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Every month, we'll gather our top art picks, featuring exhibits and events at both smaller, alternative galleries and art spaces, like 3rd Street Gallery pictured here, as well as at the city's major art institutions. (Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC)

It’s no secret that Philadelphia is one of the top arts and culture cities in the country. In fact, Travel and Leisure calls us the #1 City for Culture.

With so much happening in the city’s arts and culture scene, we want to make Uwishunu, in conjunction with sister site With Art Philadelphia, is your one-stop-shop for all that’s happening on the local art scene.

Every month, we’ll gather our top art picks, featuring exhibits and events at both smaller, alternative galleries and art spaces, as well as at the city’s major art institutions.

Below, check out our guide to September art happenings around town and be sure to mark your calendar. We’ll see you out there!

• Art at Lunch series: Every Wednesday in September, noon-1 p.m., Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118 North Broad Street, free (does not include museum admission). Bring your lunch and enjoy discussions and lectures on American art and culture with scholars and artists covering a variety of topics related to PAFA’s exhibitions, collections, and areas of interest.

• Fracking Rome: Through September 30, Third Street Gallery, 58 North 2nd Street, free admission. This exhibit features a collection of charcoal, ink and black prismacolor drawings by local artist, architect and university professor John James Pron. Inspired by teaching abroad in Rome, Pron’s artworks reinterpret the city’s iconic buildings and spaces in a way that–much like the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking)–captures the influence of unseen energies below the earth’s surface that continue to sustain Roman culture. An artist reception will be held September 14, 5-8 p.m.

• Bones, Books and Bell Jars: Photographs of the Mütter Museum Collection: Through December 2012, The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 19 South 22nd Street, $15 adults, $13 seniors, military, $10 students, free for children under age 5. Featuring 50 framed black and white photographs exhibited alongside artifacts of medical history, this exhibit highlights the work of talented photographer and author Andrew Baldeck. It’s the perfect exhibit for those who enjoy art, science and the history of medicine.

• Legends: Studio Jewelry by Emily Cobb and Philadelphia Qualities of Life: Opening September 6, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 South 18th Street, $5 adults, $3 students and seniors, pay what you wish on Fridays. Two simultaneously running exhibits open at the Art Alliance, one featuring highly original pieces of studio jewelry that illustrate modern fairy tales, and the other featuring a selection of works or proposals that showcase exemplary problem-solving ideas to improve life for the citizens of Philadelphia. An opening reception will be held September 20, 6:30-8 p.m.

• Beer Tasting and Art Exploration: September 7, 7:30-8:30 p.m., The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, $40 per person, $30 museum members. Fine art meets craft beer at this First Friday event at the Barnes. Participants will compare subtleties of American craft beers with formal and sensory aspects of masterworks in the Barnes Foundation, as guided by John Gatti, instructor of art and aesthetics.

More With Art Picks, below.

• Second Sunday Culture Film Series: September 9, 2 p.m., Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, free with museum admission. This installment of the museum’s independent film series will feature “Smokin’ Fish,” a 2011 film by Alaskan Tlingit filmmaker Cory Mann about retaining a traditional indigenous lifestyle in the Northwest. The program concludes with a panel discussion about living a bicultural life in balance, presented by the group Natives at Penn.

• Katie Baldwin: There are Two Stories Here: Opening September 14, The Print Center, 1614 Latimer Street, free. Philadelphia artist Katie Baldwin will be exhibiting a collection of new works utilizing moku hanga, a traditional Japanese woodcut process. Together, Baldwin’s pieces form a complex poetic narrative that takes on a personal and political significance. An opening reception will be held September 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m., beginning with a gallery talk followed by the reception.

• Artist Talk and Reception for The Universal Pattern Underlying Everything: September 13, 5 to 7 p.m., Center for Emerging Visual Artists, 237 South 18th Street, 3rd Floor, free. This spotlight exhibition features the work of artists Daniel Kornrumpf and Kimberly Witham. Kornrumpf creates full-scale paintings that portray his observations and discoveries of his surroundings, while Witham’s still life photos explore the intersection between suburban development and the natural world. On view through October 19.

• Jeremy Deller: Joy in People: Opening September 19, Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street, free. This is the first mid-career retrospective of the unpredictable contemporary London-based artist whose provocative work explores various social territories. The exhibit features almost all of Deller’s major works to date, including installations, videos, posters, photographs, sound and performance pieces. An opening reception will be held September 19 with a free artist talk by Deller himself at 6:30 p.m., followed by a party from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

• Gatsby in the Garden Party: September 28, 6-9 p.m., Rodin Museum,2154 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, $85 VIP admission, $65 Young Friends member, $60 regular admission, $40 Young Friends member. The annual Rodin Garden Party returns for its 21st year and celebrates the completion of the Rodin Museum and Garden’s rejuvenation project. The flapper-era themed event will feature live entertainment, hors d’oeuvres and bootleg beverages.

• Artist Reception for Into the Picture: Images of Asian Pacific America: September 28, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Asian Arts Initiative, 1219 Vine Street, free. Prominent Chinese American photographer Corky Lee will discuss his photojournalistic work spanning five decades, which documents Asian American experiences amid various sociopolitical scenarios. The exhibit itself is on view September 4 through October 5.

• September edition of Out of Hand: September 28, 6-8 p.m. The Clay Studio, 137-139 North Second Street, $30 (ages 18 and over). Unwind after a long work week by trying your hand at a new skill: pottery. The studio’s instructors will be on hand to walk participants through a few simple ceramic projects on the pottery wheel before you are free to make your own creations. Beer, wine, light snacks, clay and tools are included. And for a small fee, the studio will even glaze, fire and ship your creations to your home.