ICON MAGAZINE CITY BEAT COLUMN JUNE 2012

ICON MAGAZINE City Beat June 2012 Thom Nickels Not long ago when you wanted to “make friends” with a neighbor in a CC high rise you had to put a mash note under their door or break the “custody of the eyes” rule in elevators. The Friends of the Avenue of the Arts has a solution to this: wine and pizza soirees in the lobbies of apartment buildings. As an organization of CC residents and businesses committed to making the Avenue of the Arts a boulevard of dreams, Friends hosted a party in the lobby of the Arts Condo building on Locust Street recently… in the mix, CFO Timothy J. Moir talked about June’s Art on the Avenue preview (June 20th, 5:30 Pm-8:00PM) at the University of the Arts’ Dorrance Hamilton Hall, where CC high rise neighbors will learn about the city’s many arts organizations. RSVP to: FriendsRSVP@gmail.com. … .Decades ago, bed hair poet Ezra Pound wondered, ‘What makes money make money?” May I suggest the United States Mint? Touring the Mint might be seen by some as on a par with visiting the Liberty Bell (Tourist 101), or standing with those folks from Omaha while waiting to walk through Independence Hall. But how many Philadelphians knew that the Mint has been closed since January for renovations? The Grand Opening planned for sometime this summer (Bilderberg Group not invited!) promises “new” hands-on interactions, updated exhibits and videos, but no free money. Warning: this Orwellian Age being what it is, the Mint wants visitors to know that “members of the general public wishing to tour the facility may be subject to search by the U.S. Mint police.” (Note: pepper spray = peppermint cops) Overexposure is not Tanaholic: Ven and Vaida Gallery at18 South 3rd Street has been in City Beat a lot lately, yet Philly artist Tara Robertson’s photography show (June 1 to July1), Our Alphabet!, is a compilation of over 50 framed photographs designed to help “LGBTQ people use their voice to put their stories and message out there for the world to see in a non-confrontational way.” (Any guesses as to the next letter added to LGBTQ?)…. Also on the V&V vine: just when you thought you heard the last of Butch Cadora, he’s back like the Lockness Monster with a new project called “HOT and Busted,” a series of 20 authentic mug shots of handsome young criminals Cadora says he got from police websites and mug shots (along with descriptions of their crimes) after “a very, very close friend” went to jail last year for two (2) DUI’s inside of six months. About the July 6th thru September 2nd show, Cadora says: “Drawn on these youthful faces are the vernal stresses of their arrest and the realization that their (alleged) transgressions may potentially ruin their future…” Hollywood screen tests don’t get any better than this… Addresses of the incarcerated will not be provided. Never place your affection on a green growin’ tree, but give your love to Philly’s largest riverfront green space, Bartram’s Gardens. BG was green before the color became au courant. Once home to botanist John Bartram, the National Historic Landmark hosted 39,000 visitors last year… this spring, a new green, nursery and farm was unveiled on the venerable estate. Summertime visitors will now be able to borrow binoculars for bird watching (no voyeurism, thank you) as well as watercolors for painting. Educated tour guides will tell you what’s what. For a detailed look at this Philadelphia treasure, go to: http://www.bartramsgarden.org. The James Joyce of children’s authors, Rosenbach supporter, trustree, and children’s author Maurice Sendak, died last month. The museum’s special tribute to Sendak, From Pen to Publisher (June 24 to July 15), will follow the lifeline of three of the artist’s books. Sendak’s death gives new meaning to this year’s Bloomsday, Saturday, June 16, when the 2000 block of Delancey Street shuts down for a 7 hour public reading of Joyce’s Ulysses, where Molly Bloom’s “…And yes I said yes I will Yes,” never changes…. What’s in a name change? The Fairmount Park Art Association is now the Association for Public Art (aPA). Originally named and founded in 1872 to “enhance Fairmont Park with sculpture,” the new name sums up the organization’s wider urban mission of supporting public art everywhere in Philadelphia. aPA’s Laura Griffith spilled the beans about the change at last month’s Preservation Alliance Awards. aPAs inaugural exhibit will include 24 robotic searchlights along a half mile section of the Parkway, enough to create grand 3-D light sculptures (but no UFOs) called Open Air (sans Terry Gross). Look for this in September. Graffiti speaks (not on my wall you don’t): Glochester City, New Jersey-born artist (and fedora-wearing) John Baccile, UofArts grad is out promoting his new exhibition, “Signs and Wonders: Graffiti That Speaks” at Café Twelve on S. 12th Street in June. Baccile, a private pilot who once photographed the Eagles cheerleader tryouts while on the ground, has a site called http://barefootphotography.deviantart.com/. Baccile’s only deviancy is that he’s a good artist. Meet me at the POP-UP boutique and I’ll show you Brian Campbell (see the Mural Arts Muralmorphosis animation on YouTube) one of the co-founders of P.A.D, or Philadelphia Art & Design along with designer Kevin McLaughlin and Kim Alsbrooks, a painter of miniature oils on found objects. Art is everywhere, so save those recyclables.