.

The Final Friday Exhibition Series is inside Le Cochon Noir. For more information about the restaurant see their website at www.lecochonnoir.com

Friday, Sept 30th at Moore College: Robery Chambers & Ursula von Rydingsvard

Check out this event at Moore College tomorrow night!

 

 

Moore College of Art & Design Graduate Studies | MFA in Studio Art 2011/12 Studio Conversations Robert Chambers and Ursula von Rydingsvard with Kaytie Johnson Friday, September 30, 2011, 6:30 pm | Reception to follow Stewart Auditorium Moore College of Art & Design 20th Street and the Parkway Philadelphia, PA 19103-1179 215 965-4027  www.moore.edu

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Robert Chambers lives and works in Miami. He is known for his dynamic installations, which incorporate sound, smell and movement. Chambers' work is found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Miami Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami. His awards include the Nancy Graves Award and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award. In 2009 he undertook a residency at the Fabric Workshop Museum in Philadelphia. Ursula von Rydingsvard is a sculptor who has been working in Brooklyn, New York for the past 30 years. Von Rydingsvard is best known for creating large-scale, often monumental sculpture from the cedar beams, which she painstakingly cuts, assembles, and laminates. Von Rydingsvard's sculpture is included in numerous permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Brooklyn Museum. She is the recipient of two individual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, two awards from the American International Critics Association, the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture and in 2008 was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Kaytie Johnson is the Rochelle F. Levy Director & Curator of The Galleries at Moore. Presented in cooperation with The Galleries at Moore . Event is Free. The annual Studio Conversations series, presented by Moore College of Art & Design, feature leading artists and critics who discuss artistic issues and practice across media and international boundaries. Supporting Moore's MFA in Studio Art, which includes an international residency and international visiting guest faculty, the conversations are intended to address the emerging globalization and internationalization of the art world and what this means for artistic practice in the 21st century. Image above: Left: Robert Chambers Ribbon Vault on Arch Street 2009, installation view with street performance. Courtesy The Fabric Workshop and Museum. Right: Ursula von Rydingsvard Luba 2010, cedar, graphite and bronze. Photo by Jerry L. Thompson and courtesy the artist.

PSG on NOTCOT

 

 

Check out our little blurb on NOTCOT

Steven Earl Weber: Comfort & Security

A good friend and fellow sculptor, Steven Earl Weber, is having a show of his work at Hunter College that runs from October 2nd-22nd. The opening is Friday, October 7th from 6-8pm. Check out the details below:

Thomas Hunter Project Room, Hunter College, NYC

932 Lexington Ave at 68th St. lower level

New York, NY

Exhibit runs from October 2nd - 22nd
open by appointment, email: margaretpcoleman@gmail.com

Image from stevenearlweber.com

PSG on FlyingKiteMedia.com

Check me out over at FlyingKiteMedia.com in today's featured article about how to make it in Philly as a sculptor!

Photo by Michael Persico

Justin's Birthday!

Just wanted to let it be known that today is Justin's birthday! Love you hubs.

Kickstarter Update!

So far we have raised $915 on our Kickstarter page towards our goal of $8,000. We would like to give a huge thanks to the following people who have made pledges:

Alx Block, Luke B. Gerike, Josh, Tim Canny, Lisa Powley, Leslie Kaufman, Wendy Gordon, Rachel Zimmerman, Jamie Grant, Debra Homer, Miriam Marshall, Rebecca, Virginia Batson, Samantha Nguyen, Robert Kravitz, Reuben Wade, Linda Porch, Claude Schrader, Ryan Brunsvold, Brianna Roberts, Megan Wendell, Henry Blau, Ken Mickles, and Margaux Kent

Yay! We really appreciate your support! And if you know anyone who would be interested in supporting our project, please feel free to share the link! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/philasculpturegym/philadelphia-sculpture-gym We have 23 days left!

Cx5? Never heard of it...

Has anyone heard of this stuff yet? It sounds like another version of Casteline. A friend of mine told me about it and I admit that I'm intrigued because of how much Justin loved working with Casteline.

Here's a blip from the website:

Cx5 is a premium sculpting material that handles like clay when warm, but is hard as plastic when cool. Though neither a clay nor a wax it exhibits the best properties of both. 
It will never dry out. It is light, strong and completely self supporting. It does not need an armature, regardless of the size of the piece. It can be machined at low speed or slow feed, or with water as a cutting fluid. It can be filed, sanded and polished.
It produces perfect bubble free castings and has finishing properties superior to any wax on the market today. It was designed to replace all finish waxes and eliminate the need for creating waste molds. 
Cx5 is proudly manufactured by Adam Beane Industries in the USA, with environmentally responsible ingredients.
Cx5 is coming to market this year, 2011. Sign up for the mailing list to get release date announcements.

This Friday! The Printed Page at Arcadia Boutique!

For anyone who has never been to an opening at Arcadia, an eco friendly clothing boutique in Northern Liberities, you have been missing out! They are a family of serious art lovers and collectors and they know how to throw down and celebrate what they love. Not to mention that Ali will also be celebrating Arcadia's 4th birthday (congrats!!!) so its sure to be even more exciting! So stop by this Friday night and check out The Printed Page, a group show curated by Gretchen Diehl! I have a piece in the show, so Justin, Olivia and I will be there!

Kickstarter Video

So let me start by saying that Justin and I have NO video making experience at all (and it shows, no?) so we decided that we could atleast have fun with it, which we did...the tons of takes (most of which were ruined by outbursts of laughter or Olivia smooshing her face up to the screen) were fun, we got to show a bit of what we do, Justin got to beatbox (yay!) and we wore funny hats at the end (though my cat ears were cut off in the video...just imagine them there as you watch it. Fortunately Justin's flower headband comes in clear as a bell...!) It shows who we are as people (funny, weird and a bit nerdish), and we got to show ourselves as a family too (and Olivia got to stick ear buds up her nose...clearly a win-win for all involved). We are already $175 closer to our goal thanks to Josh, Luke and Alx (thanks guys!!!) and hope to raise it all in the 30 days. We'll keep you posted! 'Til then, if you haven't seen the video yet, enjoy!

Kickstarter Launched! 30 days of awesomeness!

 

Our Kickstarter page has (finally) launched! Click on this link to check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/philasculpturegym/philadelphia-sculpture-gym

Feel free to share widely and tell everyone you know. We need all the help we can get and have 30 days to raise the funds (eeek!)

%!$&#^*@?!!! Kickstarter Fail...

So when getting everything ready for our Kickstarter page, I neglected to notice that sometimes Amazon payments (this is who processes the funds for all Kickstarter projects) will take 5-7 days (!!!!!) to verify your bank account!!! Needless to say I've been cursing a blue streak for the past few hours (Olivia! Ear muffs!) I'll be obsessively checking to see if the account has been verified and will post the Kickstarter link as soon as it is. In the mean time, I'm going to post a sneak peek of our Kickstarter rewards to hold everyone over. Sorry for the technical difficulties...

Sneak Peek: Kickstarter Rewards!

Here are the rewards that will be offered through our Kickstarter page...woo hoo!:

$5 - A THANK YOU shout out featuring your name on the donor page of our website and blog and a Philadelphia Sculpture Gym image for the desktop of your computer.

THANK YOU (insert your name here) !!!

$10 - All of the $5 rewards + a 3" Philadelphia Sculpture Gym sticker for your car, laptop, favorite telephone pole, forehead (or someone else’s forehead), etc.

$15 - All of the $5 + $10 rewards + a Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Coffee mug for containing your beverage of choice.

$25 - All the $5 + $10 rewards + YOUR CHOICE of:
a) A Philadelphia Sculpture Gym 100% Cotton T-Shirt (S, M, L, XL)
b) A Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Tote bag
OR c) A one day membership pass to the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym when we open (Yay!)



$50 - All the $5 + $10 rewards + YOUR CHOICE of:
a) A small cast plaster sculpture by Darla or Justin
OR b) A one week membership to the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym when we open (Double yay!)

 $100 - All the $5 + $10 rewards + YOUR CHOICE of:
a) An invitation to our Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Holiday party in December, with a special surprise gift!
OR b) A one month membership to the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym when we open (Super yay!)

$250 - All the $5 + $10 rewards + A one of a kind 3" high sculpture by Darla or Justin AND a private tour of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym (when we open) and our personal studios.

$500 - All the $5 + $10 rewards + A 12" diameter plaster relief sculpture of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym logo.

 

$1000 - PATRON: All the $5 + $10 rewards + An invitation to our member’s only opening celebration for a chance to meet the artists who will be using the space.

$1250 - A GIVE BACK REWARD! All the $5 + $10 rewards + A scholarship for a 1 year membership and safety training course will be given to an artist in need in your name!

$1500 -  BENEFACTOR: All the $5 + $10 rewards + Have a work bench or major piece of equipment in the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym named after you or your business!

$2000 - QUARTERLY SCULPTURE CLUB! All the $5 + $10 rewards + You'll be sent a small sculpture once every 3 months for a year. Each sculpture will be done by a member of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym.

$2500 - ONLY 1 AVAILABLE!! - All the $5 + $10 rewards + The first spent table saw blade will be signed by all current members of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym and sent to you as a unique memento of our thanks!

TODAY IS THE DAY! KICKSTARTER LINK COMING SOON!

We are finishing up some things on our Kickstarter page and are trying to make it as fancy (and fun) as possible. We will post the link both here and on our Facebook page and Twitter as soon as we are finished (which will be this evening-ish). Please feel free to tell EVERYONE you know. We are super excited and hope that you guys like what we've put together.

We would also like to give a shout out to Apple for inventing iMovie, without which we would not be ready to launch our Kickstarter page for atleast another 20 years or so.

Save the Date: POST - October 15th and 16th!

Justin and I will be opening our studio as part of the Philadelphia Open Studio Tours this year. We moved into a temporary space earlier this month (photos yet to come...its still just piles of stuff) that will be our art making home until we secure a location for the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym. Please feel free to come and check out the space, introduce yourselves, ask questions about our art or the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym and partake in the snacking/drinking (last year we had SNAP and Apple Cider and it was amazing!!!)

Our studio is currently located at 1513 N. Hancock Street in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. We'll have our studio open from 12-6pm on Saturday October 15th and Sunday October 16th.

Our Kickstarter fund will also end on the 16th, so hopefully we will be there celebrating and would love you to join us!

Check out our pages on the POST website for more info and a map!

Darla Jackson
Justin Grant

Kickstarter Countdown: This Thursday!

 

Stay tuned to the blog for the launch of our Kickstarter page this Thursday! We'll be offering a ton of great rewards in exchange for your donations, including Philadelphia Sculpture Gym t-shirts, totebags, memberships, sculpture and more! Just in case you haven't heard of Kickstarter, here's a bit more info from their website:



Kickstarter is focused on creative projects. We're a great way for artists, filmmakers, musicians, designers, writers, illustrators, explorers, curators, performers, and others to bring their projects, events, and dreams to life.

The word “project” is just as important as “creative” in defining what works on Kickstarter. A project is something finite with a clear beginning and end. Someone can be held accountable to the framework of a project — a project was either completed or it wasn’t — and there are definable expectations that everyone can agree to. This is imperative for every Kickstarter project.

We know there are a lot of great projects that fall outside of our scope, but Kickstarter is not a place for soliciting donations to causes, charity projects, or general business expenses. Learn more about our project guidelines.

Why donate to a Kickstarter Fund?

REWARDS! Project creators inspire people to open their wallets by offering smart, fun, and tangible rewards (products, benefits, and experiences).
STORIES! Kickstarter projects are efforts by real people to do something they love, something fun, or at least something of note. These stories unfold through blog posts, pics, and videos as people bring their ideas to life. Take a peek around the site and see what we're talking about. Stories abound.

All or nothing funding?

Every Kickstarter project must be fully funded before its time expires or no money changes hands.


For more info on Backing a Pledge, visit Kickstarter's FAQ page. Check page here Thursday for the link to our Kickstarter Page!

Warren Angle

 

I was really sad to hear that Warren Angle passed away this past Friday. He was an awesome guy and an important part of the Philadelphia art scene. He will be missed immensely.

 

TONIGHT: APS and PS events

Tonight is full of fabulous things to do!

First up, at the American Philosophical Society:

Grand Opening Reception for the Greenhouse Projects

APS Museum

APS Jefferson Garden (105 S. 5th St.)

Philadelphia, PA

Opening Reception:

September 9, 2011, 7:00 - 8:30 pm

 A striking greenhouse for the 21st century grows in the American Philosophical Society’s (APS) garden near the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets. Digitally designed and constructed of recycled and recyclable materials, it’s the centerpiece of The Greenhouse Projects, a series of inter-related programs that debut on September 9, 2011.

Next, Philadelphia Sculptors at UArts:

Opposites Attract

September 9 - October 13, 2011
The University of the Arts
Philadelphia, PA
Opening Reception:
Friday, September 9, 5:00 – 8:00 pm

“Opposites Attract,” Philadelphia Sculptors’ Fall, 2011 exhibition will take place at The University of the Arts on South Broad Street in Philadelphia. Mounted in two galleries, the Sculpture Gallery in Hamilton Hall, 320 S. Broad St., and Gallery 224 in Anderson Hall, 333 S. Broad St., the exhibition will be on view from September 6 – October 13, 2011 with a public opening reception on Friday, September 9 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm. A live performance of music and poetry will be presented during the opening at 6 pm at Gallery 224.

In “Opposites Attract” sculptors are paired with artists working in other disciplines, or with practitioners of a completely different discipline, to create a new synergistic art form. Some artists are collaborating to create a new work of art together, while others are presenting two different works incorporating a unifying concept. The resulting art works provide new insights into the relationship between two disparate forms of expression. Non-sculpture disciplines in the exhibition include poetry, musical composition and performance, photography, video, painting, printmaking, computer graphics, biology, mechanics, and electronics.

Collaborative installations include an original opera filmed and projected onto a sculpture, a floor of rising and falling plastic water bottles, a room full of blowing plastic bags, and life-size dancing marionettes. Other creative collaborations pair 3D and 2D political art from America and France, 2D and 3D images of war casualties, and linear images of nature presented in different media.

The artists in the show are: Milt Friedly, Deanna Nikaido, James Haines, and Paula Nelson; James Fuhrman and Mark Warhol; Melissa Maddonni Haims and Deborah Leavy; Cheryl Harper and Denis Gaydier; Frances Heinrich and Alan Kesselhaut; Monica Kane and Maxine Feldman-Cohen; Leslie Kaufman and Mitch Weiss; Elizabeth Mackie and Kaitlyn Paston; Diane Marimow and Madeline Adams; Joan Menapace and Leesha Star; William Middleton and Dr. Mindy Weinstein; Lisa Nanni and James Elbrecht; Olga Nielsen and Heather Siple; Ian Paterson and Andrew Murray; Janis Pinkston and Carolyn Davis; Joanna Platt and Jenna Hannum; Jean Plough and June Blumberg; Colleen Rudolf and Ted Carey; Gabrielle Silverlight and Brian Hamilton; Holly Smith and Howard Neifeld; Karen Smith and Valerie Huhn; Simone Spicer and Don D'Egidio

The Sculpture Gallery is located on the ground floor of Hamilton Hall, 320 S. Broad Street, and Gallery 224 is across the street, on the 2nd floor of Anderson Hall, 333 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia. Gallery hours during the exhibition are Monday – Friday, 8:30 – 5:00. In addition, both galleries will be open during the Philadelphia Open Studios Tour on Saturday, Oct. 1 and Sunday, Oct. 2 from noon – 6 pm.

 

PSG Intern Search!

We are on the hunt for an intern for the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym...Interested? Here's what you need to know:

An internship at the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym means you'll help us with all aspects of starting up a business (more specifically, a business that is like if a gym, a wood shop, a metal shop and a foundry had a baby. Yup...its like that.) More specifically, the intern will be assisting with computer related things, such as emails, social media and paperwork, assisting with fund-raising, hunting down equipment/tools and similar things, taking occasional trips to weird old warehouses and other exciting places like Fazzio's (You've never been? Stop everything and go right now!)
If (ahem, I mean when) we secure a location, we will also need assistance moving things in and setting up the new space. Basically, you'll get a ton of random experience in all of the above categories and the chance to meet and work with sculptors in the area.

What you'll need:
- Some computer skills (ie familiarity with using Twitter and Facebook, blogging, emailing, etc.)
- Transportation to the Fishtown area of Philadelphia (Easily accessible by car, bike, or Septa)
- Some knowledge of tools (ie you know what a bandsaw/welder/chopsaw/hammer is.) You don't need to know how to operate them (well maybe you should know how to use a hammer.)
- Common sense, a good work ethic, self motivation, a good attitude, willingness to listen, learn and ask questions and flexibility.

For bonus points:
- Someone who makes stuff. (You need not be a sculptor, but a maker of things is a plus)
- Photoshop/video skills.

This is an unpaid position but we will compensate you with one day at the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym (once we open) in return for every day you've worked. Additionally, you may be eligible to earn college credit depending on your college's internship criteria.
We are looking for someone to work 1-3 days per week for 4-6 hours each day. Schedule can vary from week to week but we prefer a fairly regular schedule.

Still interested? Email us at philadelphiasculpturegym[at]gmail.com for more details.

Image from here

CFEVA Workshop - Documenting your Artwork and Career

Just in case you haven't heard of CFEVA (Center for Emerging Visual Artists), I wanted to post this upcoming workshop they are having on documenting your artwork and career. Their workshops are always full of useful info and are usually packed, so I suggest signing up ASAP if you are interested!

More locations...

We've checked out 2 new spaces in the past 2 weeks and both had their own appeal...

The Old Weapon Factory

Photos to come...They are stuck in Justin's iPhone and we can't find the cord...technology be damned! 

This space was simultaneously overwhelming and amazing. The potential here is huge...hell the space is huge! It has 20 ft high ceilings and a giant bridge crane that runs the length of the space. There's an indoor loading dock and large shared space/common area. There is also a bar/lounge area (?) with a stage (??!) which was random and unexpected, yet kind of amazing. The light was nonexistent because the windows were bricked up, but nothing that couldn't be fixed if we choose this space.

Globe Dye Works
 

 

This space is beautiful and light filled, even on a gray day like today. And the wood floor was amazing. One issue, however, is that this space is on the 3rd floor of the building and although it has freight elevators and a large entryway, we're concerned that this would limit the size of things that people can make.

Weekend Recap: PMA event

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Just wanted to share a few photos from my Surprise Party installation that was part of the Fourth Wall Arts event at the PMA Friday night.

 

We also made some changes to the blog over the weekend and are working on a new website (feel free to check it out by clicking the button to the right). We're still finishing up with the tweaking so please excuse any chaos you may see here over the next few days!

Please excuse our appearance while we tidy up a bit!

End of Summer Craziness

So it's September 1st (already?!) and we are a bit behind in our blogging due to an insane last minute studio move (tons of stuff in 3 days...I don't wish that on anyone!). We apologize for the lack of posts but promise to resume full blast next week. And that Kickstarter page that was supposed to launch today? Stay tuned...it's coming (most likely on September 15 or thereabout) and we are super excited about it.
But again, please forgive us...we are just 2 real people, who have a baby and an insane amount of things that needed to be moved from point A to point B with a quickness. Photos of our spaces, both new and old, to come next week! In the meantime have an amazing holiday weekend, whether you are sculpting, relaxing, boozing, grilling, canoeing, beaching, chilling...whatever you're doing have fun and be safe!