Fairmount / Art Museum : In The News

With thousands of hiking friendly acres, Philadelphia is one of the best places for a walk in the the woods, according to National Geographic.

An astounding 10 percent of Philadelphia is parkland, and the cherry on top of the 9,200-acre network of green is the Wissahickon, a beloved overgrown gorge that plunges deep beneath the clamor of the city. "The Wissahickon is the best thing in Philadelphia," says Sidney Goldstein, a local Meetup.com hiking group leader. "It feels like you're in wilderness." With 57 miles of trails, there are plenty of opportunities to get lost.

Source: National Geographic
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The Bowery Presents rock club group will open Union Transfer in Philadelphia in the former Spaghetti Warehouse building on Spring Garden Street, with help from local impresarios Sean Agnew and Avram Hornik, according to The New York Times.

The Bowery Presents empire of rock clubs and theaters has already expanded from the Lower East Side to New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maine, and now it is spreading to Pennsylvania.

Working with two local partners, the company is opening Union Transfer, a new performance space near Center City in Philadelphia with room for 600 people. The first show will be Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on Sept. 21, and other coming shows include Shellac on Sept. 29, Wild Flag on Oct. 19 and Boris on Oct. 28, according to an announcement on Tuesday by Bowery Presents. About 200 shows a year are planned for the space, which was once a train depot and more recently a Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant.

Source: The New York Times

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Mummies of the World exhibit opens at The Franklin Institute, making its only East Coast stop in the U.S. on its worldwide tour, according to the Daily Mail.

The wraps are coming off a blockbuster exhibit this weekend at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

A haunting new exhibit entitled 'Mummies of the World' is set to open this Saturday. It will be the largest travelling exhibition ever assembled of mummies.

The exhibit will feature 45 mummies of humans and animals, ranging from 250 years old to nearly 6,500 years old.

Source: Daily Mail (UK)
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A Philly newcomer and CNN correspondent writes about where to go and what to see here, including a shout out to Philly Beer Week.

Philly is one of the nation's oldest cities, which means you can walk a lot of places. The majority of the time, walking is the best bet, considering parking can be a nightmare. Pay your meter, otherwise get a ticket or towed. (There's even a reality show about the Parking Authority, and they mean business.) Check out the art on the walls with a walking tour of the Mural Mile to get a distinctive look at the city's charm.

Source: CNN
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A new species of lichen is discovered on a rock in Pennsylvania and is named in honor of a Philadelphia plant expert, according to Science Daily.

A Philadelphia botanist who has studied rare plants for 50 years, but has never attained the honor of having a plant named for him is finally getting his due, but with a barely visible organism so rare it may never be seen again.

Dr. Alfred "Ernie" Schuyler, emeritus curator of botany at the Academy of Natural Sciences and a world expert on rare plants, recently was honored when a colleague discovered a new species of lichen and named it after him. The barely visible lichen (LIE kin), Vezdaea schuyleriana, is known to exist on a single boulder in rural central Pennsylvania, northwest of Lewisburg -- and nowhere else in the world.

Source: Science Daily
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The works of one of the most significant artists in the history of photography have a new home at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, reports International Business Times.

Recognized as one of the one of the most significant artists in the history of photography, Paul Strand (1890-1976) is known for his explorations of the modernistic possibilities of camera. His abstract collection of 'street photographs' of people he caught unawares in urban New York settings has particularly attracted the attention of the masses.

Through his contributions to modernistic art, the American photographer soon became the leading inspiration to the likes of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Robert Frank.

"The Paul Strand Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will rank among the finest and most significant groups of works by key figures in the history of photography held by any museum in this country," said Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.

Original source: International Business Times
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The month-old Museum Without Walls audio program uses technology to give many of Philadelphia's outdoor sculptures museum-quality perspective, reports the Associated Press.

Its self-guided audio tours are available 24-7 in several different formats: You can call phone numbers listed with each sculpture, use a free smart phone app, download the audio at http://museumwithoutwallsaudio.org to an MP3 player, or scan a special bar code (known as a QR or quick response code) on the free "Museum Without Walls" map at locations around the city.

The project's first phase includes 51 outdoor sculptures at 35 stops along a three-mile stretch of the bustling Benjamin Franklin Parkway from downtown to leafy Fairmount Park, a route popular with bicyclists, runners and walkers.

Original source: Associated Press
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The world-renowned Italian manufacturer of designer household objects has long collaborated with top architects and designers, and the resulting artistic innovation is the subject of of a new exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, reports ArtNow Magazine.

On November 20, 2010, Alberto Alessi, President of the company and grandson of its founder Giovanni Alessi, will be honored at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Collab's distinguished Design Excellence Award.

"The objects in this exhibition demonstrate the results of Alessi's unique, risk-taking approach to design and, consequently, how they blur the boundaries between industrial manufacturing and art," said Kathryn Hiesinger, Curator of Decorative Arts After 1700.

The exhibition is organized into two sections: family and factory history and a survey of past, present and future Alessi objects by collaborating designers, including the radical experimental projects Tea and Coffee Piazza of 1983 and Tea and Coffee Towers of 2003. The introductory section includes a map of the exhibition plan designed by Alessandro Mendini.

Original source: ArtNow Magazine
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Fairmount-based Facebook app developer Stuzo was acquired by Dachis Group, an Austin, Texas social business consultancy, reports Technically Philly.

We're looking to bring on board more technical, project management, and account talent," said Pfau.

Stuzo started in 2005 as a platform for college students to trade textbooks and other goods at Temple University before pivoting to become one of the first developers on the Facebook Application platform.

The company began building apps like MyHeritage before focusing more on promotions for other brands like Coca-Cola and Proctor and Gamble, quickly becoming one of the largest Facebook development shops in the country.

Original source: Technically Philly
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The new home of the Barnes Foundation along the Ben Franklin Parkway is both challenging and controversial, and the Wall Street Journal's hard-hat tour reveals a new take on classic art.

Tod Williams, of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects in New York, pointed out the siting of key features: a three-story garden that will interrupt the art galleries; a long, low water feature near the visitor entrance; a cantilevered light court connecting the galleries with an L-shaped building containing a caf�, gift shop, auditorium and other amenities.

Another innovation is a small second-floor gallery that will house Matisse's famous 1905-06 painting "The Joy of Life," currently in a stairwell and difficult to see. "It was not [handicapped] accessible," Mr. Williams said, "so we were able to break the rules. There were not too many opportunities, but that was one of them."

Decisions on interior details are still being made. Using a full-scale model, Mr. Williams said, "We are investigating changing the color of the wood, we're investigating changing the color of the fabric, we're investigating whether to use the exact moldings that they used. We're investigating the floor. One of the things that may be controversial is detailing that is more contemporary."

Original souce: Wall Street Journal
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The travel section at Ireland's Herald.ie is high on Philadelphia for a variety of reasons, imploring the Irish to visit for our safe downtown, good eats and arts and culture.

It's puzzling why Philly isn't on most Irish people's radar. It's more historic than Boston, as Irish as Chicago, 30pc cheaper to live in than New York and has a food culture to match San Francisco.

The city centre proper, (known as Center City) is thriving, unlike many US urban areas. Sections of 15th Street are hubs of restaurants and nightlife, while the area's aptly titled Avenue of the Arts is the local equivalent of London's West End or New York's Broadway theatre districts. The best bit? It feels perfectly safe to walk around, by day or night (don't try this at home, kids).

Original source: Herald.ie
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A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts indicates an encouraging trend of more people moving into Philadelphia since 1993, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to the Pew report, the number of people moving into the city has increased steadily, up from 31,837 in 1993 to 42,250 in 2008.

Overall, the number of people moving out of the city is growing less rapidly, increasing slightly from 47,291 in 1993 to 52,096 in 2008.

"I would say the trend is looking as if we may be seeing a reversal of long-term decline in city population," said David Elesh, sociologist and demography expert with the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project at Temple University.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch travel section mentions booing Santa Claus but quickly moves on, digging deeper than most national media last week to reveal the insider's view of Philadelphia.

Once you get beyond the fighting fa�ade, Philadelphia is a city of tiny secret gardens, a diverse art and theater scene, a crazy diverse food/pub scene and a thousand walkable historical monuments and museums. Also, it's cheap as can be. You've got to work to spend $15 on a martini.

I moved here six years ago from St. Louis. The things I loved about St. Louis are the same things I love about Philadelphia--people are friendly, the streets have the same names (you copycats!) and there's no need to go to any chain restaurant ever.

Original source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Wildly successful entrepreneur Jassi Chadha has brought his expertise to TiE-NJ/Philadelphia, a newer chapter of the global entrepreneurship organization, reports SiliconIndia.

TiE NJ-Philly is an offshoot of TiE Tristate. New Jersey and Philadephia had quite a lot of entrepreneurs who would often find it difficult to make it to New York for various events of the Tristate. Hence the need for a chapter in this geographic area became a necessity. Today under the leadership of Chadha, the TiE-NJ-Philly Chapter is helping the budding entrepreneurs in this geography to realize their goals and dreams by conducting various events, providing mentoring, and networking opportunities.

"There are aspects of entrepreneurship like optimism, excitement, energy, and a sense of adventure that is inspiring to read and get excited. It also drives people to do more and pursue big dreams. However, the path of entrepreneurship is often lonely, hard, and the journey hectic with challenges of different sorts. That's why entrepreneurs need to be supported and find the right support in programs that TiE offers," says Chadha.

Original source: SiliconIndia.
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Members of the Norfolk Arts Commission visited Philadelphia last week to get a close-up look at some of the thousands of works of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Programs, reports The Hour.

"I was blown away by how these community murals in Philadelphia brightened the neighborhoods. It's inspiring to hear the stories of how these murals got made, and how it brought the community together," Becker said. "This is how to revitalize neighborhoods and instill a sense of pride, something I see Norwalk needs help with."

Launched in 1984 to combat graffiti, the city of Philadelphia Mural Arts Programs now bills itself as the largest public art program in the United States.

Original source: The Hour
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