Left of Way

LEFT OF WAY: Our winners' circle is more crowded than usual tonight as our community gathered to celebrate a record-setting edition of UNDER $100, which is a little larger by a few key measures. This begins with the record-setting breadth of the show, featuring 102 works, and now includes a top all-time haul of CASH PRIZES — $960! — split among 11 illustrious artists, led by the amazing CYN WHY, whose four paintings on wood, including this leftist “manifesto,” snapped up top honors: our prestigious MARY-ROWE MEMORIAL JURY PRIZE. KUDOS to all our winners (below)! And there is still time to swing by and toast the winners in person, with an OPENING that continues to 10:00 and beyond....

MARY-ROWE MEMORIAL JURY PRIZE (Best of Show)
CYN WHY for her body of work

MOST PROGRESSIVE USE OF MEDIA
JIM BIGLAN for his body of work

MINIMALISM IN THE FACE OF AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
KAREN STABENOW for her body of work

MOST COMPELLING EXPRESSION OF INNER SPIRIT
DWAYNE BOONE for his body of work

MOST ORIGINAL ASSEMBLAGE
GARY BULWICZ’s “Goats Do Not Eat Tin Cans”

THAT BITCH KNOWS WHAT’S SHE'S DOING!
ALICE MEYER-WALLACE’s “Male Model”

DUPLICITY, OLD AND NEW
ANTHONY MORGAN’s “To Face...One Mask”

BAROMETRIC BREAKTHROUGHS
CAROL TASHJIAN for her body of work

AMAZON DELIVERS
GINA TAYLOR’s “Drunk (in The Other Side of the Box)”

LIFE IS HARD...INK IS HARDER
JENNY WALKER’s “Rosie”

SNEAK A PEEK
HOLLY WYNN for her body of work

Practically on Your Doorstep

Tonight by 10 PM, as Amazon likes to put it, we will have delivered a joyous OPENING RECEPTION for UNDER $100. You are invited to the whole 7-10 PM timeframe for our party to fete the 45 artists and record-setting 102 works — across diverse media, all priced at $95 or less — of what is undoubtedly our most popular and successful juried show. It’s a great opportunity to get a jump on traditional HOLIDAY SHOPPING, as well as to meet most of the artists. Plus, this evening our jury will be awarding $960 in CASH PRIZES to 11 of these inspired and inspiring creatives. JOIN US to find out who our winners are and to enjoy drinks and light hors d’oeuvres…not to mention the festive company of artists and art lovers alike. ’TIS THE SEASON!

GINA TAYLOR
“Drunk (in The Other Side of the Box)”
9 x 12
gouache on paper
50.

(F)Red Dots Abound

Our show just grew! Due to popular demand and early sales, Wednesday we added five new FRED PLUMLEY paintings to our 2022 MIDSUMMER INVITATIONAL. Our audiences have responded to the artist’s vision, especially larger-scale work that more fully conveys his distinctive combination of figurative composition and abstract style. “The Paintings I create are a 'searching out’ of an inner world placed onto a canvas,” says Fred. “They may succeed or fail as works of Art but they do become a mirror at times of a consciousness some may recognize or even share. The goal for me is to hammer a bell in that wilderness and, if I’m lucky, find a golden clarity to express.”

FRED PLUMLEY
“Crosswinds”
oil on canvas
250.

A Distinctive Passion

We’re known for our thematic shows, which often inspire us to structure a show around a medium. You might say this has become the calling card of our 2022 lineup. We started out the year with GLUE PAPER SCISSORS, a showcase for some of our most talented collage and assemblage artists. Painting took center stage with Jean Plough's breakthrough solo Mary Liz Memorial Masters Exhibition outing. And now oil and acrylics key another tour de force with the esteemed six pack of artists in our 2022 MIDSUMMER INVITATIONAL, subtitled "A Passion for Painting!" Mark your calendars for an OPENING RECEPTION gesso made for you (sorry): next THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 7-10 PM. Bring your brushes (but please leave your palette knives in your studio).

Large & Small, Paintings All

Saturday was HANGING DAY for our 2022 MIDSUMMER INVITATIONAL, featuring six of our favorite painters: JENNIFER BARRILE, ALAN BOLLE, GARY BULWICZ, CLAES GABRIEL, ASYA LIVSHITS and FRED PLUMLEY. Curator JODY SWEITZER is spotted here sizing up some substantial canvases from Fred…but only after Jennifer’s LIFE IN MINIATURE series, on a different scale altogether, had occupied the center pillar. Thanks to all those who stopped by to witness a masterful show assume its rightful place on our Wall and in our 3D case…and who started off the sales, too!

On Newsstands Now

You might want to hurry up…or go to a Wawa…but we’d be remiss if we didn’t tout the print edition of yesterday’s nifty INQUIRER feature about REEMERGE. We say that because we believe print is not dead and because we want newspapers and true journalism to continue delivering news and local content like this. (How nice, too, that OFF THE WALL Curator JODY SWEITZER gets a special shot!) Almost as ephemeral as today’s paper is our show, which closes at the end of the night THIS FRIDAY. If you haven’t yet spent time with REEMERGE, wait no longer!

In the News

We’re thrilled to say that today’s online PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER and tomorrow’s (8/3) print edition will shine a spotlight on REEMERGE, thanks to MIKE NEWALL, longtime masterful scribe for our beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning daily — hey, let’s keep newspapers alive! -- and photographer TOM GRALISH, who visited us on Sunday. The result, our first OFF THE WALL coverage in many a moon, is exceptional.

Last Week to REEMERGE

It’s amazing that our first summer juried show since 2019 has gone by so swiftly. As we prepare to wind down, we realize we are just halfway through our jury’s 11 award winners. (Plus, we need to apprise our winners of their non-cash awards...if you are among them, please stay tuned!) Let’s turn to an eye-opening discovery of a painter, among only a handful of REEMERGE artists hailing from well beyond our region. DAVID HELWER, singled out for the BEST EXPRESSION OF LOCKDOWN SYNDROME, is also one of a few to create a series that used the pandemic as a framework. “My ‘COVID Kitchen Paintings’ are self-portraits in my kitchen during the initial lockdown,” says the South Carolina-based artist. “While engaged in this series, I allowed my mind to wander through my childhood as a boy growing up on a farm in Kansas. I did my best to let the little boy inside of me do most of the painting.” What purer expression of the artistic process?!

DAVID HELWER
“Chickens Talking”
acrylic on canvas
300.

Who's Watching?!

Perhaps it’s fitting — as we prepare for an integrated performance art piece this afternoon (Christy E. O’Connor’s “Raise a Drink to Dystopia,” 3-5 PM) — that we feature the winner of our jury’s SEVEN STAGES OF COVID: PARANOIA citation. The work from HOLLY WYNN dives to the heart of a sensation that was setting in two summers ago. “Being stuck inside during the pandemic left many of us spending a lot more time online, particularly on social media,” explains the artist. “For some of us, we were left with that nagging feeling that you’re always being observed because the content we consume, in place of face-to-face interaction, almost seems designed to make you feel that way.” Luckily for you, later today (as long as you bring your vax card!), your interactions and observations will be very much up close and personal, the way performance art — and just about all art — is meant to be.

HOLLY WYNN
“Everybody’s Watching”
mixed media
50.

Extending Their Stay

As our summer juried show edges toward its close — coming down a week from Saturday — we are happy to report that two REEMERGE artists will remain on the Wall: #AsyaLivshits and #JenniferBarrile. It’s notable that both are making their respective debuts in this space, meaning our upcoming MIDSUMMER INVITATIONAL SHOW will represent their first local encore (of many, we suspect). Jennifer made her inaugural outing at OFF THE WALL all the more auspicious when the jury singled this work out with an award: SEVEN STAGES OF COVID: SHOCK AND FREEFALL. We can all remember those early, rollercoaster days of the pandemic. “During COVID’s bleak onset, I didn’t make art for months,” reports Jennifer. “Eventually I found my groove again. Spending time outdoors with my husband and daughter helped to lift spirits, and my time in nature spilled over into my art — painting landscapes and cityscapes, using my imagination to create something fun.”

JENNIFER BARRILE
“Strange days”
ink on cardboard and cut paper
170.

Live Performance Art Next Sunday (7/31)

LIVE PERFORMANCE ART NEXT SUNDAY (7/31): We are incredibly fortunate to have, as part of REEMERGE, three inspired video artists, whose work is projected in a loop in our 3D space: DIANA RIUKAS (“What’sReally Going On?”), HEATHER RAQUEL PHILLIPS (“Flowers for a Pandemic”) and CHRISTY E. O’CONNOR (“Tea Time in Turbulence”). Next Sunday, JULY 31, Christy will use her video, a filmed performance, as the leaping-off point for RAISE A DRINK TO DYSTOPIA! Starting at 3 PM — with Heather, her fellow interdisciplinary artist, behind the bar — Christy will act and interact in this impromptu, unscripted performance art piece. “Who knew these dark dystopian days would be so drab and dare I say....ordinary?,” muses Christy. “What else is there to do to pass the time at the end of the world than to raise a drink to dystopia?! Inspired by parallels between conditions leading up to the French Revolution and late-stage American capitalism — from plague and wealth inequality, to the demand for individual rights of citizens, leading to political unrest and general discontent and discord of the masses — I am imagining a modern day Marie Antoinette, out of touch and out of reach, eerily like our present day leaders.” So please join us on Sunday, starting at 3:00, to hang out with the Queen (and probably hear some Queen on the juke during Christy’s piece!). Vive l’arte! Vide ton verre Chez Frank!

CHRISTY E. O’CONNOR
“Raise a Drink to Dystopia!”
Live performance art
Sunday, July 31
3:00 on
Dirty Frank’s/OFF THE WALL
NE Corner, 13th & Pine

Stranger Things

It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if you’ve recently binged a series or two — say, on Netflix (despite dropping a million subscribers) or Hulu — or perhaps a bunch of kitschy flicks. Without a doubt, many of us honed this talent during the pandemic. Count JOSEPH EGGLESTON in our number. Hence the REEMERGE jury’s loving accolade for this painting, inspired by the Scream franchise: SEVEN STAGES OF COVID: TIME TO BINGE. But COVID touched Joseph on a deeper level still. The artist adds texture and detail. “The creative process has always been a mostly solitary act for me as a painter. During the last two years, I have found it to be even more isolating in terms of sourcing my subject matter, what I am drawn to, the limitations of the edge of a canvas, etc.,” he explains. “All of this has led me to rethink color, composition and proportions. I’ve found myself carefully considering how I approach my work so I can be more mindful of what type of conversation I want to have if/when I do have those harder-to-come-by chats about art.”

JOSEPH EGGLESTON
“Casey”
acrylic and wax pastel
400.

Light at the End

To be sure, it’s foolhardy to invoke the word “end” when speaking of the pandemic. Still, our REEMERGE jury felt it incumbent on them to cap their SEVEN STAGES OF COVID awards with a HOPE RISING theme. And what better place to turn for an ever-positive vibe than the artwork of DONALD T. WILLIAMS?! Donald never takes his eyes off the silver lining, despite all obstacles. “The pandemic stands out as a time when I had little control over my life,” the artist reflects. “In the days leading up to the shutdown, I was preparing for my first solo show in decades. It was scheduled to open on March 15, 2020.” Enough said. COVID also waylaid plans for a 10,000-piece series of single-face portraits called “Give me 10 minutes.” But the artist continues to make lemonade — in sweet abundance. “Most of my recent work has been influenced by ‘current news’ and themes that always show up in my work: systemic racism, family, responsibility, love. The pandemic slowed me down but didn’t derail me. It’s actually made me a more empathetic, eyes-wide-open person.”

DONALD T. WILLIAMS
“Black Longevity Matters”
digital print of watercolor original
50.
multiple framed prints available

Welcome to Blendini City

If your plans aren’t firmed up for the weekend and you’re still Googling a getaway, why not consider Blendini City? Never heard of it?!? Well, MASON CARTER, mayor, founder, visionary, ambassador, tourism director and chief architect, is here to bring you up to speed. The city springs from a rich vein of the artist’s imagination. “City” isn’t even an apt word. Blendini is really a WORLD all its own, which came into being during the pandemic and, because of it, has taken on even greater meaning. “These Blendini City neighborhoods were created thanks to drawing skills I acquired during the pandemic,” says Mason. “They represent my isolation-induced emotions and a longing for community, togetherness and thriving local commerce that is relationship-driven, not transactional.” Our REEMERGE jury got lost in the wonder of these meticulously wrought cityscapes (please zoom in!) and accorded this work — which has a companion piece, “The Hat District,” in our show — a citation for BEST DYSTOPIAN UTOPIA.

MASON CARTER
“The Sunrise-Sunset Theatre”
pen and pastel on paper
600.

Once We Were Lost

We are getting our bearings again as a community dealing with COVID and now the BA.5 surge (and needless to say, you still have to bring in vax cards to visit our Gallery). But this was not always the case. We were adrift for quite some time — our audiences forced to view art only through plexiglass, from the sidewalk. EMMA VAN DEN AKKER reminds us of just how far we’ve come. Opines the artist, “This piece represents the grandiose feeling of isolation during the pandemic—simultaneously separated from everyone else in isolation and also thrust into a global community as the world experienced the pandemic collectively.” The REEMERGE jury found the metaphor captivating and awarded Emma appropriate worded citation: WHAT A STRANGE TRIP IT’S BEEN!

EMMA VAN DEN AKKER
“In Pursuit of Something Greater”
oil on canvas
300.

A Month More of Fireworks

We’ve been uncharacteristically incommunicado these past 30 days, since our amazing summer juried show, REEMERGE, went up on our Wall. But it is high time to, well...reemerge! The show’s gathering momentum, which has won over audiences and tallied 25 sales to date (!), deserves even greater visibility. We'll make every effort to make sure this happens during the second half of our run, which may also include a special event. (Please stay tuned!) Let’s begin by featuring one of 11 award-winning works, from POLLY DAVIS CHALFANT, one of 19 artists brand-new to our space, interpreting our theme of how the pandemic impacted their creative process. “Isolated and shut down, I watched a fractured nation struggle with managing a massive human crisis, exacerbated by shocking political theater...surrounded by intense social uprising and unrest...and ending with a violent insurrection at the Capitol,” says the artist. “All of this fueled a personal #artisticresponse to all the events of a yearlong nightmare.” She came away with a deeply empathetic answer, and our jury singled this work out with the citation SEVEN STAGES OF COVID: ANY CHANCE OF ESCAPE? We’ve all been there, right?! And hopefully, this also mirrors our feelings of humanity, which do not vary with the vicissitudes of public health policy — for example, the almost arbitrary changes in masking policy.

POLLY DAVIS CHALFANT
“Get me out”
acrylic on canvas
675.

In This Together

Even as it has forced us apart, the pandemic has ironically brought us closer together. We have all been affected, our lives indelibly marked, our livelihoods perhaps endangered, our social circles surely constrained. The power of this shared experience takes center stage TOMORROW, THURSDAY, JUNE 9, as our 7-10 PM OPENING RECEPTION lifts the curtain on our first summer juried show in three years: REEMERGE. Our 42 artists, who hail from across our community and as far away as South Carolina and Kansas, and their 71 singular works speak to the impact of the pandemic on their art and art-making. For some, it has shifted perspectives and awakened new themes. Others chose to document the borders and limitations of their altered existence and possibly to dream of a different tomorrow. Still others use art as therapy, for themselves and for the viewer. We cordially invite you to join us to take in these inspirations and aspirations, manifestos and reflections, light-hearted takes and catharses on our Wall and in our 3D case, chosen by a jury of peers who constructed this exceptional show from some 250 entries. Plus, you will have a chance to meet and spend time with more than half of our artists — and find out which artwork, across a range of media, the jury has named as most outstanding and insightful. See you Thursday evening...and please bring your vax card to be inside!

So Nice...

It’s redux time for MLMME17 just 24 hours from now — SUNDAY, MAY 22, 3-6 PM — as this year’s lone Mary Liz Fellow, JEAN PLOUGH, takes center stage again with a SECOND RECEPTION. Though billed as a “Closing Party,” rest assured if you cannot join us tomorrow, you will have plenty of additional opportunities, through Friday, June 3, to catch up with the second half of this show, which you may recall is the first show we have rotated since 2003, due to its popularity and sales. Put another way, this show is as hot as this weekend’s weather! Heather Raquel Phillips will of course be pouring your favorite drinks and Jean is excited to have a fresh chance to meet followers and collectors and discuss her powerhouse paintings. We look forward to seeing you there!

First and Last

The outpouring of entries to our first summer juried show since 2019 has been nothing short of inspiring and gratifying. If you're part of this enthusiastic response, thank you! If you haven't yet submitted your artwork, procrastinate no more...TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY TO ENTER. You have from now until 11:59 PM, and remember: the reason for the absence of a summer show is the impetus of this call for art. Our 16th Annual Community Juried Show, REEMERGE, seeks outstanding art that examines the pandemic and art that reflects the pandemic's direct impact on your creative perspective and/or process. Please join us. There is NO ENTRY FEE. You'll find out the jury's decisions the week of May 23 and you will need to be ready to deliver accepted work on June 4.