Friday, May 24, 2013

Gallery Hours Tonight 5:15pm - 8:00pm Friday 5/24/13


Tonight is the last night for  Plastique Cirque “gallery hours” at 40th Street AIR Space, 4007 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA. Coinciding with this I’ll be hosting a live via the internet google video hang out from 630pm – 730pm. Drop by!

marvinmaestill
Image: “Marvin and Mae, in a sea of plastic” by Upholstery, still from video of performance in the Plastic Fantastic dome


Saturday, May 11, 2013

Just TWO Days Left! Apply now! Deadline is Monday! Apply for our 2013-2014 residency!

The 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program (AIR) awards West Philadelphia artists one year of free studio space at 40th and Chestnut Streets. In exchange, each artist shares his/her talents with West Philadelphia by leading workshops, teaching classes, exhibiting in the area, etc. Founded by artist Edward M. Epstein in 2003 and run by Gina Renzi since 2008, the program addresses the need for studio space in West Philadelphia, assists artists with career development, and makes the 40th Street area a nexus for visual arts.

AIR is NOW accepting applications for the 2013-2014 residency. Applications are due Monday May 13, 2013 at 11:59pm.

The 2013-2014 residency begins August 25, 2013 and ends August 15, 2014.

Please keep reading for application information.




The mission of the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence program is:
pictured: 4013 chestnut street
·    To address the need for artist studio space in West Philadelphia by offering studios rent-free, on a rotating basis, primarily to those artists who reside in/are very closely affiliated with Philadelphia neighborhoods west of the Schuylkill River.

·    To assist in career growth and provide exhibition opportunities for new and emerging artists and those whose work has not been recognized in mainstream venues.

·    To enrich the 40th Street area by placing artists here who share their talents with our neighbors.


If accepted to the program, you will be granted a studio space at either 4007 Chestnut or 4013 Chestnut Street, beginning on August 25, 2013.

You will be encouraged to use that time to develop your own creative work. In exchange, you will e. k. miles in studio 2011 be asked to share your talents through a minimum of 40 hours of outreach work, within West Philadelphia, over the course of the year. Examples of this include creating a public installation or holding a workshop or class***. Support will be provided to help you develop this project.

In addition, residents will have opportunities to work together to plan exhibitions, both of their own work and of their outreach work. Monthly meetings (or more when necessary) will help facilitate this work as well as create opportunities for artists to share ideas and foster community within the program.

Our sites are not live-in facilities. The studios are available at all times, but the buildings are shared; you must be considerate of other tenants. The spaces can accommodate a variety of creative activities, including painting, sculpture, installation art, photography, etc. Collaborative as well as individual efforts are welcome.

Ceilings are high (approximately 12 feet in some areas); rooms range from 100-300 square feet. Some areas have ample natural light, while others have none at all (making them ideal as darkrooms). The studios are not furnished. The buildingshave small yards in the rear that may be used for assembling larger works, or as a place to exhibit sculpture. The spaces have ventilation, running water, and 120- volt AC outlets. However, the facilities will not accommodate highly toxic chemicals, welding, or high-powered electrical equipment. Note also that within the spaces, there is open access to the different work areas; we count on resident artists to show respect for others' property and privacy.


To apply:
 
You can access the application in multiple ways: 
 
1. Click HERE for a Google doc version.
2. Click HERE to download from Dropbox.
3. Email 40th.AIR.app@gmail.com for an application. Please specify if you want an application in PDF or Microsoft Word format.
Once completed, please submit the application by 11:59pm on Monday May 13, 2013. Email it to 40th.AIR.app@gmail.com or mail it to 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program, 4007 Chestnut Street, First Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Do not drop off materials; there is no guarantee we will receive them.
We can return application materials if you include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Plastique Cirque Event & Exhibit opens FRIDAY MAY 10!


 
Ladies and Gentlemen, people of all ages, step right up! 
Plastic Fantastic, the nomadic immersive environment for play made of water bottles, is pleased to present 
 
Plastique Cirque Event and Exhibit 
at the 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program Space 
on Friday May 10th, 2013!


pictured: plastique flyer
In this ambitious production, 40th Street AIR Space resident and Plastic Fantastic's Diedra Krieger curates ten performance artists (Frog, J9, Julie's Hoolies, Kat Schneck, Kristen Bailey, Mary Wood, Pete Grauer, Rachel Brennesholtz, The Hoop Mistresses, and Upholstery) for the opening "Event" and eight visual artists (Anna Perricci, Becky Schwartz, damali abrams, Jenn Rockwell, Kelly Anne, Sean Stoops, Shawn Beeks, Woodley White) with her for an "Exhibition" featuring mixed media and video installations.
Play has an exceptional history in cultural production! Its trajectory is rooted in the history of 60s events, intermedia art and happenings, and follows contemporary collectives who use play as tactical media for interventions. Immersed in this history, Plastic Fantastic and its affiliates continue their search for ways to play as a form to act on serious concerns about plastic and water.

For the "Event" on Friday May 10th [outside] behind the 40th Street AIR Space building, in the Plastic Fantastic geodesic dome, performance artists, circus artists, and puppeteers unite for an evening of escapades that ignite the imagination to a new world of possibilities and ecstatic dystopias. Upholstery leads the shenanigans premiering "Marvin & Mae (& a sea of plastic)", a fantastical tale of loneliness and love told through puppets made entirely of plastic waste. This original work features music by the group and puppeteers Kristen Bailey, Kate Black-Regan & C. Kennedy.  Mary Wood not being made of plastic herself shows off her contortionist abilities.

Inside the 40th Street AIR Gallery for the duration of the exhibition, Krieger's Meditative Play Tretrahedrons made of water bottle parts rise into White's prolific reproductions of bottles under Perricci's Tippler's planet, a chandelier made of hundreds of water bottles and LEDs. As Abrams and Kriegers' "Cartwheeling through Feminist Theory" loops, Rockwell's freak show leftovers are hidden amongst the bottles with Beeks' Grizzly Care Bears, figments of pop culture's imagination dumped into the context of a cold reality.  Huey Schools After School Program' Earth Day project with Krieger will spiral around the Exhibit.  In the second gallery, Stoops' illuminated silhouettes of local Schuylkill river creatures swim and play atop waves and waves of plastic pollution.

If it rains on May 10, please still come to the gallery for the "exhibit" and come back on May 17 for the "event" in our backyard! 

But wait! There's more!


####
Plastique Cirque
Event and Exhibition 
Friday May 10th (If it rains on May 10, come to the gallery for the "exhibit" and come back on May 17 for the "event" in our backyard), 6-10pm
Exhibition Hours: Saturday May 11th, 11am - 2pm; Fridays May 17th & 24th 5-8pm
40th Street AIR Space
4007 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Please join us to explore the sights and sounds featured in Plastique Cirque.  For more information, or to view the work by appointment, please contact playnicelets@gmail.com.