Here are a few happenings this weekend we wanted to bring your attention to. For more events or to submit an event, go to our Events Calendar. And be careful out there – try to avoid slippery sidewalks!

– Beginning this Friday, International House Philadelphia (37th & Chestnut) presents Free to Love: The Cinema of the Sexual Revolution. This is a groundbreaking series made possible with the support by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. The series will run through February 15. Here’s this weekend’s program (ADULT CONTENT): Friday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m. – I am Curious (Yellow); Sweden, 1967, 121 min. Saturday, Jan. 11, 5 p.m. – Pink Narcissus; US, 1971, 71 min. 7 p.m. – In the Realm of the Senses; Japan, 1976, 109 min. 10 p.m. – Deep Throat; US, 1972, 61 min. For more information and tickets ($9 general admission; free for IHP members) click here.

– Here’s a reminder that the Electronics Recycling Day, which was supposed to take place last Saturday in Clark Park, has been moved to this Saturday, Jan. 11. Bring your old phones, computers and other electronic devices and gadgets to Clark Park at 43rd and Chester from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Electronics recycling is free of charge, with the exception of $20 charge for recycling cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs and monitors.

– Biunity‘s annual chocolate themed bake sale and fundraiser Death Bi Chocolate will take place at the A-Space (4722 Baltimore Ave) on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2-5 p.m. The event supports the only organization for bisexuals in Philadelphia and raises funds for appearances at pride events throughout the year, such as Philly Pride and OutFest. You can donate a chocolate baked good and enjoy the chocolates available at the sale, or just come and play board games with some friendly people.

Photo courtesy UCD.

Spring is not that far away and the University City District has started thinking about what mobile food vendors they should invite for their Spring-Summer food truck/vending program at The Porch, a popular public space by the 30th Street Station. As West Philly Local recently reported, some of the city’s best mobile vendors have been serving food on The Porch, including this winter (check the January-March 2014 food truck schedule here). And now, there is a possibility for new vendors to offer their gourmet food or desserts to The Porch visitors.

The Spring program starts in April and here’s some information from the UCD website:

University City District is issuing this request to secure mobile food vendors that provide unique, high-quality and sustainable food options that fit the highly mobile and urban environment of The Porch. Selected vendors will be asked to vend once a week for one month. For spring 2014 (beginning April 1), we are expanding our vending days to include lunch service (11:30am to 2:30pm) Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and breakfast service (7:30am to 2pm) Tuesdays and Thursdays…

Application deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31. For forms and more information, click here.

Gush Gallery co-founders Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate. (Photo courtesy of Thielke and Slate)

For local photographers Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate, art is a stimulus—a rapid stream of influence in their daily lives. After all, the lineage is there: Slate, a native of Florida, is the granddaughter of a professional photographer, and painters thrived in Theilke’s New Jersey-bred family.

“[Art is] just something that’s always been around us and that we are passionate about,” the duo, who met while attending Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, told West Philly Local via email.

It’s a passion that’s amassed to Gush Gallery—a West Philadelphia interactive art gallery, community center and boutique Slate and Thielke hope to open in April with the help of donations through their Indiegogo fundraiser, which ends next month. So far, since its launch, Slate and Thielke have raised $1,315 of their $8,500 goal, which will go towards repair costs and equipment for their space (a lease is not signed at the moment; the pair are considering spots on the 5000 block of Baltimore Avenue and the 4700 block of Spruce Street).

Once opened, Gush will be an epicenter of sorts, serving an eclectic lot of emerging and underground artists from a hodgepodge of disciplines and styles—a call back to the gallery’s moniker, synonymous with “enthusiasm” and “torrents”—ultimately catering to a community rich with creativity but lacking in resources to foster it. At the start, Thielke and Slate will run Gush, curating the exhibitions, designing the annual Gush “yearbook” of shows, and leading the photography-based workshops for members and non-members alike (membership fees are three-tiered and start at $25 per year). Services like printing, scanning, film processing, alternative process printing, and digital workstations are also available through Gush at an hourly rate plus use of materials (discounted for members). And, as Gush evolves, the pair hope to bring on local artists to teach workshops in their respective field (like painting, illustration, or sculpture), bring on interns and possibly a small staff, offer a free monthly critique, and classes for children.

But Gush Gallery’s reality isn’t driven by hard numbers. The Indiegogo campaign the two 27-year-old artists are running is flexible, meaning if Thielke and Slate don’t meet their goal by February 7, they will still receive the funds they did raise. In addition, they’re researching grant opportunities for the arts and small businesses, as well as possibly brainstorming brick-and-mortar fundraiser events to help push Gush from concept to tangible.

Still, they say, “if we don’t make our goal but raise enough to open, we’re going to do just that. We want to open Gush as soon as we can.”

–Annamarya Scaccia

Editor’s Note: West Philly Local is proud to present the eighth in a series of vignettes of local block captains drawn from Them That Do, a multimedia documentary project and community blog by West Philly-based award-winning photographer Lori Waselchuk. Go to Them That Do for more information, updates and additional photos.

Rebecca Metraux Canna holds her seven-month-old daughter Lorelei in their home. Canna is the block captain for the 4600s of Hazel Avenue in Philadelphia PA. Photo by Lori Waselchuk

They call themselves the Hazelnuts. And Rebecca Metraux Canna is their captain.

Canna, soft spoken with a friendly smile, took over as block captain four years ago. “I love to plan events. I love West Philly. I thought I could contribute.”

The Hazelnuts love to party. They apply for five summer block party permits at a time. For more than a quarter of a century they have been hosting an annual progressive dinner party, during which 30 or so Hazelnuts eat a three-course potluck dinner, each course hosted by a different household. There are house concerts with famous musicians and impromptu happy hours on the large front porches of the nearly identical Edwardian twin homes. On Halloween, the Hazelnuts decorate their homes and treat generously.

For all the events and the business of the block, Canna uses block’s listserv and Facebook page to communicate. Canna is a psychologist; she likes to create surveys to understand how folks feel about things. When the block was considering permit parking, Canna used online surveys to get a consensus. “It was very contentious and took three votes to get it approved,” recalls Richard Olaya, a Hazelnut, a former Hazelnut captain, and a father of two.

Canna continues to think of new ways to be social. One Sunday this month, she is hosting a Sunday coffee and dessert get-together. “It might get people out of their houses during the winter,” she says.

The children party, too, in their own way. There are skateboarders and four-square games. The Manhunt tag games spill over into other blocks. Olaya took an informal census recently (surveys may be another Hazelnut tradition) and counted 36 kids living on the block. Some of the annual block parties are less structured so the kids can play freely on the blocked-off street.

Canna hopes to keep a kid-friendly culture on Hazel Avenue for her seven-month-old daughter, Lorelei. Already, she has been enlisting Lorelie to help with her captain duties. “She’s a good ice-breaker. I take her when I go around collecting the [$10] block fees. I don’t know everyone on the block, so Lorelie makes my introductions easier.”

–Lori Waselchuk

Many neighbors have started looking for ways to get rid of their Christmas trees, so here are a few options.

UPDATE (1/4/14): Electronics recycling has been postponed until Saturday, Jan. 11. Christmas tree recycling is still on for January 4. For those who want their tree to be turned into something useful instead of adding to the landfill, there are some recycling options available. On Saturday, Jan. 4, bring your tree along with used and unwanted electronics to a Christmas Tree and Electronics Recycling event at Clark Park (43rd & Chester). This annual event is organized by UC Green, University City District and eForce Recycling. A $10 donation is being asked for each tree to cover expenses of turning it into wood chips. Also, a $20 charge will be asked for recycling certain type TVs and monitors (check the event’s Facebook page for more info). The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you want to keep your tree a little longer, please note that the city will launch its Christmas Tree Recycling program on Monday, Jan. 6, according to an announcement posted by the Streets Department. The program will run through Saturday, Jan. 18. During this time, residents may drop off their trees for recycling at any of the following Streets Department Sanitation Convenience Centers Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.:

3033 South 63rd Street
Domino Lane and Umbria Street
State Road and Ashburner Street

Christmas trees brought to these sites will be used for composting or mulch. Before dropping off your tree, make sure it’s untied and free of all decorations and ornaments, plastic bags or wrappings. More information can be found here.

Finally, trees left at the curb will be picked up on regular trash collection days and will not be recycled.

(Photo courtesy of the University City District)

This is a call to all creative neighbors: Fun-A-Day, the annual community art project organized by the Artclash Collective, returns next month and your participation is very welcome. Here’s what you are asked to do:

Choose a project and make one piece of artwork every day for the entire month of January, then share your work in a group art show held the following month. The 31 resulting pieces create a narrative outlining each artist’s journey through the first month of the year. Projects may vary from lighthearted to serious, “high-brow” to “low-brow.” Past year’s list of mediums includes photos, drawings, paintings, songs, textiles and more.

Since its inception in 2005, Fun-A-Day has grown to inspire similar art shows around the country and internationally and shown tens of thousands of pieces by hundreds of artists. Fun-A-Day Philadelphia is organized by a group of local artists, including three of the founding members of the Artclash Collective.

Photo via Fun-A-Day on Facebook.

The 10th Annual Fun-A-Day Art Show will be held at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave) on Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Studio 34 has hosted the event since 2008. The “Fun-A-Day Lite” show will feature select pieces of various projects in the hallways of Studio 34 for an entire month after the show, until mid-March.

Participation in Fun-A-Day is free and open to all ages. No sign up is necessary. Everyone is invited to join in on the fun and come to the show to see what your friends and neighbors have been up to during the first month of 2014.

Please follow Fun-A-Day on Facebook or visit the Artclash Collective website for updates on the show.