May 1, 2012
Take the new tour of the Wyeth House and Studio, and see still life paintings by N.C. and his children Henriette, Carolyn and Andrew. (Photo by Carlos Alejandro courtesy Brandywine River Museum)
The Chadds Ford studio where Andrew Wyeth, one America’s most acclaimed artists, created many of his masterworks, will open for tours this summer.
Now part of the Brandywine River Museum, the studio has undergone careful restoration to to look just like it did when Wyeth worked there. His library, photos, fencing gear, military miniatures collection, costumes and props are among the many fascinating objects that offer insight into his life and work.
The artist painted in this studio from 1940 until 2008, including his most famous paintings that depict the farms and picturesque countryside of the Brandywine Valley.
Originally built as a schoolhouse in 1875, the building also served as Wyeth’s home for two decades, as well as being the first studio for Jamie Wyeth, Andrew’s son.
The tour can fill you in on all those details and more. It’s a fascinating look into the private life of a famous artist.
Tours officially begin on June 3; however, a few lucky folks can be among the first to enter the Andrew Wyeth Studio on special tours offered May 1, 5 and 10. The special tour lasts from 9:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m. and costs $100 (Brandywine Conservancy members, $70).
Regular studio tours will cost $8 per person in addition to museum admission. Studio tours will be offered at scheduled times from Tuesday through Sunday, through November 18.
Brandywine River Museum Tours of Wyeth’s Studio
When: June 3; previews May 1, 5, 10
Where: 100 Creek Rd U.S. Route 1 and PA 100, Chadds Ford
Cost: $8 per person in addition to Brandywine River Museum admission (previews $100)
More info: www.brandywinemuseum.org
May 1, 2012
Artists are at work recreating an ancient Mayan sculpture out of sand outside 30th Street Station as a fun lead-up to the Penn Museum's Maya exhibition opening May 5. (Photo courtesy Penn Museum)
UPDATE: We just received word that the sculpture project has been halted. After the sand arrived, concerns developed because the sculpture was being created on a PennDOT bridge structure.
In honor of the world premiere opening of MAYA 2012: Lords of Time, the Penn Museum, in partnership with the University City District, has invited California sand sculpture artists Greg and Brandi Glenn to re-create a famous ancient Maya monument known as Altar Q at the new Porch at 30th Street Station.
The artists began working yesterday to complete the massive sculpture by May 5, as MAYA 2012 opens to the public at the Penn Museum. All are welcome to watch the artists at work.
This 25-ton recreation of the famous monument celebrates the spirit of friendship with Honduras. In fact, on Thursday, May 3 at 5 p.m. you can meet the Ambassador of Honduras, His Excellency Jorge Ramon Hernández-Alcerro, alongside several of his Attachés and museum curators.
Found at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Copan in Honduras, Altar Q was carved from stone during the reign of King Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat in AD 776. The 16 Kings of Copan — the “Lords of Time” in the Penn Museum’s world premiere exhibition — are all depicted, four to a side. Each ruler is seated on a Maya hieroglyph that bears his name or title.
Read more about the exhibition in our previous post.
Maya.2012: Lords of Time at the Penn Museum
When: May 5-January 13
Where: 3260 South Street
Cost: Tickets start at $16.50
More info: www.penn.museum
Check out the video above to meet Carol Riddick, a South Philly native “soulstress,” a favorite on the Philadelphia music scene and Philly 360 Creative Ambassador.
We filmed her at Ms. Tootsie’s on South Street, one of her favorite restaurants, to find out what she wishes more people knew about in Philadelphia. Hint: she considers herself a kid at heart.
Carol got her start touring with Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, and has since been featured on tracks with Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild and Anthony Hamilton, to name just a few. Meet her for yourself, above.
Carol Riddick
www.carolriddick.net
Please Touch Museum
4231 Avenue of the Republic
www.pleasetouchmuseum.org
Check out the video above to meet Carol Riddick, a South Philly native “soulstress,” a favorite on the Philadelphia music scene and Philly 360 Creative Ambassador. We filmed her at Ms. Tootsie’s on South Street, one of her favorite restaurants, to find out what she wishes more people knew about in Philadelphia. Hint: she considers [...]
Read more»May 1, 2012
The University City District’s newest public space, the Porch at 30th Street Station, got a nod from Dwell Magazine this month. It’s #98 in “The Now 99 – Ideas, People, Products and Plans defining today’s design landscape.” The 40-foot wide, block-long pedestrian plaza is a great green addition to a key urban junction connecting Center City and University City, where you can eat lunch, read a book or enjoy free programming like concerts and a farmers’ market. Check out a schedule here. [The Porch in Dwell Magazine]
April 30, 2012
This is your last week to see the acclaimed Van Gogh exhibition at the PMA. (Photo courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art)
The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s latest headlining exhibition, Van Gogh Up Close, closes this Sunday, May 6.
Make sure you check it out if you haven’t already. More than 200,000 visitors have seen the exhibition as of last week.
It has welcomed art lovers from 44 countries and 48 states plus Puerto Rico and D.C. Philadelphia is the only U.S. venue for the exhibition, so if you don’t see it here, chances are you won’t see it at all.
As the Philadelphia Inquirer observed, “[T]his exhibition…brings viewers closer to the essential van Gogh than anything that has come before.”
Van Gogh Up Close at The Philadelphia Museum Of Art
When: Through May 6
Where: 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Cost: Tickets are $25 for adults, $23 for seniors, ages 13-18 $20, 5-12 $12, kids under 4 Free
More info: www.philamuseum.org
Watch the Philly 101 video above to meet Kevin Sbraga, winner of Top Chef Season 7 and Chef/Owner of Sbraga Restaurant on Broad Street, and learn what he wishes more people knew about in Philadelphia.
Before his season-winning stint on Top Chef, Burlington County, New Jersey native Sbraga created menus for Stephen Starr (Washington Square, Rat’s Restaurant at the Grounds for Sculpture) and Jose Garces (Tinto, Chifa, Distrito), plus the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia. He also won acclaim at La Mas Perrier, the Main Line restaurant of Chef Georges Perrier.
Sbraga
440 S. Broad Street
www.sbraga.com
Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum
6825-31 Norwitch Drive
www.simeonemuseum.org
Watch the Philly 101 video above to meet Kevin Sbraga, winner of Top Chef Season 7 and Chef/Owner of Sbraga Restaurant on Broad Street, and learn what he wishes more people knew about in Philadelphia. Before his season-winning stint on Top Chef, Burlington County, New Jersey native Sbraga created menus for Stephen Starr (Washington Square, [...]
Read more»April 27, 2012
The Center City District celebrates the grand opening of its newest public space, Sister Cities Park, on Thursday, May 10 at 1 p.m.
Mayor Nutter, City Council President Darrell Clarke, Deputy Mayor Michael DiBerardinis, PA Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch, PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Deputy Secretary John Giordano will join together to cut the ribbon on this lush new $4.9 million park on Logan Square.
There will be a Grand Opening on May 12 with family-friendly activities and entertainment as part of Love Your Park Week.
Open seven days a week, 6 a.m.–1 a.m., Sister Cities commemorates Philadelphia’s special relationship with Tel-Aviv and Florence.
The newly richly planted and well-illuminated space has turned vacant land into a public park with a variety of amenities for people of all ages 365 days a year, from a children’s discovery garden and boat pond to a café (an offshoot of Milk & Honey Cafe in West Philadelphia, serving locally grown and produced foods) and visitor center and a plaza with a gorgeous fountain.
You’ll be able to grab a cup of La Colombe coffee, a South Street Philly bagel or BT brownie and relax by the fountain beneath a canopy of green.
Sister Cities Park
Logan Square, 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
www.centercityphila.org
April 26, 2012
Hear Dr. Simeone speak about the importance of these pioneering cars, then watch them in action outside. (Photo by Andrew Taylor courtesy Simeone)
The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum, award-winning home to one of the greatest and rarest collections of racing sports cars in the world, is hosting a monthly series of “demonstration driving days,” or simply “demo days,” which features extraordinary racing sports cars from the Simeone collection.
The year-long series, which began in 2009, consists of these unique cars being driven around and showcased on a three-acre lot in the rear of the museum. The Simeone Museum is one of the few in the world where visitors can see and hear these famous race cars actually run.
Prior to each driving demonstration will be a brief lecture by Dr. Simeone himself on the importance of these pioneering cars and their place in history.
The more immediate upcoming demo day events are:
• April 28: Three American Icons: Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg. The day includes a discussion of how these three names became linked together and why they represented the pinnacle of American automotive engineering in the 1920’s and into the 1930’s.
• May 26: England vs. Italy in the Battle for Le Mans. In the late 1920’s, Bentley ruled Le Mans. By the early 1930’s, it was Alfa Romeo. There will be a conversation on why the shift happened and why even patriotic racers like Lord Howe chose to buy Italian cars in order to win.
Demo day events are held on the fourth Saturday of each month, weather permitting, at noon. Admission to demo days is included as part of the regular admission price.
Check out demo days for the remainder of the year online.
Demo Days at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum
When: fourth Saturday of each month, noon
Where: 6825 Norwitch Drive
Cost: Admission is $12 adults, $10 seniors, $8 for students. Children under 8 are free.
More info: www.SimeoneMuseum.org
April 26, 2012
At Morris Arboretum’s Arbor Day Celebration, visitors can observe arborists at work and learn about essential tree care. (Photo by Paul W. Meyer courtesy Morris Arboretum)
To paraphrase poet Joyce Kilmer, if you think that you will never see a thing as lovely as a tree, then you need to visit the Morris Arboretum for its annual Arbor Day celebration on Saturday, April 28, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Five educational stations will be set up throughout the arboretum to give visitors the opportunity to expand their knowledge of trees while participating in challenging, but fun activities.
Stations will include designing a tree house, learning to identify trees, writing the history of a tree’s life and planning an urban treescape. You’ll also be able to observe arborists at work.
During your visit, you can also pick up the “Tree Adventure Passport: Explorer Edition” that’s filled with all sorts of interesting interactive activities. The Explorer Edition Tree Adventure Passport features challenges related to trees that include: learning about compass directions and bird calls, refrigeration in Victorian times, cool tree facts, and much more. It also includes exploratory activities that you can do at home.
Go out on a limb on Arbor Day and celebrate it at Morris Arboretum.
Arbor Day Celebration at Morris Arboretum
When: Saturday, April 28, 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Where: 100 E. Northwestern Avenue
Cost: Members are free, Adults $16, Seniors $14, Students/Military/Youths $7
More info: www.morrisarboretum.org
Check out the video above to meet Hiro Sakaguchi, Art Installer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (and talented artist in his own right), and learn about what he wishes more people knew about in Philadelphia. You’ll get to see inside one of the world’s most preeminent museums, seen from the lens of an employee of the institution with a particularly interesting hands-on job.
Bonus: meet Hiro in person at tomorrow night’s “Philadelphia Artists on Vincent Van Gogh” talk at the museum.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
www.philamuseum.org
Seraphin Gallery
1108 Pine Street
www.seraphin.squarespace.com
Check out the video above to meet Hiro Sakaguchi, Art Installer at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (and talented artist in his own right), and learn about what he wishes more people knew about in Philadelphia. You’ll get to see inside one of the world’s most preeminent museums, seen from the lens of an employee [...]
Read more»
