From its headquarters on Crease Street, Usiloquy Dance Designs stages preformances, educational outreach, lectures & demonstrations of Bharatanatyam Dance. The group’s artistic director, Shaily Dadiala, lives in Fishtown, and is looking for ways to better connect her art and her neighbrohood.
If your interested in hosting a Bharatanatyam demonstration at your venue during First Friday, or any other community event, contact Shaily!
Looking for art studio space in Philly? Part Time Studios is looking for three new members to move in August 1st. Located in the heart of the Frankford Avenue Arts Corridor in Fishtown, Part Time Studios is quickly becoming a staple in the arts community in Philadelphia. Benefits include approximately 100 sq. ft. of personal work space, a communal woodshop and screen printing darkroom, priority to show in our storefront gallery, and the inspiration provided by a vibrant artist collective. Rent is $250/month and includes all utilities and internet.
The group is holding an open house on Tuesday, June 15th from 4-8pm. The studio is located at 2031 Frankford Ave. (between Norris and Susquehanna sts.) Stop by to meet the other members and see if it’s the right place for you.
Wednesday June 2nd at 6pm the Fishtown Area Business Association will meet at Third Federal Bank (2326 E York St). All Fishtown Area buisiness owners are invited to attend. We will be discussing board nominations and elections. There will also be a speaker from Health-care for America Now!, Marc Stier, who will talk about how the changes in health-care laws will effect your business.
For more information contact FABA Secretary Mary Friehofner at fabasecretary@aol.com
1524 Frankford Ave
Back in 2007, NKCDC with the support of the William Penn Foundation, was able to create a program that allowed business owners on Frankford Avenue to receive lighting fixtures that were both decorative and improved pedestrian safety. At that time, 10 business or commercial property owners received this assistance. The program was well received by both the nearby residents and merchants and was timely considering First Friday activities were gaining momentum and safety on the corridor at night was a priority. NKCDC became committed to finding a way to expand this program.
In 2009, the City of Philadelphia Commerce Department, a tremendous supporter of neighborhood commercial corridors, provided additional funds to expand a lighting program on Frankford Avenue. This allowed NKCDC to develop a similar program to the one that was launched in 2007. Business owners or commercial property owners along Frankford Avenue and some buidlings along Norris Street could receive decorative, energy efficient lighting fixtures for a nominal fee that would in turn improve the lighting conditions along the corridor. This year, efforts were made to concentrate the location of the lights and of course, address particularly dark spots along Frankford Avenue and Norris Street as the primary passage way for visitors and residents riding the Market Frankford El.
Fifteen buildings received treatment along Frankford Avenue and Norris Street. Each participant selected the color and shape of the fixture that best fit his or her vision for their facade. Like the project in 2007, energy efficent bulbs were used to ensure that ongoing costs for the lights would remain low. Photo censors guarentee that the lights go on automatically as it gets dark, and shut off in the morning.
Some participants include Palm Auto, Move It, Michael’s Decorators, Part Time Studio, Atlantis and Groovehound…just to name a few. This last First Friday was a huge hit and if you didn’t take note of then, make sure to pay attention in the coming weeks.
At the end of January, the City of Philadelphia announced that $27 million in federal funds have been allocated towards programs for small businesses. One of these programs is particularly relevant to businesses as PECO prepares to remove the rate increase cap in 2011, impacting the energy bills of people throughout the city. The GreenWorks Small Business Energy Efficiency Rebate was devised to prepare businesses for these future changes.
The purpose of this program, according to the City’s Commerce Department, is to encourage businesses and commercial property owners to improve the energy efficiency of their operations by investing in structural retrofits and energy efficiency processes or equipment. The program reimburses owners of commercial buildings and businesses who make energy efficiency improvements up to 50% of the costs of these improvements. The maximum rebate amount per applicant is $10,000. All projects must meet two criteria. First, businesses or commercial properties must prove that the improvements made to the building will result in a 20% reduction in annual energy consumption. Secondly, funds used must result in a payback period of no more than 10 years. Typical projects include HVAC, lighting, energy management control systems, windows and insulation, commercial equipment or major appliances, water heating systems, electric motors and in some cases, renewable energy projects. More details are outlined after the jump.
Andres Amarilla and Meredith Klein are emissaries for what was once a dying art. As an 11 year old boy growing up in the post-dictatorship years of Argentina, Andres was likely the one of the only children in the country learning the Tango. Cultural repression during the junta years had crippled a once-growing traditional dance form, which still resonates in the ears of foreigners as hallmark of Argentinean society. Slowly the dance was winding back into popular psyche, but a young generation had lost the art form. Andres took his rare training as youth and parlayed it into a career dedicated to teaching others a piece of his culture that had almost been erased.
Andres met Meredith Klein, a fellow dancer with ties to the Philadelphia region. After traveling and teaching Tango workshops on the road for several years, and getting married, the couple decided to take up a friends offer to use his South Street loft as a base for a part-time dance academy. Weary of a life of constant travel, they settled into Philadelphia two years ago and began plying their trade in the City of Brotherly Love.
This December 4th, from 5-9pm, the Fishtown Area Business Association, in association with area merchants and the NKCDC, is organizing Fishtown and Kensington’s biggest, most festive First Friday ever! Spanning Frankford and Girard Avenue with nearly 30 different merchants, galleries and artist’s studios participating, the neighborhood is getting ready to ring in the holiday season with an evening of arts and crafts, good food and drink, live music, and shopping discounts from your favorite merchants!
This event will also feature five new(ish) businesses on Frankford Avenue: the art gallery Extra Extra, café Bella Sera, vintage boutique two percent to glory, dance academy the Philadelphia Argentine Tango School, and artist collectivesPart-Time Collective and Piranha Betty’s Art Market. Be sure to check out these exciting new additions to the Avenue!
In these tough economic times, it is more important than ever to shop locally and support the small businesses that are the life blood of our cities and main streets. Help keep money in the community by coming out and doing your holiday shopping in the neighborhood.
There is plenty to do. See Philly’s hottest emerging artists, learn to tango, check out live music, get your headshot taken and start that acting career, or just play board games and drink wine! With Christmas trees, cocoa and all the yule tidings you can handle, we sure hope to see you there!
Check out the participants and specials after the jump!
The two-story brick building’s low slung exterior and modest facade do not belie the expansive space within. Without the handmade sign strewn with christmas lights and some choice descriptive terms in capital letters (”ART”), there’d scarcely be an indication at all of the teeming interior of Piranha Betty’s Art Shop that awaits the visitor. This new artist collective has packed every inch of their Frankford Avenue store front with their wondrous creations.
Their informal signage is excusable, PBAS just opened within the last week, but their content is above par. Stylized crucifixes, crafted trinkets and other fabrications of the mind meld with a barrage of live music, tarot readings and video bowling (harder than it looks). The result is eclectic, but on their First Friday premiere last week, it was had the energy and spirit of a party.
Their primary mission is to provide an affordable public venue for local artist to ply their wares. Beyond that, they also offer the community a chance to buy high quality creative works, most for under $60.
Of course, there is only so many receptions and First Fridays to fill such an expansive space, so PBAS is working on scheduling events to fill out their calendar, including “live music, life drawing classes, film nights, and children’s art workshops.”
For information about joining the artist’s collective, click here. Otherwise stop by 2472 Frankford Avenue today and support neighborhood art! Piranha Betty’s can be found online at http://www.piranhabettys.com/.
It’s a busy month on Frankford Avenue. Hot on the tail of Bella Sera’s grand opening comes Extra Extra, self described as an “artist-run space dedicated to the exposure of under-represented artists challenging the limits of the visual and performing arts”, is warming up for its first event this weekend.
Tucked away just yards from Frankford Avenue, the gallery at 2222 Sepviva Street will follow up First Friday this month with its November 6th performance by musicians Young Ice and Hopalong. Additionally, an interactive artistic activity sponsored by the ”Spatial Awareness Club” will occupy the main gallery area, as visitors get a chance to leave their mark on a 1996 Geo Track parcel map depicting the Kensington area. These drab blueprints of underground utilities must be colorized, and only the good people of Fishtown can make that happen! Stop by and color by numbers while listening to some aspiring local performers.
Extra Extra will return next month for a First Friday reception, and the opening of a second floor featuring “artist’s books, zines, prints, photographs, drawings and other print ephemera” by the collective of artists and friends who curate Extra Extra.
When Renee Fuchs came to Philadelphia from her native Hatboro, she thought she was coming to follow a lucrative career in Human Resources for a local non-profit. Now, years later, as she stands on the verge of opening her very own vegan bakery and cafe, it looks like she made a wrong turn somewhere. But that ‘wrong turn’ has taken her straight to Fishtown, and into a community hungry for even more healthy food and tasty coffee.
All during her tenure at the non-profit, Renee had had side projects as an outlet for her creative energy, even selling homemade doggy treats out of her home. She started making vegan food when her brother was diagnosed with Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, making it impossible for him to digest most traditional baked goods.
Her discovery of a store for rent in Fishtown was what made her decide to make her interest in vegan baked goods into a job. Renee says she was looking for a place “with open-minded people”, and settled on Fishtown over Center City. She says its up-and-coming feel and artistic presence made it seem like a neighborhood that would be more accepting to the concept of a vegan cafe.
Although Renee won’t be baking the food at Bella Sera, it will be provided by a well-regarded regional bakery, Vegan Treats, out of Bethlehem. Renee doesn’t want to push away non-vegan customers, and believes that Vegan Treats makes pastries so good, they’re virtually indistinguishable from non-vegan baked goods.
Renee wants her cafe to be focused on providing healthy, delicious food without harming the environment or exploiting workers in other countries. In that spirit, all the plates at the cafe will be biodegradable, and all the coffee will be Fair Trade. So come out and support the latest addition to the Ave. Renee held her grand opening last Sunday to huge crowd, and is looking forward to more successes to come in the future. Visit their website at www.bellaseracafe.com for more information.
Located at: 2146 E. Susquehanna Ave
