THIS SATURDAY! Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, Trenton Avenue Arts Fest and PSG BBQ!!!

 

It's here! The Trenton Avenue Arts Fest and Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby!

Come out this Saturday for this amazing duo of events. Here's what's happening:

- We'll have a booth over on Trenton Avenue from 12-5pm with some demos and info about PSG. 

We'll also have stuff for sale and info on our upcoming classes!

- We are a sponsor of the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby so keep an eye out for our PSG judge representative, Andrew Wilkinson!

- The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Gallery is having a reception for our 2nd Annual Charter Member Exhibition from 12-5pm! We'll also be giving tours of the space!

- From 12-1pm the PSG side yard will be a spectator spot for the parade of derby vehicles and we'll be doing a potluck BBQ! Bring a snack to share with your fellow lovers of sculpture!

Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!!!

Even more photos from Saturday!!!

Thanks to Jenny Welsh for taking these photos!

 

  

 

This one is Charter Member Michael Konrad's piece!

 

 

 

More Photos from Saturday...

Thanks to Jenifer Stern for taking these photos!

THANK YOU!

Wow. Just wow. This Saturday was an amazing day...a huge thanks to everyone who came out to see our spaces (both the booth at Trenton Ave and the Charter Member Show at the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym.) I continue to be amazed and overwhelmed at all the support...from the amazing people who volunteer with us to the Charter Members who have signed up with us to the random passerby who say "That's a great idea! Good luck" and everyone in between. Thanks again, so much, for everything. 

Here are a few shots I took of our Trenton Ave Arts Festival booth (more and more photos to come):

 

And at the end of the day, while Gus and I were waiting for Justin to pick us up with the car, this guy showed up and balanced a bike on his face...it was the perfect end to a perfect day!

 

 

ONE YEAR!

 Trenton Ave Arts Fest 2011

So tomorrow marks one year of being officially out in the world, telling people about the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym! Our first event was the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival last year (which I had signed up for after finding out I won a Knight Arts Challenge Grant but before they announced the winners so it was hysterically top secret..."Zak and Krista, I want to sign up for a booth for TAAF but I can't tell you what for...".) In the past year we've: searched for and found a building, became an official business, ran a successful Kickstarter campaign, met our Knight Arts Challenge funding match, been featured on TheAtlanticCities.com, FlyingKiteMedia.com, Temple News Online, WHYY, The City Paper, Philadelphia Business Journal, and most recently, Grid Magazine, had a great Moldmaking workshop at NextFab, joined forces with fellow maker groups in the city, worked on our space relentlessly, hosted a launch party for Spodee Wine and tomorrow are opening the gallery with our first show of work by our fabulous and amazing Charter members...Whew! It has certainly been a whirlwind and we COULD NOT have done it without the help of everyone along the way...Thank you so much for your advice, your time, your suggestions, your donations, your help and your support. Every time I think about how much everyone has helped us along the way, I start to tear up (Like I am right now! Happy tears!) and am overwhelmed by the support. This has really been the most amazing journey so far and it's only just started. We are so excited to create the space, but we are even more excited for the community that has grown out of it. Here's to the next year and to everyone who has helped us get through the first one! Thanks for everything!

This Saturday! Charter Member Exhibition Opening Reception!

 Gallery during the Spodee Launch Party. 

Work by Gustavo Actis, Terri Aluise, Darla Jackson and Jennifer Welsh.

This Saturday is the opening reception for our Charter Member Exhibition! The opening will take place from 12-6pm, during the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival and the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby!
Come see our space and the first show of work by our amazing Charter Members: Gustavo Actis, Terri Aluise, Joshua Parker Coombs, Justin Grant, Darla Jackson, Michael Konrad, Stephen Millner, Jedediah Morfit and Jennifer Welsh!

You'll also get a chance to take a tour of the space and ask any questions you might have! Looking forward to seeing everyone!

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...!

Apply Now: Spring Craft Bazaar(s)

Wow. May is going to be a very busy month in Philly in terms of craft fairs and events! I just got this email about a Greensgrow Farms Spring Craft Bazaar on May 5th. Also remember to check out the Art Star Craft Bazaar on May 12/13th and the Trenton Avenue Arts Fest/Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby on May 19th. All of these events are still accepting vendors so if interested apply now!

Registration for Trenton Ave Arts Festival Now Open!

The Trenton Avenue Arts Festival was our first event last year and we had an AMAZING time meeting everyone and getting the word out about the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym. We're really looking forward to participating again this year! It's a great event with a huge crowd, held in conjunction with the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby! Any artists looking for a great place to set up and sell your work for a day should definitely check it out! More info from Krista and Zak below!

Vendors, Neighbors and Supporters,

We're excited to announce that vendor registration for the 7th Annual Trenton Avenue Arts Festival is now open! On the right had side of the blog you'll find PDFs for artist vendors, food vendors and non-profit/organization vendors. Please complete and mail in the registration form specific to you, your business or group. All local artists, crafters, orgs, galleries, collectives and eateries are welcome to apply!

This years festival will again feature the incredible 6th Annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby and all the fun will take place Saturday May 19th 2012 from 12pm – 6pm. Last year, the festival attracted 10,000+ attendees to over 200 + booths. The Trenton Avenue Arts Festival (TAAF) celebrates East Kensington's incredible mix of local artists, musicians, and eateries. It raises funds for wonderful neighborhood projects and revitalization and is held on Trenton Avenue, a wide-open cobblestone street that has been part of Kensington’s rich creative history for over a hundred years.

Please email us here at eknaartsfest@gmail.com if you have any other questions, or if you would like to volunteer.

Also, be sure to check out our Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Trenton-Avenue-Arts-Festival/128201053913922

Thank you so much, and see you for the fun in May!

Sincerely,
Krista Peel and Zak Starer
TAAF Coordinators

--
Trenton Avenue Arts Festival 2012
Saturday, May 19th
http://trentonaveartsfest.blogspot.com/

hosted by the East Kensington Neighbors Association!
EKNA.org

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.