Monday, April 30, 2012

Then and Now

We made some great progress this weekend! A huge thanks to Brynn, Gus and Seren for all your help!!! The gallery walls are sealed, the ceiling and plaster walls are primed, the bathrooms are back, and the kitchenette is shaping up. Here are a few more Before and After (during really) photos to give you an idea of how things are coming along in the gallery:

BEFORE


AFTER



 BEFORE


BEFORE
 

AFTER
 


BEFORE


AFTER
 

The gallery walls still need the big white panels we're putting onto the brick for hanging work on (there will be an 8' x 8' panel and an 8' x 12' panel, both backed with plywood, because really, who wants to hang on brick? No one.)  You'll see a perimeter of brick around the panels, because this old brick was so amazing that we couldn't bear to cover it over...


Hope everyone had a productive weekend!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

Fancy fancy!


If you happen to be taking the El and see one of these signs, stop and take a look! The Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby and Trenton Avenue Arts Festival are coming soon (Saturday, May 19th!) and we are so excited! We'll have a booth at the Trenton Ave Arts Festival (come say hi!), we are an official sponsor of the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby (Holla, fellow Knight Arts Challenge winner 2011 edition!) AND we'll have the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym open to the public for the opening reception of our Charter Member Exhibition! Whew! Stay tuned for more details...!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Philly Painting has begun!

I was happy to get to meet Dre of Haas & Hahn on Monday night at the Knight Arts Challenge Winners event and talk to him a bit about the Philly Painting project that he's working on with the Mural Arts Program. They've started work on the project and I cannot wait to see the outcome. I plan to go check out the progress and will post more info here when I do. It's so great to see things like this taking place in the neighborhood...Be sure to check out their favela painting project, if you haven't seen it already.


Philly Painting is a giant neighborhood beautification project set in North Philadelphia, around the Germantown and Lehigh Avenues. The goal is to mobilize the community to completely transform the commercial corridor and bring a new look to their neighborhood: A social and artistic experiment of urban acupuncture, beautification, and economic stimulus of unprecedented scale.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Art in Our House: Bedroom

We're artists, so we like art (shocking, I know). We've got quite a bit of it around the house that has been gathered over the years. Everything here is from people we know and love. These pieces are all in our bedroom...and if I get around to it, I'll do the rest of the house at some point. (Forgive the photos...they don't do the art justice...I've included links to the artists websites for better photos of the pieces when possible.)


This piece was one I fell in love with during a show Aubrie and I had together. I was over the moon when we got it as a wedding present!

 Margaux and I have a tally going for trading art back and forth (yes, its true). I am currently in the negative and need to get her some new art before she sends someone to come break my legs ;) I love her Iceland series and am happy to look at this piece every day when I wake up.


So this photo does this piece not a bit of good, other than to show that when people walk by it they don't immediately notice that there is anything on the paper at all. The photo below shows a bit more of whats going on here...the word 'hypothermia' is painted (in gouache I believe?) in a beautiful script and then mirrored and painted again, so the words are hard to read, but come off as more decorative. (His thoughts were about the romanticized writings of arctic explorers and all the horrible things they were going through on their journeys.) It was a piece from Matt's show at the University City Arts League, Lost in Clouds, and the whole show was amazing. I believe it was the first time I was actually obsessed with getting a piece of art. Matt and I traded for this piece and I love it so.

 

I traded Danielle a Julian French easel for this piece while still at Moore and have not regretted that trade a bit.


Michael McGraw
Mike tracks mating patterns and habitats of wildlife and his beautiful photos are a happy by-product of the job. I remember the first time I saw them, I was blown away by how amazing they were.


These are actually silver hair pins that I put in this glass vase and have kept them on display ever since (except when they are being worn!)

Laura and I also have a long standing trade thing going...She is the first person I had ever traded art with, and I hope we keep going until we are old and gray. This is a print from a show that she and I were in together at Moore College and I've just always loved it. I also had the pleasure of meeting the ladies in the photo (the one with the belly and the one in the belly) and they are both fabulous!

PennDesign Conversation: Simon Kim and The Dufala Brothers


Thursday, April 26th, 2012, 6:30pm 
at the ICA
118 South 36th Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19104-3289.

Imagine an alternative use for vacant lots and scrap yards. ICA Assistant Curator Kate Kraczon moderates a conversation between Simon Kim, PennDesign Assistant Professor of Architecture, and artists Billy and Steven Dufala about their respective reclamation projects, Philadelphia Masque and RAIR (Recycled Artist-in-Residency).

For more info visit icaphila.org

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Info on PSG Charter Memberships


A lot of people have been asking for more details on the Charter Membership so here is some more info!

How does it work? Charter Memberships are being offered until we open. If you sign up with us now, you will get a Full Time Membership at the discounted rate of $100/month for the life of your membership.  (The regular full time membership rate will be $225/month once we open.)

What does that mean? This allows you unlimited access to our woodworking, metalworking, mold making and casting shops during our proposed hours of operation, 11am-11pm, 7 days per week. 

Am I locked into a contract? Nope. You can stop your membership at any time. The only thing is that if your membership lapses and you decide to rejoin later, you'll have to rejoin at the regular rate.

Well what about that safety training course? Charter members get the safety training course for free! (The safety training course is normally $50 and includes personal safety equipment.)

What if I'm a student? You get a 25% discount on our Charter Membership rate with a valid student ID. Your monthly rate will be $75/month until you graduate, then it will switch over to the regular Charter Member rate of $100/month.

What are some other benefits of being a Charter Member? Our Charter Members get a 10% discount on classes, lectures and storage, free entry into all juried shows, multiple member show opportunities per year, a 70/30 split for all gallery sales (60/40 for non-members),  access to free workshops, links to your website on our blog/website, inclusion in our member artist registry, a members only newsletter and a built in community of awesome co-members.

What if I don't know how to use the equipment? We'll offer multiple opportunities for you to get comfortable on the equipment, starting with the safety training course. Shop monitors will always be there to guide you when questions come up or assistance is needed. Or if you think you just need more time, there will be low cost, small group lessons on wood and metal shop basics. Or if you'd like more one on one time, you can sign up for low cost personal training sessions. We want to make sure that everyone is comfortable on the equipment and using it properly, so we're always there if you need help!

Do I have to be a sculptor? Nope. Everyone and anyone is welcome...artists, crafters, makers, DIYers, hobbyists, and more. If you need a wood shop, metal shop or mold making and casting area to make whatever it is you make, or plan to make, come on down...

How do I sign up!?! Visit www.philadelphiasculpturegym.com and click on 'charter memberships' in the top toolbar to download the membership form. Send in the filled out form with your check (this covers your first month of membership) and we'll sign you up!  We're already 10 Charter Members strong! Woooo!

All Charter Members signing up before May 1st will be included in our Charter Member Exhibition in the PSG Gallery! Drop off dates are May 5th/6th and the opening reception is Saturday, May 19th, 12-6pm, during the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby!

Have more questions? Send us an email at philadelphiasculpturegym[at]gmail.com

Knight Arts Challenge 2012 Winners!

I am so excited about the winners of this years Knight Arts Challenge! We went to the event last night at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and were overwhelmed by the amazing ideas that are now going to be made possible in Philadelphia! Congrats to our friends Georgia Guthrie from The Hacktory, Sean Stoops, Fleisher Art Memorial, CFEVA, Asian Arts Initiative, Little Berlin, Moore College and the many, many more fabulous recipients! As Emma from Tiny Dynamite (a fellow 2011 winner) said, It's truly a life changing experience, which I can absolutely attest to. The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym was made possible by a Knight Arts Challenge Grant and I am forever grateful to have been given this opportunity. A huge congrats to this years winners...you are all about to have your lives changed!

For a full list of winners visit www.KnightArts.org!



Monday, April 23, 2012

May Events...Save the Date(s)


May is coming up so fast! (!!) Be sure to come check us out at the above events! And we'll have more details on the Charter Member show coming up soon! (So exciting!)

Happy half birthday O'Rae!


Today O'Rae turns 2 1/2...wow. Love this little lady so much...

Photo by the fabulous Laura Graham

Weekend Recap!

First a HUGE thanks to everyone who helped out this weekend (Seren, Molly, Patrick, Gus, and Jenny! We love you guys!) and another thanks to everyone who came to the potluck!!

And there's a bit of a back track here are we've been a bit busy...

On Thursday Justin, Terri, Olivia and I headed over to the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym to meet a photographer. Olivia may not make it into any of the finished photos because she was not havin' it.


Don't let this cute face fool you! She was a screamin', cryin' mess, poor kid.


Thursday night we headed to the NextFab 2 preview party. We got to see their new space, check out the show and meet new people. (I spent a good part of the evening talking about raising chickens which was sooooo exciting. I've been dying to get some...Justin on the other hand...not so much.) Congrats guys! We can't wait to see the finished space!



On Friday Olivia and I stopped by Trinity Framing to see the Peg and Awl window display and we happened to meet a cat named Early that had 5 extra toes...this picture does not fully do this cat's toes justice. I, of course, forgot to take any photos of the window display, but it's great and I suggest you head down to 701 South 3rd Street for a look!


I spent Saturday and Sunday divided between painting in the Sculpture Gym and running errands with O'Rae (giant Home Depot shopping trip with a 2.5 year old...yikes.) The potluck was great though chasing O'Rae around left less time for eating food than I liked...I did manage to snag some apple pie though!


Look at all that light coming in the back now...Love it!


Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Before/After


I know I've mentioned the stuccoed over old doors before (again, why anyone would do this is beyond me!) but this time its to say one of them is outta here! Here are before and after shots of the Blair Street door (forgive the after...it was dark out when I first got to see it) It's so nice to have a large entry way in the space!!!! Come check it out at our potluck this Saturday!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Fillin' holes and makin' niceness...


This little concrete slab (see below for some before shots) was a hot mess before...with a gaping hole under it and all kinds of crap that someone thought would be a good idea to stick in the concrete...like multiple ceramic plates and odd chunks of random things...And not to mention the fact that it looked like a drunken monkey did the "repair" work on the slab years and years ago. (See that crazy slant in the picture below? So bad...) So I used a rotary hammer to get rid of most of the wonky edge (Thanks to Gus for finishing it up last weekend!) and then Justin built a form around the slab and filled it in with new concrete, which is how we ended up with the beautiful specimen you see in the above photo.


Here I am using a rotary hammer on that crazy edge...

  
And here you can kind of see the craziness that was the front of the slab...sheesh.

Potluck this Saturday!


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Some progress...


Justin and I don't often get to work on the space together...we take turns watching Olivia and occasionally we are lucky enough to have one of our parents watch her. Yesterday Justin's mom (aka Gramma) had her for a few hours while we spent some time during the day in the space (we were supposed to be getting a garage door put in but we found out mid-day that it got pushed back until tomorrow...). Justin built a form to hold some concrete that needed pouring and I patched walls and started painting the ceiling in the gallery. All the little things are adding up, which is exciting...!


Justin hanging out on the "veranda"...
 

 Our view out the back...


A peek of the patched wall in the front corner of the gallery...
 

And a start on painting the gallery ceiling (I still have paint in my hair...)

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Kids and art...


It's no surprise that once you have a kid, everything changes in some way...but it's (sort of) up to you how much it changes...


I am a (ahem) very stubborn person when it comes to certain things and giving up making art was NEVER an option in my book (though if I had a dollar for every person who said "There goes your art career!" while I was pregnant, I would never need to work again...for the record, never say that to a pregnant woman...or to anyone. It's rude.) Needless to say I am still making art and I am happy to say Olivia is a big fan of sculpture and art in general.


That's not to say its not difficult at times (I am specifically thinking of hauling furniture in and out of my show at the Philadelphia Art Alliance with a small child strapped to my back...and at the Thinkspace opening where Olivia cried to the point of hyperventilating...) but you find ways to make it work... It wasn't until the second baby (aka the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym...yes, we think of this as our 2nd child...without the diapers.) that things got a little hectic in my art making life. I feel like I am always at the computer or at the space and between Olivia and the business, making my own work has gotten tough...but again this stubborness is kicking in and I am making due by sculpting at the kitchen table and casting things in my bathtub. Ideal, no. Necessary, yes. Not making art is still not an option (we're making a place to make art, for god's sake!) so I balance...again, not easy, but I think that when Olivia grows up, she will remember sitting at the kitchen table with her mom making all kinds of things...pies, cakes, bread, weird rabbit sculpture...and a business...and I hope that makes her proud.


Monday, April 16, 2012

Weekend Recap

We had a very busy, yet very productive weekend! Friday started off with an opening at Fleisher and a party at Paper Box Studios...


The fabulous Aubrie Costello in front of her work in Softer Edges: Fiber Art in the Urban Environment at Fleisher.

We then headed over to Paper Box Studios to check out the finished space, which looks amazing. Huge congrats to Leo!


This room has tin ceiling and wall panels and is awesome.


Love the old details of the building that were kept.


Family portrait...

Saturday and Sunday were spent in the Sculpture Gym, with Justin and I swapping out so one of us could hang with Olivia. Saturday we had tons of help from Brynn, Jon, Gus and Molly and Sunday Brynn and Gus came back for more, and Jenny joined in. You guys are amazing! We love you!


Justin took some time Saturday night to organize the freezer, which is amazing because all this stuff was just strewn about on the floor.


Sunday AM light in the gallery...


Patched...


Mid-priming...


And now its a collection...


Amazing tool donation!


And another donation...a mini brake...


And a radial arm saw...

Olivia and I spent Sunday at Margaux and Walter's to celebrate Søren's birthday! 


She loved the woodshop...


So cute...


Peeking inside the shop...


Robot boots and sparkle shoes...love it.


And then there was the kangaroo pinata that may have inspired some new work...mmm....

Hope everyone had a great weekend!