Weekend Recap

Whew...what a busy weekend!

First we did the Kimmel Center Summer Solstice event on Saturday...(Check back tomorrow for photos of our set up). A huge thanks to everyone who came out!!

Next up was the Wharton Esherick Museum as a Father's Day Surprise for Justin on Sunday...If you've never been, we HIGHLY suggest you check it out. The drive to Paoli is beautiful and its such an amazing space. Justin had never been so Olivia and I made it happen...



Any woodworkers should check out their woodworking competition here. This year's theme is clocks. All entries are due July 1st (yikes!) so if you're interested you better get on it asap! Good luck! (Anyone who enters, send us a photo of your piece....we'll post it on the blog!)

And then we came home and Justin tore out a landing and some steps in our living room (he didn't take any photos but there were ATLEAST 50 pieces of wood making up those stairs, with tons of tiny pieces stuck here and there. It was like ghetto rigging from both the early 1920s and the 1980s...2 layers of atrocity!) Needless to say we were dragging a bit this morning but it was all worth it...!

AFTER: Where the landing/stairs used to be and the hot mess we are left with...
Notice that some genius cut through half of 2 of the steps...
this was to make way for an air return at some point, yo back when...

Check back tomorrow to see who won the free 1 month membership from the Kimmel Center event and for a chance to win a a free 1 week membership!

images from here, here and here

Summer Solstice Event at the Kimmel Center

This Saturday, June 18th the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym will be at the Kimmel Center from 12-6pm promoting our soon to be space, our sculpture, and POST! Our table will be inside the Kimmel Center on Tier 1 or 2 (if we find out exactly where, we will let you know!)
Stop by to enter for a chance to win a free 1 month membership (you are still eligible to enter again even if you entered at Trenton Ave Arts Fest...Just let us know you already filled out a questionnaire and we'll just put your name in), or to make a tax deductible donation to the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym Fund (to match the grant we were given by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation). We'll also have Philadelphia Sculpture Gym t-shirts and tote bags available!!

The entire event runs from 12 until 2:30am (!!) so come on by anytime on Saturday! Check out the Kimmel Center's website for a full list of events.

We hope to see you there!

Sculpture, Sculpture Everywhere...and Last Chance for POST

Donald De Lue, Justice, 1940

This morning on the way back to the car from an appointment, we stopped to look at the Donald De Lue reliefs on the 9th Street Post Office building at 9th and Chestnut. I sometimes forget how much sculpture Philadelphia has hiding throughout the city... (741 sculptures, fountains, mosaics and memorials according to www.philart.net...wow!) We'll periodically post some here and there as we see them when we're out and about...you, know, because we like sculpture and all...

The couple who gives blood together, stays together...awwww....

Oh! And anyone who was thinking about signing up for POST this year, you have not missed your chance! The deadline has been extended until June 15th!!! Sign up, and even if you don't have a studio, they can help you find a space to show in! Justin and I will be participating this year so save the date! (October 15th-16th!)

We'll also be promoting POST and the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym at the Summer Solstice festival at the Kimmel Center this Saturday, June 18th! Come back tomorrow for more details!

This weekend: Art in the Open and Art for the Cash Poor

This weekend check out the fabulous art events happening in the city: Art in the Open (see below post for details) and Art for the Cash Poor 12.

From Inliquid.com:

InLiquid's Art for the Cash Poor is a fabulous annual party and art sale that allows art lovers the chance to meet artists, see their work first-hand, and begin or add to their art collections without breaking the bank -- all in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. A wide range of our region's best artists will be selling items priced at $199 or less, with much priced well under $100.

Where
The Crane Arts Building 1400 N. American Street MAP

When
Saturday, June 11, 2011, noon - 6 pm
Sunday, June 12, 2011, noon - 6 pm
rain or shine

We'll be back Monday...Have a great weekend!!!

Art in the Open 2011

This week check out Art in the Open, a citywide event that celebrates artists, their inspirations for creating art, and their relationships with the urban environment.

Art in the Open debuted in June 2010, bringing a selected group of artists to the Schuylkill Banks - from the historic Fairmount Water Works to Bartram's Garden - to inspire new ways of seeing the river and the city it runs through.

For four days, June 9-12, 2011 a juried selection of artists will again work outside in a creative process open to everyone.

Looking for sculpture? Check out the installations by four Philadelphia Sculptors members: Susan Hogan, Leslie Kaufman, Carole Loeffler, and Elizabeth Mackie

Check out www.artintheopenphila.org for more details.

Full participant list includes Nancy Agati, Cynthia Back, Michael Bartmann, Joan Becker, Ellen K. Bonett, Harry Bower, Barbara Broughel, Brussels Collective, Zoe Cohen, Nic Coviello, Brian Dennis, Laure Drogoul, Arpie Gennetian Najarian, Amber Ginsburg and Rebecca Keller, Andrew J. Harrison, Ana B. Hernandez and Russell Mahoney, Susan Hogan, Emeka Ikebude, Leslie Kaufman, Georges Le Chevallier, Carole Loeffler, Chloris Lowe, Elizabeth Mackie, Virginia Maksymowicz, S. Zachary Martin, Sarah Jackson Moore, Peter Nein, Anna G. Norton, Francesca Pfister, Carol Philips, Christopher Pierro, Dolores Poacelli, Cynthia Richards, Abbey Ryan, Gary Garrido Schneider, Leah Stein Dance Company, Karen Stone, Lauren Vargas, Amira Najah Whitfield, Wendy Wolf

And the winner is...

Katie VanVliet! Congratulations Katie...when we open you will have a free 1 week membership waiting for you! Thanks so much to everyone who filled out a questionnaire. Continue to check back as we will have chances to win at least once a month! (Who doesn't like winning free stuff?!)

And just because we like it...

Damián Ortega, Controller of the Universe, 2007

Winner chosen using the random number generator at random.org

Weekend Recap

So we accidentally took a 1 week vacation from blogging...I guess it was needed to recover from our 3 day vacation in Connecticut Memorial Day weekend!

We had an amazing time camping on our friend Bill's land. The weather was perfect. The food (cooked over the fire by Justin) was amazing (even the 'Cowboy coffee" that we all thought was going to be gross was actually quite good). The scenery was beautiful. And no one got eaten by a bear (that was my fear of the weekend...crazy I know.).

The pond in front of our campsite...

While we were in Connecticut, we visited Gillette Castle State Park, a place featuring the home (aka castle) of William Gillette. There was a ton of amazing woodwork, and a whole lot of strange secret passages and odd design choices.

From Wikipedia:

Sitting high above the Connecticut River, the castle was originally a private residence commissioned and designed by William Gillette, an American actor who is most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on stage.

Gillette's estate, called Seventh Sister, was built in 1914 on a 184-acre (74 ha) tract on top of the southernmost of a chain of hills known as the Seven Sisters. After Gillette died, with no wife or children, his will precluded the possession of his castle by any "blithering sap-head who has no conception of where he is or with what surrounded". Connecticut's government took over the property in 1943, renaming the home as Gillette's Castle and the estate as Gillette Castle State Park.

There are a number of oddities in the castle personally designed by Gillette, such as unusual doorknobs and locks, and a system of hidden mirrors for surveillance of the public rooms from the master bedroom.

The grounds used to have a railroad track with a working steam engine and electric engine that visitors could ride on, also designed by Gillette. Some of the track was purchased by Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut and is in use to transport guests around the lake. The remaining track was pulled up and converted into walking trails. From the castle's garden one can see the Connecticut River. The engines were donated back to the park in 1992, where the electric engine is on display and the steam engine awaits restoration.

The view from Gillette Castle State Park.

Gillette Castle

Gillette Castle

Ceiling of Living Room in Gillette Castle

Amazing doors were everywhere throughout the castle

Window mechanisms

Window mechanism (detail)

Be sure to check back tomorrow, when we'll be announcing the winner of the free 1 week membership! Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a questionnaire!