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Philadelphia based artist and educator John J. Abner is a graduate of Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, where he earned a BFA in Painting and Art History. He has coordinated several art projects with the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia, and has exhibited his artwork in juried shows locally and nationally.

Abner’s foray into collage art began innocently enough in 1995; he created his first collages simply as studies for his paintings. Fifteen years later, painting has taken a back seat for the most part, as Abner’s collages have evolved into a primary means of communicating social and political ideas through visual art.

The artist’s collages include his own photography, various papers, watercolor crayons, miscellaneous ephemera, and sometimes materials as simple as a ballpoint pen. Through a process of hand tearing paper (Abner says he rarely uses scissors) electing and placing other elements, and adding hand drawing, coloring, and/or writing, Abner creates integrated, cohesive works of art that are both attractive and compelling.

This Saturday, April 24th, a selection of Abner’s works created over the last 15 years will be exhibited at Salon Joose in Northern Liberties. The exhibit will continue by appointment through May 1st. Stop by and meet the artist!

John Abner @ Salon Joose
Opening Reception: April 24, 2010 4-7pm

Salon Joose Studio
601 N. 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19123

Fishtown's Shad Fest takes place this Saturday, at Penn Treaty Park

Friday

Last Chance to See Shining City
Theatre Exile’s run of Shining City closes on Sunday. Try to see it this weekend at the Plays & Players Theatre. Samantha loved it.

Jordan Griska @ the Esther Klein Gallery
Sculptor Jordan Griska reveals his latest work at the Esther Klein Gallery. Stop by and meet the artist tonight between 5pm and 8pm.

Saturday

Flavors of the Avenue Festival on East Passyunk
From noon til 5pm, the two block stretch of East Passyunk between Dickinson and Morris will be a hub of activity. James has the full scoop here, and some menu highlights from the 20 chefs that’ll be dishing out samples of their signature dishes and drinks.

Crafty Balboa @ the Passyunk Fountain
Planning to check out Flavors of the Avenue? Make sure you stop by the Passyunk Fountain to shop for handmade crafts, at Crafty Balboa.

Penn Relays Carnival at Franklin Field
Stop by Franklin Field to see Jamaican track superstar Usain Bolt compete at the 2010 Penn Relays. Part of the USA vs. the World event, Bolt will compete in the men’s 4×100 relay. James has all the details, here.

Shad Fest @ Penn Treaty Park
The Fishtown Shad Festival is here, and taking over Penn Treaty Park for the day. Expect live music, delicious food, and plenty of educational activities to teach you about the history of Fishtown.

Readings @ Giovanni’s Room
There are two readings going on at Giovanni’s Room this weekend, one involves several poets, the other, a critically acclaimed novelist. Read up!

Reading Terminal Market Italian Festival
Today is the Terminal’s first ever Italian festival, featuring a number of vendors dishing out free samples and activities for kids, like pasta and pizza making workshops.

Barcamp NewsInnovation
All of you bloggers and journalists out there might want to check out Technically Philly’s BarCamp event today. Takes place at Temple this year. Read up, and go learn something.

Sunday

Book Award Celebration @ the Please Touch Museum
While the main events for this party went down on Friday, you can still catch a reading with local author Gene Barretta (Now & Ben), and meet the museum’s newest puppet-mascot.

Fairmount Arts Crawl
Mural Arts will be at this year’s Fairmount Arts Crawl, showing off a new mural they’re working on. You can also visit a number of vendors, and meet several artists between 20th and 25th Streets on Fairmount Ave.

The lovely view @ Firecreek Restaurant

Looking for a place to escape from it all, enjoy a leisurely morning cocktail and maybe a fresh omelet in the sunshine? Look no further than Firecreek Restaurant in Downingtown, where brunch on the deck is all this, and more.

A new American eatery housed in a converted paper mill on the banks of the Brandywine—Firecreek is all about reinventing classics, with charm. Brunch is served buffet-style Sunday mornings for patrons indoors and on the deck—where the cheery orange umbrellas lend bursts of color to the outdoor scene. I visited Firecreek last Sunday, and was won over by the vibrant flavors and breezy calm.

Incredible brunch! Yum!

Buffet-style always means more options than you know what to do with—like spicy peel-and-eat shrimp, with homemade Bloody Mary cocktail sauce—and creamed chipped beef, with buttermilk biscuits. (Yum!) A hot carving station featured herb crusted sirloin, honey glazed ham, and more—being a seafood-lover, I chose the lemon dill salmon, which proved light, spring-y, and delicious. But my favorite dish was definitely the crab eggs benedict—made fresh to order from the chef and sooooo rich and flavorful.

Matt, my boyfriend and partner for all things culinary, indulged his sweet tooth with a fluffy Belgian waffle, topped with strawberries and whipped cream—and a heaping portion of cinnamon French toast. No matter what you’re seeking, Firecreek is sure to satisfy—check it out, and see for yourself!

Sunday Brunch at Firecreek Restaurant
20 E. Lancaster Avenue, Downingtown, PA 19335
(610) 269-6000
www.firecreek-restaurant.com

Inside Giovanni's Room, Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC

Giovanni’s Room is hosting two readings this weekend at the landmark bookstore, the first with several poets, the second with an acclaimed novelist.

Saturday, the bookshop will host a reading from Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS. Philip Clark, the co-editor of the poetry anthology, as well as several Philadelphia-area poets, will read selections from the collection. The reading starts at 5:30pm, wrapping up at 7pm.

Come Sunday, Tom Mendicino, author of Probation and a current resident of Philadelphia, will be reading pieces from the aforementioned novel.

Both readings ask a $5 donation, which goes towards the store rebuilding fund.

Giovanni’s Room
345 S 12th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 923-2960
www.giovannisroom.com

The banner really says it all.

Monday, April 26th, is National Pretzel Day. Visit any Philadelphia Pretzel Factory location and score your free pretzel. Thanks for the tip, Mike!

I’ve pasted the locations below. Have a look, and be sure to click the jump. There are a lot more.

Philly Pretzel Factory
1532 Sansom Street, Philadelphia
(215) 569-3988

Philly Pretzel Factory
132 South 11th Street, Philadelphia
(215) 625-0910

Philly Pretzel Factory
1500 Market Street, Philadelphia
(215) 564-1045

(more…)

Brunch at Oyster House

If you think brunch is too early for oysters, you’re missing out.

Oyster House’s new brunch menu incorporates the creative, seafood-heavy cuisine the Center City dining spot has become known for, with a generous helping of the restaurant’s bivalve namesake. But in addition to the ever-present raw bar, OH is offering a new twist on seafood, brunch and Philly — oyster scrapple.

Scrapple, known for its crisp on the outside, mush on the inside texture, heavily spiced cornmeal flavor and questionable meat ingredients, is well represented in this oyster-based variation. The thick slab of pan-seared scrapple is a bit saltier and has a distinct “oyster” aftertaste that’s far from overwhelming. Smothered in horseradish crème fraiche, it’s available as a side or as a brunch entrèe with two sunny side up eggs. All told, it makes for a pretty simple breakfast with a fantastic seafood feel.

But the oyster scrapple is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to OH’s seafood breakfasts. If you’re not up for oysters, there’s also the shellfish sausage — made with scallop, lobster, shrimp, crab and fennel. It too was surprisingly similar to its pork contemporary, with a firm and crisped texture and an understated shellfish flavor heavy on lobster — always a plus.

It stands to reason that if it’s not too early for oysters, then it’s certainly not to early for cocktails. If Bloody Marys aren’t your thing (they should be, OH’s are delicious, thanks to the addition of clam juice), go for the French Fox — sparkling wine, Velvet Falernum, gin, lemon and Campari. It’s another fresh twist on a light morning cocktail and a good way to wash down a late breakfast that combines classic brunch dishes with a seafood flair you’d expect from Oyster House.

And there’s plenty more flair on the horizon. Next up after oyster scrapple? Salmon bacon.

Oyster House
1516 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 567-7683
www.oysterhousephilly.com

Inside the New Twenty Manning, Photo by Drew Lazor of Meal Ticket

Meal Ticket’s Drew Lazor visited the freshly painted Twenty Manning in Rittenhouse Square, and took some fantastic photos of the interior and food.

Head over to Meal Ticket to scope out the rest of the photos. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to try out the revamped menu!

Twenty Manning
259 South 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5676
(215) 731-0900
www.twentymanning.com

[ via Meal Ticket ]

The Wilma Theatre, Photo by G. Widman for GPTMC

Our friends over at Phillyist report that Peter Pryor, a local actor from Philadelphia, was selected for “this year’s prestigious Lunt-Fontaine Fellowship Program.”

Nominated for the program by the Wilma Theatre, the week long retreat includes nine of the best local actors from across the country. They’ll work with Academy Award nominated actress Lynn Redgrave on honing their already fantastic acting abilities.

Pryor will also receive a “$2,500 cash fellowship in recognition of his exceptional contributions to Philadelphia and to the overall quality of American theatre.”

It’s always nice to see a talented, local artist get truly recognized like this. Congrats, Peter!

[ via Phillyist ]

To celebrate Earth Day, Philly Swap has teamed up with the ING Direct Cafe on 17th and Walnut for two hours of fun, green-friendly activities.

From 4:30pm – 6:30pm, Philly Swap will run a screen printing and t-shirt transformation station, and give on-site sewing demos. They’ll also be screening the documentary Handmade Nation inside the Cafe.

So dig around in your closets, and find that old piece of clothing you’ve been meaning to fix up. Visit one of the stations, and have that shirt, dress, or tote bag transformed or screen printed. It’s a great way to reuse old materials. Refreshments will be provided.

For more info, visit Philly Swap’s official website, or RSVP on their Facebook page.

Philly Swap’s Earth Day Event
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010, 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Ing Direct Cafe
1636 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 731-1410

Philadelphia is a great city for runners. There’s the Broad Street Run, the Philadelphia Marathon, and a number of 5k runs throughout the year, like the 5K For Clean Air Run just this past Saturday. And come May, Philly welcomes another great event for runners.

The Oddyssey Half Marathon is set to hit Philadelphia on May 29th, and aren’t afraid to get a little silly. Want to dress up in a funky costume for your run? They’re hosting a costume contest. You can get all the details about that, right here.

They’ve also partnered with Students Run Philly Style, a wonderful local charity that helps kids achieve a healthy, active lifestyle.

The new marathon is hoping for 5,000 to 10,000 runners this year. Help them reach their goal, and sign up here.

Oddyssey Half Marathon
May 29th, 2010
www.oddysseyhalfmarathon.com