About the Exhibition
Opening reception: Thursday, October 23, 5-7 pm.
The City of Philadelphia’s Art In City Hall exhibition program celebrates its 56th juried group exhibition for local emerging and professional artists. The Green Exhibit highlights the artistic achievements of 45 Philadelphia area artists whose works reflect issues and concerns about the environment. Many of the pieces in the exhibit are made of recycled and environmentally friendly materials; and found objects. The exhibit runs from October 23-January 23, 2009 on the second and fourth floors of City Hall, NE corner. A reception open to the general public is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, from 5-7pm.
The 45 participating artists are:
Lauren Abshire, David Stanley Aponte, John Awad, John Baccile, Catherine Bath, Shawn C. Beeks, Sandra Benhaim, Ellen Benson, Tegan Brozyna, Chad Chaney, Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes, Carol Cole, Slott L. Dickson, Jeff Downey, Karen Frank, Melissa Maddonni Haims, Jacob Hellman, Lynda Hubbell, Walt Hug, Lydia Hunn, John Jonik, Martha Knox, Diedra Krieger, Lisa Learner, Valerie Linhart, Nicholas Maimone, Paula Mandel, Maria Maneos, Paul Maraldo, Tecu”Mish Munha’Ke, Toni Nash, Carlos Pascual, Dolores Poacelli, Alex Queral, Brooke Schmidt, Gregory Farrar Scott, Don Simon, Stan Smokler, Sarah J. Steinwachs, Rosalind Sutkowski, Carol Taylor-Kierney, Jim Williams, Arleen Race Wolf, and Drew Zimmerman.
The exhibition was juried by the Art In City Hall Exhibitions Committee made up of local arts professionals. Cavin Jones, a mural artist, is currently the Exhibitions Committee Chair: "To be green is to be concerned about the environment and every individual's carbon footprint. This show reflects the many ways artists have approached the concept - from recycling normally discarded materials and turning them into art, to creating visual art that reflects the variegated issue of global warming."
Philadelphia is a city that’s slowly turning green from the bottom up. Some of its artists are grassroots activists that live and work by example. Being part of an urban environment, artists naturally make use of found object materials. The show consists of a number of installations, mixed media assemblages and sculptures that utilze paper, recycled metals, glass bottles and even plastic bags. The show also features photography, works on paper, painting and printmaking.
For the first time in over 20 years, the exhibition also highlights new display cases in its public halls that were fabricated with green in mind. With the exception of the plexi-glass front, the environmentally friendly materials include recycled lumber, compact fluorescent bulbs and low VOC paint. The display cases come courtesy of the hard fundraising efforts of Art In City Hall’s Advisory Council and its Benefit Committee chaired by local philanthropist, Marianne Raphaely.
Art In City Hall is a collaborative effort between the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Property and the arts community. It is supported by an independent Advisory Council made up of arts professionals and private citizens. Since the program began in 1984, over 1500 emerging artists have shown their talents in the hallways of City Hall through juried group exhibitions based on specific themes. In addition to exhibitions for professional artists, the program also displays artwork from the School District of Philadelphia, and other city agencies and non-profits. |
