Art + Soul Food Festival
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
6-9pm
West Girard Avenue between 26th and 30th Streets
Art + Soul Food is a several block-wide festival highlighting the local culinary and cultural scene by staging exhibitions in currently unoccupied storefronts along West Girard Avenue. In conjunction, Butterʼs Soul Food and Deborahʼs Kitchen will present attendees with the opportunity to taste the traditional cuisine of what has been dubbed the “epicenter of soul food in Philly.” Ritaʼs Water Ice will also be offering free samples of water ice to festival goers.
Art + Soul Food is being thrown by the West Girard Business Association and MM Partners, LLC with the intent to showcase both the business opportunities created by the Brewerytown Renaissance and the long-standing local culture. The gallery exhibitions curated by Sarah Peoples and Beth Smallwood are to be staged in currently unoccupied storefronts along West Girard Avenue (2621, 2711, 2819 and 2943), and after the initial event on June 13th, will be open Saturday afternoons, June 20th and 27th. The show will conclude on July 4th when the Art + Soul Food artists will be enjoying the holiday atmosphere undoubtedly spilling over from the Art Museum festivities.
The celebration includes local artists of varied practices including sculpture, painting, taxidermy, digital video projection, ceramics, and jewelry. There will be free samples of Phillyʼs best soul food as well as musical acts ranging from funk/soul to hip-hop and even a live local high school marching band all serenading event goers with on-street performances as they stroll from gallery to gallery.
The multiple venues will house several shows with different themes, bringing artists together to produce unexpected and exciting exhibitions. Artists include: Beth Beverly, Maria Eife, Sarah Peoples, James Coughlin, Gabriel Byrne, Gregory Brellochs, Dan Murphy from Megawords, Natalie McDonald, Rob Sutherland, Ryan J. Greenheck, Josh Harmony, Rebecca Pulver, Pearl Bell, Bob Deane, John Blanchet, Ira Blanchard, and more.
