Seeds Gallery is coming to Baltimore Avenue soon and is seeking artists who would like to display their work for the opening event at the end of July. Seeds Gallery is a modern art studio with a focus on local artists and represents emerging and established career artists in all media and styles. Currently, the gallery is showcasing artwork collections throughout the city – in local restaurants, coffee shops, yoga studios, libraries and bookstores.

The gallery’s mission is to create a networking forum for local artists and to help seed them in the community. Also, they are trying to go beyond presenting artist’s work to help educate them in business practices such as risk and liabilities, contract management, financial management, product pricing, and marketing.

If you are a local artist and are looking to get your work out there, drop an email to artists@seedsgallery.com. For more information, visit www.seedsgallery.com.
 

Get ready for some sunshine and free music this Saturday, June 30, as the bi-annual Clark Park Music and Art Festival gets into gear. The summer edition of the festival, a 42-year-old tradition in the historic park, includes live music, children’s activities, arts and crafts vending, and other events and diversions to fill your Saturday.

The festival runs from noon-8 p.m. Some of the bands featured this year include Power Animal, The Horrible Department, and the West Philly based City Wide Specials, among others. See below for a full list and set times. The forecast for this Saturday is mostly sunny with a high of 94, so make sure to pack a lot of sunscreen.

12:00pm-12:30pm – Rock to the Future (stage 1) 
http://www.rocktothefuturephilly.org/

12:40pm-1:10pm – The Best Westerns (stage 1)
 http://www.facebook.com/thebestwesternsmusic

1:25pm-1:55pm – City Wide Specials (stage 2)
 The West Philadelphia-based City Wide Specials perform traditional and original songs as well as instrumental breakdowns and waltzes on guitar, dobro, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and upright bass

2:10pm-2:45pm – The Really Cooks (stage 1) 
http://www.thereallycooks.com/

3:00pm-3:30pm – Jampa (stage 2) 
http://www.jampaband.com/

3:45pm-4:15pm – The Downtown Club (stage 1) 
Delayed Female Vocals, Analog Snyth, Guitar, Drums and Bass

4:30pm-5pm – Break it Up (stage 1)
 http://breakitupband.wordpress.com/

5:15pm-5:45pm – On the Water (stage 2) 
http://onthewater.bandcamp.com/

5:45-6:15pm – Erode and Disappear (stage 1)

6:30-7:00pm – The Horrible Department (stage 2)
 http://www.myspace.com/thehorribledepartment

7:15-8:00pm – Power Animal (stage 1) 
http://poweranimal.tumblr.com/

– Kelly Lawler
 

This is one way to use a burned-out building. This new piece of art emerged on the north side of the former Transition to Independent Living building at the corner of 46th and Spruce Streets. The building was damaged in fire in February 2011.

Anybody know anything about it? Please let others know in the comments.

The 2012 season of the annual 40th Street Summer Series, the free outdoor concert series in West Philly, starts tomorrow, June 23. Slavic Soul Party (pictured below) will bring a mash-up of Balkan and Gypsy sounds to the green space behind the Walnut Street Free Library at 40th and Walnut Streets, beginning at 6 p.m.

The series of concerts is scheduled for the fourth Saturdays in June to September. Other performers in this series include internationally-renowned ensembles Sun Ra Arkestra, Adventuredrum, and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound with Odean Pope and Dave Liebman. Look for more information on the upcoming performances on our Happenings page.

Complimentary (first come, first served) Rita’s Water Ice will be given out during the performances. Also, for the June and July Summer Series events, Tsirkus Fotografika (“Photographic Circus”) will bring their antique mobile portrait studio and offer free photos to the concert audience.

The series is presented by University of Pennsylvania, University City District (UCD), and The Rotunda. For more information, visit this page.

OK, stop. Before you read any further go check out the video below.

Done?

Cool right? That piece is by West Philly artist Nilé Livingston and is part of the “Baltimore Avenue Series,” which she will show on Monday, June 25th at The Gold Standard Café (4800 Baltimore Ave.) from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Livingston describes the exhibit as:

“Biographic interpretations of growing up in West Philadelphia have inspired me to explore endless character encounters. I sketch my ideas on paper and then collage them in Photoshop. Creating art is my relentless urge to explore sources of anxiety, document interactions, share memories, as well as provide evidence for narrative works that address social, environmental, and technological changes.”

You can read more about Nilé at her website.

The Porch, the outdoor space at 30th Street Station, is adding a few new things for the summer.

The University City District (UCD) recently received a $375,000 grant from ArtPlace to fund a permanent art piece at The Porch. Prema Katari Gupta, UCD’s Director of Planning and Economic Development said: “We will invite exceptional artists to engage creatively with our site, with our audience, and within our neighborhood context. Art will bring beauty, reflection, and delight to The Porch, as the site continues its evolution.”

One new fun activity to look out for at The Porch is a free nine hole mini golf course open every day in July from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. All you need to bring is a photo ID. A second new project is the opening of a beer garden with German and craft beers, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and Italian sausage sandwiches by Bridgewater’s Pub. The beer garden will include live music and is open July 12 (4-8pm), July 13 (noon-8pm), and July 14 (noon-5pm).

The Porch will exhibit two new visual art works. The first is a representational and experiential exhibit by Pew Fellow Nami Yamamoto. She is installing a Hakoniwa, Japanese for miniature garden as well as a form of psychotherapy called “sandplay therapy.” The therapy method involves subjects who order and design items within a sandbox. Nami’s art will recreate this form of therapy across the concrete of the porch.

Also, Justin Duerr’s Anaesthasia Emeralda Lucian piano, designed for UCD’s Heart and Soul piano project will be on display and ready for play at The Porch.

– Erica Kimmel