The Philadelphia Art Alliance // September 6 - November 25
online at www.phillyworks.net
Published in Philadelphia, PA by Philly Works // October 2012 Design & Layout by Will McHale, Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich, and Katie Winkler Copyright Š 2012 Printed by Michel Pinto @ Imaging Zone in Springfield, VA
This Philly Works publication is dedicated to those that inspire us to work towards a better quality of life. F端chschen Mchale Gentile & Karl Schweda 1930-2012
“We were not in a hurry, except occasionally when it threatened to shower or when sap buckets were running over... All such emergencies we tried to anticipate as much as possible, in order to avoid haste, which according to the old saying, results in waste. We took our time, every day, every month, every year. We had our work, did it and enjoyed it. We had our leisure, used it and enjoyed that. During the hours of bread labor we worked and we worked hard. We have never worked harder and have never enjoyed work more, because, with rare exceptions, the work was significant, self-directed, constructive, and therefore interesting.�
Helen and Scott Nearing, The Good Life
Introduction 10-11 12-15 16-19 20-25
Introduction 2009 Philly Works 2010 Philly Works 2011 Philly Works
Exhibit Projects 28-29 30-33 34-35 36-37 38-39 40-43 44-45 46-47 48-51 52-73
VIADUCTgreene Food for Body and Spirit Into the Fold In a State Far From Equilibrium HONEYSTONE The Kiosk: First Edition, “Rent-A-Grandma” The Philadelphia V.O.I.D. Project B.Y.O.B. - Build Your Own Building Philly Fuel Co. Qualities of Work in Philadelphia Documentary + Photo Essay
106-117 118-121 122-123 124-125 126-127 128-129 130-131 132-133 134-135 136-137 138-141
Structure and Surface Philly Stake SHIFT Cynwyd Recumbent Tricycle Stick-lets: Reconnecting Urban Children with Nature Vacant Lots and Vegetation Dynamics across Philadelphia / 1999-2009 Examining Accessibility & Ridership of SEPTA ADMK BLUEREDYELLOW A Day by the Goat The Lure + the Perch
Writing 76-79 80-83 84-89 90-91 92-95 96-97 98-103
Office of Sustainability, City of Philadelphia by Mayor Michael Nutter & Katherine Gajewski The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program by Jane Golden The Community Design Collaborative by Elizabeth K. Miller The Head & The Hand Press by Nic Esposito CHAD - Charter High School for Architecture and Design by Andrew P. Phillips The Food Trust by Yael Lehmann Penn Praxis by Harris M. Steinberg & Andrew Goodman
Sponsors 144-145 The Philadelphia Art Alliance 146-147 Design Philadelphia Corzo Center for the Creative Ecomony at the University of the Arts 148
Philly Works organized its first two exhibits in 2009 and 2010 during Design Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design. Our aim was to highlight the thriving community of design, craft, and production by exhibiting existing work in the Philadelphia professional community. Both exhibits generated public interest and feedback, encouraging us to shift into a more proactive role in exhibiting work in 2011. We used several vacant storefronts and row homes to assemble a series of installations and workshops. In collaboration with Katie Winkler of Better Blocks Philly and Andrew Dalzell of SOSNA (South of South Neighborhood Association), we retrofitted a soon-to-be-demolished corner property to house several installations and events that provoked and challenged our thinking and understanding. Work such as an interactive mural, a series of machineknitted symbols, a letterpress workshop, a kid’s quality of life studio, and a collection of public seating, all raised awareness and focused conversation around a growing number of topics.
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This and other new work completed during 2011 led to the generation of a design brief focusing on the qualities of life in Philadelphia for 2012. We began by hosting a series of discussions oriented around topics such as Food, Land Use, Work, Education, and Water, inviting professionals in these areas to join the conversation. Through additional events and investigations, new collaborative efforts were initiated. The work derived from the diverse skill sets of those involved formed the 2012 Qualities of Life Exhibit. We are excited about our collaboration with the Art Alliance in sharing this body of work with the city for an extended period of time and grateful for their foresight in supporting such an endeavor. In order to preserve and allow for the conversation to continue post-exhibit, we have collected the contents of this exhibit in the following pages. In addition, we invited individuals and organizations at the forefront of these discussions in the Philadelphia community to submit written contributions that help form a larger understanding of where we are at this moment in time as a city. The result is exciting! There is a lot going on, a great deal of thinking, momentum, and action. It has been an incredible and rewarding journey this year. We are hopeful that the conversations that emerge from this exhibit and book take root and are able to get community support through further investigation and discussion. We hope you enjoy+
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2009
2009 Philly Works Exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design Organized by Andrew Dahlgren and Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich Photos by Bryce Gibson
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2009
Photos by Bryce Gibson
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2010
2010 Philly Works Exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design Organized by Andrew Dahlgren, Leah Grubb, Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich and Will McHale Photo by Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich
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Photo by Will McHale
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2010
2010 Philly Works Publication
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Photos by Alexandra Schmidt-Ulrich and Will McHale
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2011
Qualities of Life Stamp Set by Will McHale Kid’s Quality of Life Studio facilitated by Julie Althoff-Bush
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2011
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Qualities of Life Panel Discussion 2.0 water
food
land
The Philadelphia Art Alliance and Philly Works present the second panel discussion on:
Philadelphia Qualities of Life Thursday, March 22 @ 7:00 PM 251 South 18th St Walnut St RittenHouse
The Art Allliance
Yael Lehmann Executive Director of The Food Trust
Spruce St 18th St
Tiffany Ledesma Groll Outreach Specialst and Program Coordinator for Philadelphia's Green City and the Philadelphia Water Department’s Office of Watersheds
Locust St
Broad St
Panelists: Matthew Honea Project Manager/ Planner at the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation
Visit phillyworks.net or philartalliance.org for more information
PHILLY WORKS
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2011
2011 Philly Works: Workshop on Interdisciplinary Collaboration Organized by Prad Selvan and Johan Widjaja Photo by Prad Selvan and Johan Widjaja
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2011 Philly Works: Interactive Mural by Adam Carrigan and Shira Walinsky Philly Works Benches / Urban Seating by Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich Photo by Will McHale
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2012 Qualities of Life Projects
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VIADUCTgreene
A Continuous and Connective Vision for the Former Philadelphia and Reading Rail Line Aaron Goldblatt Liz Maillie Leah Murphy Paul vanMeter liz@viaductgreene.org www.viaductgreene.org VIADUCTgreene, a 501(c)(3) organization, advocates for the preservation of the elevated 9th Street Branch [“Reading Viaduct”] and City Branch rail cut of the former Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and seeks to re-establish this historic infrastructure as an asset to the City of Philadelphia and its communities by transforming its soaring and submersive landscape into a three-mile linear gardenpark and recreation path through several neighborhoods and connecting to Fairmount Park and a number of major cultural destinations. Until 1984, the 9th Street Branch of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad brought passengers in and out of Center City, terminating at Reading Terminal at 12th and Arch Streets [now the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Reading Terminal Market]. The construction of SEPTA’s Market East Station and a parallel tunnel system built to accommodate regional rail service, among other factors, eventually led to the abandonment of the 9th Street Branch. Today, about six tenths of a mile of the elevated rail line remains, its trestles and massive masonry walls distinguishing the streets of Callowhill and Chinatown North; its serpentine swath of spontaneous vegetation visible from below providing visual respite from the hardscaped streets and neighborhoods devoid of green space. The below-street-level City Branch is a former freight rail line that was at one time the lifeline of one of the nation’s most heavily industrialized corridors. A massive urban renewal plan replaced heavy industry with a Parisian-style Boulevard—the Benjamin Franklin Parkway— lined with arts and cultural destinations beginning in 1917, but the City Branch still exists today, hiding 25 feet below street level but mostly open to the sky. Taken together, these two former rail lines present the opportunity to create what could become one of Philadelphia’s most striking civic spaces, simultaneously serving as a recreational amenity and a powerful setting to tell the story of Philadelphia’s industrial heritage. VIADUCTgreene strives to achieve a holistic vision for the entire three-mile route by engaging city agencies, local organizations, community groups, and interested individuals in dialogues about its future. Through a Community Design Collaborative grant, VIADUCTgreene is currently working with OLIN Partnership, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, CVM Engineers, and VJ Associates to develop conceptual designs for a segment of the City Branch centered on connecting the former rail right-of-way to the Avenue of the Arts and the growing momentum of North Broad Street.
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While New York’s High Line, the Promenade Plantee in Paris, and Sßdgelände Nature Park in Berlin, among many other rails-to-trails projects, serve as inspiring precedents for possibility, VIADUCTgreene shares the sentiment voiced by many of its fellow supporters: the 9th Street and City Branches have their own distinct character that must be preserved through design concepts that preserve and enhance their own power of place.
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Food For Body And Spirit
A collaborative exhibit about a collaborative project Brad Carney Kate Jacobi Jane Rath Scott Ritchie Aaron Roche
Artist, Mural Arts Program Project Manager, Mural Arts Program Principal, SMP Architects Associate, SMP Architects Cost Estimator, STV, Inc., Delaware Valley Green Building Council
This exhibit piece attempts to capture the drama of the incredible transformation of 1901 North Front Street, the site of the Kensington High School of the Creative and Performing Arts, in the last five years. From a throw-away site, contaminated by industrial pollution and neglect, the property has become a symbol of community hope. As a testimonial to the importance this project has become in the community, neighbors, students, teachers and friends joined together for an Earth Day of Service. Last year, an organic vegetable garden and outdoor classroom, designed by the students and built by student and community volunteers, provided both food and learning experiences for the school and neighbors. The project illustrated how urban agriculture can provide healthy food to citizens with poor food choices and empowered students, by showing them that green jobs are within their reach. This project was further celebrated in a mural painting project begun that same day with the help of the Mural Arts Program. The students’ design combines architectural images from the building with representations of native species planted on the site. This summer, student poetry and additional artwork were incorporated into a second phase which is nearing completion. This exhibit, a collaboration of key participants of the garden and mural projects, consists of two parts: a projection showing the process and the incredible number of people who transformed 1901 North Front Street over the last five years
and a “seed tray” that conveys the tapestry-like interweaving of the garden plants, art and poetry which is really what a viewer experiences when visiting the site - a student dream realized over the course of the last two years.
Garden and Mural Project Collaborators: Kensington High School for the Creative and Performing Arts:
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Debora Borges Carrera, KCAPA Principal Josh Kleiman, KCAPA Special Education Teacher Rachel Jordan, KCAPA English Teacher and Advisor
Mural Projects: School District of Philadelphia Student Artists: Amber Burnett Bobbi Hoggard Josh Cruz Mariam Konate Kaira-Lynn Garcia Jordan McCullough Brianni Gomez Raymond Millhouse Marisol Gonzalez Elizabeth Morales
Careanna Quiros Diana Sarita Paris Womack Savion Young
Mural Arts Program: Brad Carney, Philadelphia Artist and Mural Arts Instructor Kate Jacobi, Project Manager, Mural Arts Program Lisa Murch, Project Manager, Mural Arts Program Louis Radochonski, Art Education Program Manager, Mural Arts Program Sean Small, Artist Assistant, Mural Arts Program Scott Bickmore, Artist Assistant, Mural Arts Program Jane Golden, Executive Director, Mural Arts Program Garden Project: Delaware Valley Green Building Council: Garden Organizer and Fundraiser: Aaron Roche, Cost Estimator, STV Inc., and DVGBC Metro Sally Azer, Interior Designer, HDR Inc., and DVGBC Metro Kate Jacobi, Project Manager Mural Arts Program and DVGBC Metro Janet Milkman, Executive Director, DVGBC SMP Architects: Architects of KCAPA and Garden Project / Mural Volunteers: Jane Rath, Principal and Designer of KCAPA Scott Ritchie, Associate and Designer Gilmore & Associates: Landscape Architects of KCAPA and Garden Volunteers: Chris Green, Landscape Architect Matt Hostander, Soils Engineer New Kensington CDC: Community Partners and Fundraisers: Sandy Saltzman, Executive Director Shanta Schachter, Deputy Director Veronica Erenberg, Project Coordinator Pennsylvania Horticultural Society: Horticultural Consultant: Larry Stier, Project Coordinator Urban Tree Connection: Garden Consultant: Skip Weiner, Project Coordinator
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